Weird Jobs Almost No One Knows About That Pay Surprisingly Well

Pinecone Harvester

"I was once a pinecone harvester. A helicopter would cut off the tops of trees and bring them to us to pick off the pinecones, which would then go to tree planters to germinate and plant."

"$35 to fill a 5 gallon bucket, experienced pickers would fill 2½ buckets an hour, but the sap getting all over your clothes, skin, and hair is very annoying and a big deterrent for most."

~ ChronicZombie86

Hand Pollinators

"My Aunt and her daughter both do seasonal work as Hand pollinators, harvesters."

"Certain types of plants (saffron, vanilla orchids) have very small windows of time when you can pollinate or harvest from them (a couple of hours to a half day) so the growers need people who can work fast and delicately to hand pollinate or harvest whatever plant they are growing."

"Plus if the plant is small and they grow in the ground its a lot of bending to get down and do whatever has to be done, especially if they have a whole field of tiny flowers and you are using tweezers or a tiny paint brush."

"My Aunty and cousin have been doing it for years now, they always get called back and make a lot of money for 1-2 days work."

~ solarblack

Greensperson

"I’m a greensperson in the film industry."

"I’m responsible for building and maintaining the plants and trees on a set."

~ Prospector_Steve

Touring Broadway Musician

"I play trumpet for a touring Broadway show."

"Not that weird but it’s amazing how few people know there are real musicians playing live below the stage."

~ Dizzy__Atmosphere

Cardiovascular Perfusionist

"Cardiovascular Perfusionist."

"Can’t have open heart surgery without us, but almost no one knows we exist!"

"We stop the heart, protect it, monitor and modify cerebral blood flow, protect kidney function, warm and cool patients sometimes as cold as 18° C to change their metabolism, take over anesthetic control, and generally puppeteer everything that’s automatic in a conscious person."

~ MECHASCHMECK

Celebrity Flight Crew

"I worked on Oprah’s plane, it was just sitting at Midway airport with the other planes, nothing special."

"The only weird thing was we had to pop a bunch of popcorn in the hanger when she came so she didn’t have to smell airline fuel."

"I have several Xmas bonus checks signed by Oprah herself."

~ Marsupialize

Car Sitter

"I don’t even know the name for this, but a friend takes care of rich people's cars for a living."

"Pick up the car for maintenance, takes the car from a to b, etc... He doesn’t actually work on the cars, just works for rich people that don’t have time to take care of the car."

"He's super well paid, is on first name basis with some of the richest people in the country."

"Apparently it isn’t easy to find trustworthy people to take care of your cars (plus have access to your properties and so on)."

~ hecho2

Picture Hanger

"An old neighbor of mine was a picture hanging specialist contracted by many museums."

"He made $75K a year at the time (about $150K adjusted for inflation)."

~ Schwarzes__Loch

SCIF Escort

"When you work as a government employee or contractor with a top secret clearance, after you retire or get laid off, you can work as an escort within classified facilities called SCIFs."

"Escorts are needed when an uncleared person needs to work in the SCIF. For example, it might be a top secret data center that needs an air conditioner repair."

"All the escort has to do is watch the repairman and stay with them throughout the visit. They usually just drag a chair over and sit there while getting paid damn good money."

~ BaconReceptacle

Trash Investigation

"I had a boyfriend in Oklahoma who got state wages for going into the backwoods, and down dirt roads to find trash people dumped."

"His job was to report the trash for others to clean up, but most importantly, he had to sift through the trash to find anything that would identify who dumped the trash."

"I went with him a few times and I felt like a detective, it was quite fun."

~ Granny_knows_best

Master Flavorist

"My dad was a master flavorist."

"He made artificial flavors for candy, beverages and lots of other things."

"He made a LOT of money during his career."

~ Whoru87

Scent Tester

"My sister-in-law is 'the nose' for Yankee Candle."

"When a vat of scented wax is ready, she sniffs it."

~ Loreo1964

Beer Taster

"I used to be friends with one of Heineken's official tasters."

"She literally drank every day for work. Don't know how the pay was but she didn't seem broke."

~ curiousvegetables

Dental Prosthetics

"I make teeth on a computer."

"I use a cadcam program to design crowns and bridges for dental laboratories."

"I work remotely and do pretty well."

~ totssecretotheracct

Ice Sculptor

"I once met a professional ice sculptor who made a killing at corporate events and weddings."

"It's a niche skill, but the pay is pretty impressive!"

~ IndependenceNo2060

So, have you seen your new career?

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