The Most Extraordinary Jobs

1. Pet Food Tester

Yes, it's a thing, and yes it's totally gross.

But as the owner of pet food company Huds and Toke, Mark Gooley, says, "If you wouldn't put it in your mouth, don't you dare expect your dog to eat it."

Mr Gooley eats dog food for a living. He eats everything from doggie treats and chewy bones to liver mixture.

 

2. Gumologist

A lot of hard work goes into creating the perfect piece of chewy.

Just ask Jesse Kiefer, who works as a Gumologist for Cadbury Schweppes.

Kiefer has to get the flavour just right, which isn't easy with some combos like strawberry and lime - which he says don't complement each other that well.

 

3. Waterslide Tester

Monday morning definitely seems a lot more enticing if you get to spend your working week slipping down water slides. Especially come summer.

And water slides are usually placed in massive theme parks. Imagine getting to spend your lunch break on a rollercoaster, and eating a hot dog for lunch.

Working holiday, am I right?

 

 

4. Teddy Bear Repair Technician

Kids get really emotional about their toys. Remember when your favourite toy lost an arm, or suffered a similar life-threatening injury? It was devastating.

But now there's a special technician who can come to the rescue.

The Build-A-Bear Workshops have a Teddy Bear Repair Technician who is hired to repair those much-loved teddy bears and get them back to their cuddly, intact, lovable selves.

Snake Milker

Snake venom is powerful stuff. It can be turned into drugs to treat all kinds of conditions, including a poisonous snake bite.

But some brave soul needs to collect that venom by hand. They gently expose the snake's fang and squeeze out the deadly juices.

"The only difference between me and any other company in the world that produces something is that the means of production here can kill you...and wants to," Alabama snake milker Ken Darnell says.

Laughter therapist

They say it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. If that’s true then a career as a laughter therapist should be an easy ride. In this job a laughter therapist must do their best to make people laugh their way to a better life. Perfect for any budding clowns out there!

Paint Watcher

You may have heard some people say they’d “rather watch paint dry” than do something they don’t want to do. Well, if they really mean it the opportunity is there – studying the drying time and effects of paint as a full-time job for a paint manufacturer.

Dice inspector

In the gambling world, millions can be lost at the roll of a faulty dice. With that in mind, the job of a dice inspector is an important one, making sure each die is in proportion, with all the right angles and blemish free.

Teacher’s Notes:

1. Start with showing pictures to your Ss and elicit the possible jobs these people might have.

2. Place pieces of paper with the stories around the room without pictures and ask Ss to walk around and see if their guesses were correct.

3. Pre-teach the words in bold type and give each student a copy to read again.

4. Ask them how these words were used in the texts.

5. Ss work in pairs or small groups to discuss the questions (see the next page).

6. Home task is to prepare a project about one of the unusual jobs or write a resume* for one of these ones.

*this worksheet might be helpful if you decide to write a resume - http://busyteacher.org/19059-writing-a-cv.html

 

 

Discussion Questions:

1. Which job did you find the most extraordinary/usual/exciting/boring/useful?

2. What other extraordinary jobs have you heard of?

3. What kind of person would do things like that for a living?

4. What qualities are required for each of these jobs?

5. Which of these jobs would you be able to do? Why?

6. Which of them you would never agree to even if offered lots of money? Why?

Discussion Questions:

1. Which job did you find the most extraordinary/usual/exciting/boring/useful?

2. What other extraordinary jobs have you heard of?

3. What kind of person would do things like that for a living?

4. What qualities are required for each of these jobs?

5. Which of these jobs would you be able to do? Why?

6. Which of them you would never agree to even if offered lots of money? Why?

Discussion Questions:

1. Which job did you find the most extraordinary/usual/exciting/boring/useful?

2. What other extraordinary jobs have you heard of?

3. What kind of person would do things like that for a living?

4. What qualities are required for each of these jobs?

5. Which of these jobs would you be able to do? Why?

6. Which of them you would never agree to even if offered lots of money? Why?

Discussion Questions:

1. Which job did you find the most extraordinary/usual/exciting/boring/useful?

2. What other extraordinary jobs have you heard of?

3. What kind of person would do things like that for a living?

4. What qualities are required for each of these jobs?

5. Which of these jobs would you be able to do? Why?

6. Which of them you would never agree to even if offered lots of money? Why?

Discussion Questions:

1. Which job did you find the most extraordinary/usual/exciting/boring/useful?

2. What other extraordinary jobs have you heard of?

3. What kind of person would do things like that for a living?

4. What qualities are required for each of these jobs?

5. Which of these jobs would you be able to do? Why?

6. Which of them you would never agree to even if offered lots of money? Why?