One of London’s Raven Masters. Image Credit: Spitalfieldslife.com
This weekend’s lineup of weird jobs starts off with a bit of an oxymoron; how is hacking ethical? Wearing a white hat only means they’re getting paid by someone to learn how to beat the system… I’m sure there’s more to it, but it’s a fine “ethical” line, isn’t it? The second job, hitchhiking, reminds me of James Corden’s car karaoke videos, though I doubt the Indonesian drivers are singing along with their passengers.
The job that captures my attention most in this list is that of the Raven Master; think about it: Someone gets paid to pamper wild ravens to convince them to stay in the Tower of London because of a legend. They’re not taking any chances with the future of England, are they? That train of thought opens up all kinds of possibilities for a vivid imagination and science fiction, doesn’t it?
- Professional Ethical Hacker
- Professional Hitchhiker (Indonesia): The government has restricted some lanes of traffic to only cars with 3 or more people due to overcrowding. Poor people from the city outskirts take advantage of this by offering drivers to ride with them in the “fast lanes”.
- Professional Line-Standers: Do one thing most of us have no patience for: waiting in line. These professionals are especially busy during big sales (think Black Friday) and product launches (new iPhone releases, for example). Rates vary, but one professional line-stander told Business Insider he earns up to $1,000 a week.
- Professional Mourners (usually Asia and Africa): Attend funerals and grieve for the deceased. A company in England called Rent A Mourner specializes in the industry, offering mourners for two hours for roughly $70.
- Professional Sleeper
- Professional Wingwalker: Those crazy people who walk on airplane wings for stunt shows.
- Queen’s Piper
- Raven Master (UK): Charged with caring for the ravens in the Tower of London; legend has it that if ravens abandon the site, the White Tower will crumble, and England will fall.
- Ribbon Candy Puller
Stephanie Huesler 
See Berufe gibts, die gibts doch gar nicht (http://www.20min.ch/panorama/news/story/11295204): Verkehrszebras, Velo-Angler, Zug-Drücker, Schwan-Zähler, usw. including your very own Rabenmeister!
Most of these are in my list, though ostrich babysitters are new to me. 🙂
Such a cool list- our career guidance teacher never mentioned any of these at school!!
Take a look at the other lists in this series – there are some doozies! Most career guidance teacher have probably never even dreamed of half of these. 😉
I feel so speechless 😶
😉
Ethical hacking is what happens when I pay somebody with hacking skills to break into my system and then tell me how they did it, so that I can fix the vulnerabilities. It would be unethical to tell anybody else. It would unethical to change or filch my data.
Are ALL “ethical hackers” entirely ethical? Probably not. I do not know of any profession where everybody is always ethical.
I know the concept, but the job title still strikes me as a bit ironic. 😉
I think that being a Raven Master (or Mistress, LOL) would be a fine, fantastic job! Ravens are such intelligent birds.
🙂
I agree! My cats would like me to have that job, too… 😉