Lesson: Weird Jobs Around

A. Picture Discussion (Pictures not provided)

Look at the pictures and discuss with your partner what you see in them.

(Note: Please refer to the pictures provided with your original lesson materials.)

B. Reading

Exploring Unconventional Careers

What type of job do you want to have? Is it a highly paid, high-profile, conventional job that most people want? Yes, you can have it. It’s a matter of choice—an important decision that will help you advance in life. But have you ever thought about other types of jobs that exist—cool, fun, exciting, even strange or weird jobs that you never knew existed? What are they?

Did you ever wonder who picks up the chewing gum left on park benches or who assesses whether a piece of furniture is comfortable enough or who constructs glass eyeballs or who farms oysters in the middle of the ocean? These are all odd, unexpected, wild, unconventional, strange, or just plain weird jobs and careers. They are not your traditional career choices, but someone is out there doing all these things, getting paid for it, and enjoying life just like anyone else.

There are hundreds of such jobs if you want to travel the road less taken in life. You have to decide on several questions:

• What companies will recruit/hire me?
• Do I actually get a paycheck?
• What type of education/diploma will I need?
• Can I make a living doing this?

Your answers to these questions will help you draw your career roadmap and decide if you are ready to take the challenge. Decide if you want a change. Many strange jobs also allow you to work part-time or freelance when it fits your schedule. This way, you can experience a bit of freedom, earn a secondary income, and build experience simultaneously.

Do you have interests beyond writing memos and attending boring meetings? If so, you may wonder how you can find a strange job. Hobbies are a good place to start. What do you do for fun? Do you stuff animals, act like Charlie Chaplin, or make model cars? There are people out there working in these fields, making money off their hobbies. Maybe they are testing mountaineering equipment, developing fragrances, trying new brands of undergarments, or saving sea turtles. And they are getting paid good wages too.

Questions:

1. “But have you ever thought about other types of jobs out there—?” What does “other types of jobs” refer to here?
2. There are four specific strange and weird jobs mentioned in paragraph one of the text. Which one seems the weirdest to you, and why?
3. Before taking an unconventional or strange job, the author suggests considering several questions. Rearrange them, beginning with what you think is the most important and ending with the least important. Add more questions to the list that you think are essential to consider.
4. What are some other strange part-time jobs mentioned in the text?
5. What type of job is referred to by the expression “writing memos and attending boring meetings”? Do you think the author’s observation about this particular job is justified? Why/Why not?

C. Dialogue and Role Play

Look at the following dialogue and act it out in pairs:

X: Have you heard of a job like picking up chewing gum left on park benches?

Y: Yes, I have. I know someone who does that job.

X: What do you think of the job?

Y: It sounds rather funny/odd/crazy, though. But what’s wrong with that? You can go for it as long as you enjoy it. And if it pays, I think it’s fine.

Now, create dialogues based on the following:

1. Assessing the comfort of a piece of furniture
2. Farming oysters in the middle of the ocean

D. Debate

Arrange a debate in class, arguing for and against strange jobs.

E. Adjective Exploration

Work in pairs. Make a list of at least ten adjectives used in the text to describe strange jobs.

• Are you familiar with all of them? If yes, use each adjective in a written sentence. Compare your sentences with your partner’s.
• If no, try to guess their meaning from the context. Then, look up the meaning in a dictionary. Finally, use each adjective in your sentences.

F. Strange Jobs in Real Life

A number of strange jobs are mentioned in the text.

• Do you know anyone who does one of these jobs? If so, write a paragraph about that person.
• If not, select a job. Imagine someone you know who could successfully do that job. Write about why you think they would be a good fit.