As a break from revision, why not dream up your perfect job – it may even be below. Have you ever thought about these or knew you could get paid to do them?
Chocolate Tester
Fancy tasting chocolate all day? Cat Channon does just that at Cadburys – she is one of 50 official chocolate testers at the company. She works in research and development, using her Chemistry degree to make sure new chocolate creations are not impaired by their taste or texture and conform to the company’s requirements. It’s not all scientific though – at least 10-20% of her time is spent eating chocolate.
Cryptology
Are you interested in studying Maths or Computer Science and like solving puzzles? If so, Cryptology might be for you. A Cryptanalyst deciphers codes, puzzles or cryptograms (they turn encrypted data into readable text). Cryptologists create encrypted data, in order to protect private information.
Cryptology is used widely in:
- mobile phones (protecting calls and texts)
- banking (chip and PIN cards)
- internet (protecting transaction details)
- corporate computer security
- home computing
- satellite TV (e.g. Sky)
So employers range from the Ministry of Defence, GCHQ, telecommunication companies or the Serious Organised Crime Agency, and large companies (such as Deloitte or KPMG) also employ people in this field.
Lego Master Builder
If you used to (or still do) love playing with Lego, how about getting paid to do it? Over 30 full time Lego builders plan and build a range of models in Lego’s only building company, Bright Bricks. Past models have included: miniature skyscrapers, family portraits, a sleigh and eight reindeers (complete with Rudolph’s glowing nose) and a working scale model of a Rolls Royce engine. They’re currently working on a Titanic model and have a stock of up to 12 million Lego bricks in their warehouse! Someone is even employed to re-sort any Lego pieces that fall on the floor.
Rollercoaster Designer
If you love roller coasters (or Roller Coaster Tycoon), John Wardley’s job could be for you. He designed many of the roller coasters in UK theme parks, including ‘The Smiler’ at Alton Towers, ‘The Swarm’ at Thorpe Park and various others at theme parks across the world. John’s first roller coaster project was turning Chessington Zoo into a theme park (now Chessington World of Adventures), and his career ‘took off’ from there.
There are also the jobs that are mind numbingly boring, like watching paint dry. Oh, wait, that’s a job too…
Watching paint dry (Research Scientist)
A Research Scientist at Dulux studies paint drying under a microscope to check the quality of the paint, how quickly it dries and its durability. Who knew this was actually a job?!
Considering University? 