Crazy Creative Job Opportunities

March 5, 2009 10:41 AM

Currently I am a young college lass with lots of time on my hands. I take a class one day a week and have a substituting job where I can work or choose not to work any day of the week that I want. I am so bored with life right now. With all this free time on my hands I would love to pursue a crazy off the wall job...video game tester, Mary Washington impersonator, plow truck driver, you name it; even if it is only short term. Any Suggestions?
posted by BettyBurnheart to work & money (22 answers total)

Where is this college? Have you exhausted the activities they have available?
posted by world b free at 10:47 AM on March 5, 2009

How about advertising sign twirly person?
posted by spec80 at 10:49 AM on March 5, 2009

Go to a temp agency and tell them you want to do "light industrial." That category encompasses all kinds of weird stuff. I once had a "light industrial" temp job putting stickers in books to cover a misprint of something that could be interpreted as a legally binding contract. Made decent money, listened to lots of audiobooks, worked with a small group of very diverse people, including one of the most bizarre people I've ever encountered, and I can say that I have been a professional sticker, um, sticker.
posted by The World Famous at 10:50 AM on March 5, 2009 [9 favorites]

If your school has an employment office, check that out. Tons of people look for college students to do all kinds of weird, short-term or daily things, for pay. Off the top of my head, I got to be part of a linguistics experiment, help a dean move his vintage toy collection, read English phrases for a hand-held military translator, and help people with all kinds of really simple computer problems.
posted by world b free at 10:56 AM on March 5, 2009

Be an extra in movies and television.
posted by typewriter at 10:58 AM on March 5, 2009

Phone sex operator.
posted by greta simone at 11:01 AM on March 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

Some of the weirder jobs I've done: mystery shopper, professional belly dancer and clown (um, not at the same time), security guard at a major arena (I am a 125 pound, 5'5" woman and I have "guarded" Lennox Louis, the Backstreet Boys, assorted professional wrestlers, and some football players. Ha!). You could also do guerilla marketing, passing out samples or flyers on the street, be a tour guide, write for ChaCha.com...oh man. I wish I had time to do some of this stuff again!
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 11:02 AM on March 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ooh! Phone psychic!
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 11:02 AM on March 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

Nude model for art classes.
posted by chowflap at 11:09 AM on March 5, 2009

I've been a nude model for art classes (Penn State, main campus, early 1990's). Pay wasn't bad, room was warm, plus I got to meet a lot of interesting people and see how they drew (painted, sculpted) me, which was fun.

It's not bad work if you don't mind being naked and holding still (more effortful than most people think). Also, later in life you can tell people that you have shown your naked body to the general public (okay, art majors) for money.
posted by which_chick at 11:33 AM on March 5, 2009

Pick apples in an apple orchard, or some other outdoorsy job. You'll love it.
posted by Damn That Television at 11:56 AM on March 5, 2009

Volunteer at the local Food Bank or other sort of charity... you'd be surprised what those places need done sometimes.
posted by LOLAttorney2009 at 12:02 PM on March 5, 2009

Maybe try volunteering at a local soup kitchen or Salvation Army or Habitat for Humanity. It would fill some time, you may find it rewarding, it gives back to the community, and it looks good on a resume.
posted by hungrysquirrels at 12:02 PM on March 5, 2009 [2 favorites]

Ring up stocktaking agencies. Seriously.
If they're anything like the one I worked for when I was at uni, you'll wind up travelling out to jobs and counting something different each time. The work is trivially easy, the pay wasn't bad for totally unskilled labour, and you get to see lots of other people's workplaces. They love college students, too, and they'll love you best if you have anything like a forklift operator's ticket.
I've counted more service stations than I can count, heaps of corner shops, a few Asian supermarkets, a few small factories, and every kind of toyshop. I've counted shops while the previous owner fought it out outside with the security guards hired by the new owner. A console operator in a servo I was counting showed us how the anti-bandit screens worked, told us about the five stickups in the last month, and waved his questionable automatic pistol around (where I live these are very strictly regulated, and ordinary people can't usually get them). I've counted warehouses full of train parts, aircraft engine bits on a RAAF base, the remains of a burned-out cigarette warehouse (which was revolting), and once, the contents of a shipping container full of spoiled medical bandages (it had fallen off the crane into the water).
The disadvantages are that sometimes you wind up working long into the night and the morning, and because of the very unskilled work, you have to work alongside some odd people—quite a few recently-released prisoners, especially. Actually the oddest job I went on was one where all of my co-workers belonged to this strange urban Christian cult, where they all rocked up in a bus, said a prayer before and after shift, and gave all their wages to the collective.
Can you count to a hundred? Multiply, divide? Do a bit of heavy lifting? Go stocktaking.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 12:38 PM on March 5, 2009

You could do something similar to this.
posted by All.star at 12:39 PM on March 5, 2009

Another thought, if you like animals, you could look for places like a wild bird care centre, humane society, zoos, and other places that might appreciate some help.
posted by hungrysquirrels at 12:40 PM on March 5, 2009

Getting certified for a variety of things could be fun for now, and expand future options.

Be a docent at a museum and learn lots of weird things, and see the mysterious non-public world of museums!
posted by filthy light thief at 1:07 PM on March 5, 2009

Craigslist's gigs section can be good for this sort of thing. Browse the categories; options include moving furniture for little old ladies, working trade booths, street team work, you name it.
posted by craven_morhead at 1:08 PM on March 5, 2009

Easter is coming up. Being a shopping mall Easter Bunny is a pretty strange job -- probably the strangest I've had -- and, thankfully, temporary. I found it through a temp agency, but I'm sure the offices at your local shopping mall might have answers as to how one can become ... the Easter Bunny.

Seriously: parents tell their kids to "Tell the Easter Bunny what you want for Easter." I always wanted to blurt out, "Sorry, kid, you're just getting chocolate. And Jesus."
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 1:10 PM on March 5, 2009 [3 favorites]

It's CSA time. See if - if you don't want the veg - you can apply to one just to work and only take leavings, or have gleaning rights after the harvest season is over (around here, that's Oct-Dec).
posted by Weighted Companion Cube at 1:16 PM on March 5, 2009

I worked as a kids' birthday party entertainer in college. If you like kids, it's pretty fun. I got dressed up (sometimes as a clown, Cinderella, Elmo and once as Spongebob), did a few simple magic tricks, made balloon animals and painted faces. It's not for everyone, but I enjoyed it.
posted by easy_being_green at 2:31 PM on March 5, 2009

Depending on how interesting your find psychological research, there are always research studies looking for people to participate, not all require taking medications or anything. The pay is very variable, from $10 an hour to $100 for 2 hours (usually the higher paying the more involved, usually with something like fMRI).
posted by katers890 at 2:45 PM on March 5, 2009