Furniture Tester

Now here's a good one. The La-z-Boy Company (and probably others) employs furniture testers to check out their recliners. Want to relax for a living?

Cowpuncher

You can herd, castrate and brand cattle. Then, when you get bored castrating cattle, you can repair fences, watering troughs and do other maintenance work on ranch.

Alligator Wrangler

This is more of a dangerous job than a strange one, and probably not worth pay, unless you get a T.V. show like The Crocodile Hunter.

This is just a small sampling of weird jobs out there. I understand that sumo-wrestlers need helpers in bathroom, for example, and a friend of mine once had a job painting "Brake Release" on those little handles all day. Then there are strange businesses you can start, but that's another story.

Choice #3 – Choosing to get a career by coincidence will seldom (read seldom as never) yield a role with expansive growth potential and long term satisfaction. It is not easy; it takes expertise, competitive edges of timing, better exposure and more powerful communications about capacity to win a position of your choice.

Eventually, Steve let a recruiter encourage him to “get his foot in door” in a company a few states over. It was his only “egg in his nest” and a few steps back to where he had been 8-9 years earlier…and he’d have to leave Sundays and come back home Fridays since relocation wasn’t even offered. But what choice does he have – it’s been 11 months since he was let go and savings have dwindled and he’s tired of being a stay-at-home dad.

Choice #4 – Choosing to take a job will only spiral down his career, his confidence, his perceived capability and his cash. Being talked into – that is recruited/sold – a cookie-cutter position versus taking a position that has been engineered around him. There should be no question.

Well, Steve has gotten accustomed to commute and his efficiency apartment and really looks forward to seeing his kids next weekend. The job is just that – he’s surviving, but there’s no challenge…same-o every day. That recruiter called back to say he’s got another job like this on East Coast – Steve hung up on him this time…about all energy he could muster. Been feeling really exhausted.

Choice #5 – Choosing to ignore his body cues of exhaustion only leads Steve to depression and powerlessness and feeling trapped again. Choosing to have proper rest, diet, exercise and balance of life invigorates.

Steve’s 17 month anniversary is coming up – he’s looking a little haggard from day-to-day grind. It’s Friday, about 2 and Steve’s boss wants him to come to conference room…and HR person is there…

Choice #6 – Steve can choose to run this cycle again…or choose to purposefully utilize his full potential by proactively marketing himself.

It’s Steve’s choice…it’s his career…it’s his life… Then, again, maybe it’s not Steve; maybe it’s you???

Bruce Benskin is a Regional Manager in Cincinnati for R.L. Stevens & Associates Inc. (http://www.interviewing.com), a career marketing firm and organization celebrating over 24 years of providing strategic marketing solutions for its clients’ career transitioning needs.