Some jobs pay well because they require a huge amount of skill. Some jobs pay well because they require a huge amount of experience. And some jobs pay well because… well, nobody else is prepared to do them, whether that’s because they’re dangerous, disgusting or just incredibly tedious.
They’ve been mulling this over on the AskUK subreddit after user BenAdam321 asked this question:
What job pays absurdly well just because no one else is willing to do it?
Here are some career options that are definitely only worth it for the cold, hard cash.
1.
‘Commercial diver who can weld things. It’s a little dangerous, and largely involves spending your day underwater off the coast of Scotland fixing oil rigs.’
–Zealousideal_Rub6758
2.
‘There are guys who crawl inside the water cooling pipes in nuclear reactors to clean them. The pipes are at 80 degrees even though the reactor is ‘cool’ so they wear special suits and have an air supply. Apparently they’ll work six months, or until they reach their maximum radiation dose for the year, and take the rest of the time off.
No thanks.’
–PM_ME_YOUR_ARGO
3.
‘On a more quaint level, there aren’t many thatchers left in the UK, but if you have a thatched roof it needs replacing every 20 or so years and it is very difficult to get planning permission to just get a slate/tiled roof instead as many are listed/protected. So if you’re a good thatcher, there’s lots of work and very good money.’
–RecentTwo544
4.
‘If you’re a British butler you can make good money overseas. With on call bonuses and housing it can be hundreds of thousands a year. The hours can be gruelling and you’re pretty much just a show piece for visitors.
You’ll be expected to wait on your employer on hand and foot (sometimes literally). Not to mention the kind of people who can afford you are not usually kindhearted.’
–LingonberryPossible6
5.
‘A lot of commission-based sales jobs, mostly because it’s a brutally unforgiving industry that chews up anyone without the resilience and work ethic needed to keep going at it day after day, pitch after pitch. Those that can cut it can earn a lot of money, but if you can’t, then walk away immediately as you’ll hate every minute!’
–bruvlowski
6.
‘Cobol software engineer. The language has been dead for decades for good reasons but banks and military applications are too afraid to update the whole thing to more modern languages and these things need maintenance and new features.’
–made-of-questions
7.
‘Not in the UK, but I once saw a documentary about a Dutch guy who cleaned apartments where people had died. Some of their corpses having laid there for several months. He has his own professional cleaning company and has made a small fortune with that work, but only because no one else wants to do it.’
–LotharLotharius
8.
‘Offshore work and FIFO mining. It’s hard to get into, and you need skills beyond just wanting to do it.’
–Airborne_Stingray
9.
‘I once contemplated a job offer as a night shift mortuary assistant. It was a long time ago and back then they were allowed to work alone. Embalming bodies. Alone. At night. At the time I was earning 3 quid an hour on a till. This paid £35 an hour.’
–vctrmldrw
10.
‘I don’t know if it’s absurdly well, but a friend of mine is a van driver for a company delivering stuff to factories – overalls mostly. Because the drivers all set off about 3am everyday, he’s on about 45k.’
–wardyms
11.
‘Dry stone walling. It’s not easy to get into, as you will need someone to teach you, maybe be an apprentice. But if you can get that, and you enjoy working in open fields whilst It pisses it down, then you can earn good money doing it.’
–Bigtallanddopey
