The digital age has heralded seismic waves of change. One of the side effects is the existence of these ridiculous-sounding jobs.
Every day, as old industries fall and new ones blossom, the employment landscape grows murky.
There are many complicated side effects to the major shifts in the digital transformations in our society, but some of them are as ludicrous as they are simple.
New and previously unimaginable job descriptions are floating around jobs boards. Some of them exist as a necessary buttress to new industry, while others are the product of the type of frothing narcissism typical of contrived digital agency ‘About’ pages.
Even pre-existing jobs are being given increasingly wacky rebrands in an attempt by companies to convey a more relaxed and ‘hip’ corporate image, striving to communicate that large corporate goliaths also can do things ‘for the Vine’ or whatever.
We’ve decided to round up some of the most ridiculous job titles we could find.
Meme librarian
Personally, I would be quick to defend the nature of this kind of position. The flash-in-the-pan nature of viral memes means that there are often cultural artefacts and jokes that are forgotten as quickly as they achieve notoriety. They may seem inconsequential and silly, but memes have been elevated to a significant form of communication and digital expression simply because they are ubiquitous.
Amanda Brennan is a content and community associate at Tumblr, but she is often referred to as a ‘meme librarian’. Brennan sifts through original content and catalogues ongoing trends – a sort of internet archivist, if you will. While we don’t question the necessity, it is undoubtedly one of the more ridiculous job titles we’ve seen.
Product philosopher
Someone at Google is desperate to make their dissertation on Deleuze relevant to their career, because both these positions are on offer at the renowned tech firm.
‘Product philosopher’, a position once held by Tristan Harris, involves “researching ways Google could adopt ethical design”.
Not only is there a product philosopher, there has also been an ‘in-house philosopher’, a title once held by entrepreneur and philosophy professor Damon Horowitz. The position entailed approaching engineering problems “from a humanistic perspective”.
We’re certainly supportive of taking a more holistic approach to innovation and better appreciating what the arts has to offer to STEM, but these positions do admittedly sound a bit like something dreamed up by a liberal arts graduate pretending he likes whiskeys in the smoking area of a dive bar.
Cat cuddler
News of this job being advertised by a veterinary clinic in Dublin caused a bit of an internet storm, with feline enthusiasts the world over nearly exploding with excitement.
The listing read: “Are you a crazy cat person and love cats? Does cattitude come naturally to you?”
It’s unclear whether the position has been filled, as the jobs listing remains on the website. It could very well not exist as a real position at all and be a (quite genius) marketing ploy but, regardless, it is nice to think that someone could pay their bills by scratching kittens behind the ears.
Fashion evangelist
Another Tumblr offering, those artsy, aesthetic images floating around need to come from someone, such as ‘fashion evangelist’ Valentine Uhovski. Uhovski partners with bloggers, designers and brands such as Vera Wang and Calvin Klein to create and produce content.
His title garnered a lot of attention when media first got wind of it. Uhovski seems to now refer to himself as a person who works in ‘culture’ at Tumblr.
Chief flavour officer
Certainly not the first thing when you imagine when you think of ‘CFO’, this role was awarded to none other than pop sensation Justin Timberlake after he invested in beverage start-up Bai Brands.
The position involves steering product development and advising (and sometimes starring) in marketing campaigns. The singer has had to suspend his delectable duties, however, in advance of his 2018 Superbowl performance due to the event’s PepsiCo sponsorship.