Desire the worst job? Get smart!

Earlier this month (on 14 JUN 2007), Popular Science returned with its famous annual (or bi-annual?) list entitled "The Worst Jobs in Science" for this year.

And this time, Microsoft-haters get more boosts to further make fun of the mega corporation (is Jason Daley/Pop Science picking a fight with Microsoft?):-

1. ComputerWorld: Studying maggots a better job than being a Microsoft security grunt?


2. Zhakonda: По горячим следам=) [I can't read this either ;-)]


3. mi3ch.livejournal: десятка [Is this Russian too? Many hackers from there, so it's natural!]


4. The Borjas Blog: ...The very definition of a live oxymoron...


5. DumbCoder: 10 reasons to be thankful for your job


6. Amazon Newstand: ...Longest To-Do List...


7. Nicki's MOG: Be Glad You May Be a Pencil-Pusher


8. Chocolanata: Don't complain yours anymore! [published on Microsoft Live Spaces]


9. 2-speed: ...work 24/7 to address the security holes in Microsoft’s products...


10. Andrew Hay: Worst Jobs in Science 2007 - Microsoft Security Grunt

Oops, my bad... I love Microsoft!
[I do NOT want to be blacklisted by them]


Say, you think that you are 'brilliant' enough?

If you are accepted for any of these 'worst' jobs, then you'll know that you are brilliant, indeed:-

#10: Whale-Feces Researcher
They scoop up whale dung, then dig through it for clues -- this should be fun, especially if you get to meet Jaws instead.

#9: Forensic Entomologist
Solving murders by studying maggots -- you want them fried easy or done?

#8: Olympic Drug Tester
 Going to Beijing in 2008 anyone?
When your job is drug testing the world’s top athletes, there’s no way to win -- you get to 'play' with drugs and make friends with addicts.

#7: Gravity Research Subject
They’re strapped down so astronauts can blast off

#6: Microsoft Security Grunt
Like wearing a big sign that reads “Hack Me”

#5: Coursework Carcass Preparer
They kill, pickle, and bottle the critters that schoolkids cut up

#4: Garbologist
Think Indiana Jones— in a Dumpster -- Love the trilogy!

#3: Elephant Vasectomist
When your patient is Earth’s largest land animal, sterilization is a big job

#2: Oceanographer
Nothing but bad news, day in and day out

#1: Hazmat Diver
They swim in sewage. Enough said.

“The worst was at a factory pig farm,” says Steven M. Barsky, the author of Diving in High-Risk Environments, the industry bible for hazardous-materials divers. “A guy had driven his truck into the waste lagoon and drowned. Not only was it full of urine and liquid pig feces, the farmer had dumped all the needles used to inject the pigs with antibiotics and hormones in there.” Someone had to recover the body, and the task fell to commercial hazmat divers.

...

The divers are generally well-paid, but hey, so are accountants. “To be an expert,” Barsky says, “you need to be a chemist, a physician, a biologist and 10 other things. Not many people are.”

Read more at this month's issue of Popular Science.

Older lists:-

The top 10 worst jobs in science from Popular Science, 2005:

1. Human Lab Rat


2. Manure Inspector


3. Kansas Biology Teacher


4. Extremophile Excavator


5. Nuclear-Weapons Scientist


6. Volcanologist


7. Semen Washer


8. Do-Gooder


9. NASA Ballerina


10. Orangutan-Pee Collector [You can still stay in Malaysia!]
    

The worst jobs in science from Popular Science, 2003:

1. Flatus Odor Judge


2. Dysentery Stool-Sample Analyzer


3. Barnyard Masturbator


4. Brazil Mosquito Researcher


5. Hot-Zone Superintendent


6. Isolation Chamber Tester


7. Fistula Feeder


8. Prison Rape Researcher


9. Carcass Cleaner


10. Postdoc


11. Metric System Advocate


12. Corpse-Flower Grower


13. Endangered Species Ecologist


14. Astronaut


15. Fish Counter


16. U.S. Stem Cell Researcher


17. Planetary Protection Officer


18. Fusion Researcher

As a self-employed pajamaworking micropreneur, I had a very short salaried-employment experience. But I surely had my fair share of mundane jobs -- as a pizza delivery man [driving around was fun though!], a factory worker [I get to inspect rubber glovers, and 'professionally' trained to pull out those health products out of hot and fast-moving fiberglass hands], a computer programmer [close enough to 2007's Job #6] etc.

My worst job ever was not as bad as Pop Science's #1 in 2007, but close enough -- I once worked at kitchens and dining halls (and a fast-food restaurant) with tasks that involve cleaning pots and pans full of cooking oil residues priorly used for preparing meals consisting bacons, hams, pork etc, and you know how Muslims are suppose be at least 10-foot pole away from those! [I'm exaggerating... Though, after job would be going straight home for complete shower and ablution]

How about you? What was/is your worst job, to-date?

Related books:-

• Tony Robinson's "The Worst Jobs in History" (March 2007) and "The Worst Children's Jobs in History" - Buy them and save at Amazon.

Like working in pajamas, but still need all the perks of employment?

Working in Pj's sounds good, doesn't it? But this "professional" self-employment is not for everybody, all month long however. Spoiling yourself by not having to wake up early, take shower in the early morning, wear clean and nice-looking clothes, attend mandatory meetings, listen to everything your boss says, spend hours on commuting everyday etc. also means that you'd have to force yourself to work smart for money, enforce yourself some good disciplines, and find other ways to socialize because working alone, in a small room or in your living room (even with plethora of electronics and weird house mates or family members), will bore you to death! And for many micropreneurs who are starting to self-employ themselves, it's tough...

So, you keep your day job... And pretend you like it (to death!). Or you can bitch around and everybody who have heard you would care less about hiring you or recommending you to become one of their colleaguess. So, you shout out loud: is there any fun workplace in Malaysia, like the ones you've seen on TV? You know, like those Friends who make jokes all day long, yet score decently, in life, career etc.

Well, one employer may have heard you. And it's suprisingly, MSC-status! Check out a job posting by MindValley Lab at Craiglist. This company is based in KL, or Bangsar more specifically. And if you're lucky, maybe they'll send you off to Palo Alto or Las Vegas where you can kill yourself faster with even more fun -- just kidding about the suicide note. Jobs don't kill people. Unemployment and poverty do.

Say, folks at Pajamanation don't promote jobs, do they? Well, we don't normally, but for a company that's founded and run by my alma mater's alums, I'll make an exception. (After all, we'll employ people in Malaysia too, soon!). In fact, I myself was tempted to join them, except that I don't like programming much these days - I'm a computer engineer who doesn't really like to technically build computers. (I like others to build them for me so I can sell them as my own though.)

So you think, you're up for this one?

Well, you'd have to answer yes to these sets of questions first:

• Consider PHP your "mother tongue"? (me, me...)
  
• Get so addicted to a programming project that you went 2 days without sleeping?
• Consider people "un-datable" if they don't know HTML?
• Get complaints from your family that you spend way too much time on the Internet?
• Let relational databases get in the way of real-life relationships? (shit happens!)
  

And don't waste anybody's time, or yours, if you don't possess the following:

1. Intense Drive and Ambition.
2. High Creativity and the Mind of an Inventor.
3. A Solid Interest in Technology
4. Strong Skills in CSS and USer Interface Design
5. The Ability to Create Beautiful, Elegant User Experiences.

Even better, if you do one or more of these:

1. You've written your own internet or desktop apps and shared this on the Web with the General Public.
2. You have made money through your website, through selling your own internet apps or through your own IT related consulting business.
3. You constantly check out new internet startups, mashups, and blogs to learn about the latest Ajax, CSS, API releases and JavaScript hacks.
4. You were considered one of the brightest kids in High School/University.
5. You speak fluent English.
6. You look at websites and think "this sucks, I could re-design this site to make it more elegant, friendly and easier to use".
7. You love challenging authority, are not afraid to question your boss and look down on average programmers. (who doesn't... hehe! Malaysians are sons and daughters of Hang Jebat -- wait, did Hang Jebat got married?)
   

Vishen, the company's director said, "We don't care about your field of study, grades, age or work experience as long as you're a brilliant coder, hyper creative and a team player. (although we have found a strong positive correlation between grades and coding ability)."

• You must speak English - fluently. No other languages necessary. Although we're based in Malaysia our market is strictly North American, Europe, and East Asia.
• You can be from anywhere in the world. We recruit bright people from universities worldwide and bring them to KL. Our company 70% international, and 30% Malaysian.
• You must be in love with the Internet. No we don't mean, reading the news online daily. We mean you must be excited and up to speed with the latest emerging trends in Web 2.0, Ajax, PHP, RSS, OPML and other new buzzwords making their way through the Net.
• Bonus points if you're an avid user of eBay, Craigslist, BlinkList, Del.icio.us, Digg, or are an active Blogger.
• Major bonus points if you like hanging out at Mamak's, debating User Interface over pints of B***, going on team bonding trips to Redang and have a wicked sense of humor. (hmm... any International trips??)
  

And now, the exciting part: what will I get?

"If you make our team, we'll provide you a high-end laptop you can take home, a dedicated server, all the sugary, caffeinated beverages you need, a docking bay for your iPod (does it comes with an iPod, Vishen?) and a beautiful office. You'll work in a Silicon Valley style environment with amazing people from around the world, and help us build the next great Internet business.

We'll also pay you competitively plus grant you stock options."

And finally, the serious part:

• Compensation: RM 2500 - 5000 (fair enough, but hmm.. in KL??)
  
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job! (I once posted this note, and one wrote angrily -- "If you won't answer phone, I have no time for you". So what? Me neither, if you don't bother to read and answer emails!)
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

All the best to the jobseekers out there! Who knows, we'll heard about you soon... (all employers of this company will be treated as celebrities, so you must like the limelights!).

Don't forget to tell people that Pajamanation "connects workers and entrepreneurs".

If readers of this blog knows of any other companies that offer truly fun workplace that comes close to the comfort of your own home, do let us know. We'd like see more people working from home, but we think that jobs can give people ample entrepreneurship skills for later decisions in life. When you're ready, you'll know it!

Jobless Rate Rising In Asean Says ILO

By Hadi DP Mahmud

Bandar Seri Begawan - More than 27 million jobs were created from year 2000 to last year in Southeast Asia, according to a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO)

This represents an l l per cent increase in total employment in the region, which stood at 263 million last year, the ILO said the report, which is a compilation of comprehensive employment and social statistics including labour productivity, employment by sector and the informal economy of Asean countries. It is the first of its kind, said the ILO. The report stated that young people in the Asean region are being "disproportionately affected" in terms of unemployment.

The unemployment rate in Asean rose from 5 per cent to 6.6 per cent over the same period. However, this figure is skewed by the situation in Indonesia, which has the region's largest labour force. Unemployment in the world's most populous Muslim nation rose from 6.1 to 10.4 per cent.

According to the Brunei Darussalam Key Indicators 2006, there were 7,300 jobseekers in the sultanate last year. The unemployment rate in Brunei shot up 0.8 per cent from 2004 to 2005, and declined 0.3 per cent last year.

The United Nations-specialised agency called for Asean to increase labour productivity and narrow development gaps between members to ensure sustainable growth and build a thriving community by 2015.

The 107-page report, entitled Labour and Social Trends inAsean 2007: Integration, Challenges, Opportunities, warns that although unemployment is commonly seen as an important indicator, other crucial aspects of labour market performance deserve more attention. These include gender gaps, labour productivity, working conditions, the growing informal economy and the working poor. Despite recent economic growth, the region remains home to millions of poor.

Last year, more than half of Asean's 262 million workers earned less than US$2 per day, which leaves them and their families below the poverty line.

"What matters therefore, when evaluating labour market trends is not just the level of employment but also its nature and quality," the report stated.

The ILO warned Asean of its labour productivity, which is lagging far behind productivity bursts in India and China. Between 2000 and 2005, output per worker in Asean grew only 15.5 per cent compared to 26.9 in India and 63.4 per cent in China. "Because of its strong export-orientation, productivity growth is critical to Asean. Accelerating productivity growth is therefore essential, not only for competitiveness but for job creation and poverty reduction," the report noted. Cross-border labour migration is being driven by uneven labour supply and persistent development gaps, the report added. In 2005, the total number of migrants originating from Asean was estimated at 13.5 million, 39 per cent of whom were in other Asean member countries.

"The large and growing number of irregular migrants means that managing migration and ensuring migrants' protection are becoming pressing issues - a major task that Asean has now taken up with its recent Declaration and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers," the organisation said.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

SOURCE: Brudirect.com News (17 MAY 2007)