Is your job boring or lame? Maybe you should look into a career change. Here are a few Utah jobs that are definitely unique.
- Brine Shrimp Harvester
Shaun Fisher/flickr Spend your day out on the Great Salt Lake, harvesting brine shrimp.
- Truck Driver, Rio Tinto Kennecott Copper Pit
Rio Tinto Kennecott/Facebook Can you imagine driving a truck that’s as big as a house? These 320-ton trucks haul ore and waste. The tires alone stand 12.5 feet tall!
- Product Quality Technician, Browning Arms Company
Conor McDermottroe/flickr Someone has to inspect, then test fire Browning rifles, shotguns and pistols. If you enjoy target shooting and have a love for guns, this might be the best job on the planet!
- Security Guard at the LDS Granite Mountain Records Vault
Nick Bianco The mountain vault is located about one mile up Little Cottonwood Canyon, and it holds…well, only some people know for sure. The LDS church says it holds genealogical records, microfilm and other boring stuff…but it’s not accessible to the public. Maybe there’s aliens inside? Only top officials (and maybe security guards) know for sure! (This photo is clearly not of the vault…just the canyon. There aren’t any copyright-free images available).
- Bike Taxi Driver in Salt Lake City
SLC Bike Taxi/Facebook Now that the city no longer has horse-drawn carriage, bike taxis are surely more popular than ever with tourists. I know that bike taxis exist in cities all over the world. As a driver in Salt Lake, you surely have your hands full outlining our liquor laws, dodging Suburbans and trying to explain that they can’t go INTO the temple, all while getting a workout.
- Ski Instructor, Utah Ski Resorts
Brighton Ski Resort/Facebook Yes, ski instructors also exist everywhere. But Utah is different! Visitors from all over the world come to Utah to check out our famous snow. Many of them are already expert skiers — some, not so much. Utah’s ski instructors work with people who have never even SEEN snow and often don’t speak English. They manage to teach and inspire guests all while having fun. The best thing about being a ski instructor in Utah as opposed to other places is that you get to ski the best powder in the world for free!
- Fish Hatchery Manager
USFW Fish and Aquatic Conservation/flickr Fish hatchery managers and their assistants inspect fish for disease, conduct educational tours and monitor fish distribution throughout the state. Most have degrees in biology or other related fields.
- Mascot for Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake/Facebook Leo the Lion might have the best job in the entire state! He gets to attend tons of events all over the state — he appears at more than 250 community events every year. They let him use the t-shirt launcher AND the silly string cannon at games. He devises stunts and acrobatics and performs with thousands of people watching him. And, I’m guessing he probably gets to hang out with Kyle Beckerman and the rest of the team.
- Concierge/Tour Driver, Zion National Park
Zion National Park Lodge/Facebook Spend your day showing people Utah’s most popular national park. You’ll lead tours in the open-air tram, answer questions about the park and help guests find activities suited to them. Employees at Zion National Park live, work and play in some of Utah’s most beautiful surroundings.
- Video Game Tester, Disney Interactive
Wlodi/flickr Avalanche Software, one of Utah’s largest studios, recently posted a job opening for a Software Development Engineer in Test — basically a highly-skilled software engineer who gets to “test” games for Disney. It’s not ALL fun and games…you have to debug and troubleshoot programs, create testing plans and probably attend a lot of meetings. But it IS also fun and games!
Do you have a unique Utah job? Tell us about it in the comments!
Shaun Fisher/flickr
Spend your day out on the Great Salt Lake, harvesting brine shrimp.
Rio Tinto Kennecott/Facebook
Can you imagine driving a truck that’s as big as a house? These 320-ton trucks haul ore and waste. The tires alone stand 12.5 feet tall!
Conor McDermottroe/flickr
Someone has to inspect, then test fire Browning rifles, shotguns and pistols. If you enjoy target shooting and have a love for guns, this might be the best job on the planet!
Nick Bianco
The mountain vault is located about one mile up Little Cottonwood Canyon, and it holds…well, only some people know for sure. The LDS church says it holds genealogical records, microfilm and other boring stuff…but it’s not accessible to the public. Maybe there’s aliens inside? Only top officials (and maybe security guards) know for sure! (This photo is clearly not of the vault…just the canyon. There aren’t any copyright-free images available).
SLC Bike Taxi/Facebook
Now that the city no longer has horse-drawn carriage, bike taxis are surely more popular than ever with tourists. I know that bike taxis exist in cities all over the world. As a driver in Salt Lake, you surely have your hands full outlining our liquor laws, dodging Suburbans and trying to explain that they can’t go INTO the temple, all while getting a workout.
Brighton Ski Resort/Facebook
Yes, ski instructors also exist everywhere. But Utah is different! Visitors from all over the world come to Utah to check out our famous snow. Many of them are already expert skiers — some, not so much. Utah’s ski instructors work with people who have never even SEEN snow and often don’t speak English. They manage to teach and inspire guests all while having fun. The best thing about being a ski instructor in Utah as opposed to other places is that you get to ski the best powder in the world for free!
USFW Fish and Aquatic Conservation/flickr
Fish hatchery managers and their assistants inspect fish for disease, conduct educational tours and monitor fish distribution throughout the state. Most have degrees in biology or other related fields.
Real Salt Lake/Facebook
Leo the Lion might have the best job in the entire state! He gets to attend tons of events all over the state — he appears at more than 250 community events every year. They let him use the t-shirt launcher AND the silly string cannon at games. He devises stunts and acrobatics and performs with thousands of people watching him. And, I’m guessing he probably gets to hang out with Kyle Beckerman and the rest of the team.
Zion National Park Lodge/Facebook
Spend your day showing people Utah’s most popular national park. You’ll lead tours in the open-air tram, answer questions about the park and help guests find activities suited to them. Employees at Zion National Park live, work and play in some of Utah’s most beautiful surroundings.
Wlodi/flickr
Avalanche Software, one of Utah’s largest studios, recently posted a job opening for a Software Development Engineer in Test — basically a highly-skilled software engineer who gets to “test” games for Disney. It’s not ALL fun and games…you have to debug and troubleshoot programs, create testing plans and probably attend a lot of meetings. But it IS also fun and games!
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