Odd Jobs: Working with Burial Plots and Moving Millions in Cash
Have you ever had an odd job that left you questioning your career choices? Here are two stories from my past that are quite memorable.
Burial Plots in State College, PA
Right after I graduated from college and just before I went off to my officer's basic course, I found myself working as a salesperson for a rather unusual company. More specifically, I was selling burial plots in the university town of State College, PA. While the idea of selling something so somber to a population predominantly comprising college students might seem off-putting, the pay-as-you-go nature of the job was tempting for a college graduate who was already in a bit of financial trouble.
At the time, I was so broke that I took any job I could get. My goal was to sell expensive plots where people, presumably after their death, would be laid to rest for eternity. However, these plots were located outside of town, and the sales were entirely commission-based—no sales, no pay.
To conduct my sales efforts, I was handed a script, a typewritten list of names and phone numbers, and my instructions were clear: "Have at it."
Can you imagine how well that worked out?
No one in their early 20s, enjoying a dinner in a college town, would be receptive to a cold call offering them a chance to save up for an expensive burial site years, if not decades, in the future. I’m sure even the sleazy and incredibly successful serial salesman, Jordan Belfort (of “The Wolf of Wall Street” fame), would have struggled to close a sale under these circumstances.
Moving Millions in Cash
When I was 18, I landed an even more bizarre job at the engineering division of a company called De La Rue Systems. This company specializes in cash-counting machines and money sorters, equipment that banks and central banks use to manage large quantities of cash.
During my tenure, De La Rue had two sites, approximately 4 miles apart. My role was to act as a product analyst, testing the machines and providing feedback to the engineers. One day, we needed to move some foreign currency, specifically German Marks, from one site to the other. The cash was loaded into a wooden box with a padlock attached and then tucked into my backpack. I then set out on my mountain bike to make the 4-mile journey from one site to the other.
Given that the boxes contained around ￡50k in 1997, that’s equivalent to about ￡93k today or $111k (USD) in current dollars. There was no insurance, no security, and I was an 18-year-old very much on my own with 100k in my rucksack on a pedal bike.
We also occasionally visited cash processing centers to test the machines. On these occasions, I would sometimes sign out ￡1 million in cash to run tests on the machines, but this occurred in secure environments and the cash was returned after use.
Lessons Learned
These two jobs, while odd, taught me valuable lessons. The first taught me to be skeptical of quick and easy money, especially when it involves high-pressure sales techniques. The second job reminded me to always consider security and the potential risks involved in handling large amounts of cash, even when the environment was deemed secure at that time.
Though these stories might make for interesting conversation starters, they are also a reminder of the diverse and often unpredictable nature of work. Whether it's selling burial plots or moving millions in cash, it’s important to stay adaptable and resourceful.