Any jobs going for astronauts?

5 September 2001 - Superhero, trapeze artist, goddess, astronaut and slave are just some of jobs people have looked for online, according to an analysis of 6 million career searches made on Fish4jobs during the past month.

"The vast majority of searches done on our site every month are serious ones," says Fish4jobs publisher Ian Sprackling.

"However, a lot of workers seem to fantasise about a completely new career as a `superhero' for example, or hope to see a position open as an `astronaut'.

"Though we unfortunately can't claim to hold current vacancies for `billionaires', we do have an enormous range of dream jobs available. For example, the people who thought it would be a laugh to type in `tree surgeon', `tarot card reader', `wine taster' and `lap dancer' will have been in for a surprise as positions for all four have been advertised on the website over the past month!"

The research found that more than 1000 people could not spell common job titles correctly, including 15 different misspellings for 'secretary.'

Sercretary
Secrretary
Secetary
Sectary
Sacretery
Sacratary
Scretary
Secretie
Secraterie
Secritarie
Secreatarie
Secutery
Secitery
Secreatire
Secrectree

Apart from 110 people spelling `secretary' wrongly, 51 people replaced receptionist with anything from `recepshionist' to `receiptionist'. Manager became `meneger', `managar' and `manger' for 34 applicants.

According to Ian Sprackling: "Though it's easy to miss out the odd letter here or there when doing a search on a PC, attention to detail is one of the most important things employers look for.

"Therefore let's hope that the person wanting to become a 'manger' hasn't made the same mistake on his/her CV. However, the people who got it completely wrong and decided they want to become a 'recepshionists' or 'secreties' should maybe consider a career change!"

Top ten searches for jobs that don't exist

1. Mover and shaker
2. Billionaire
3. Superhero
4. Nun
5. Busy bee
6. Slave
7. Astronaut
8. Layabout
9. Male porn star
10. Trapeze artist

Top ten unusual searches - where there have been vacancies on Fish4jobs
1. Lap Dancer (posted for a club in Blackpool)
2. "Car Jockey" (An excusive hotel in Scotland wanted 'car jockeys' to park guests' cars)
3. Tarot Card Reader (Two vacancies available, one working from a call centre)
4. Trainee Forensic Psychiatrist (postgraduate post in Newcastle)
5. Tree surgeon (Several vacancies)
6. Footwear designer (design company in West Yorkshire)
7. Drag racer (Company in Basingstoke has sought professional drag car drivers)
8. Rectal surgeon (A vacancy was posted for a health professional specialising in 'Colo-Rectal Surgery'!)
9. Reporter for the local paper (several positions nationwide)
10. Lollipop lady (over the summer, several councils were seeking lollipop ladies or men)