Usually when someone is accused of spending their days “sitting around eating bonbons,” it is meant to be an insult.
You might feel differently, however, about getting paid to while away the hours munching on chocolate—and it turns out this dream job actually exists.
Mondelez International, the company responsible for treats such as Cadbury chocolates, Chips Ahoy!, Toblerone and Oreos, is hiring for one chocolate & cocoa beverage taster and three chocolate tasters.
You might be concerned about how eating chocolate all day could affect your health, but luckily, the chocolate & cocoa beverage taster position is part-time.
According to the job description, tasters will work at the Whiteknights campus of Reading University in Reading, England. No experience is required for the role, but they are looking for candidates with a “passion for confectionary and taste buds for detection.”
The job is collaborative and you’ll work in their dedicated sensory booths and discussions room, trying out new products with other panelists and providing feedback. The job pays  £9 (or about $12.45) an hour.
As for the chocolate taster role, the company is looking to hire three part-time workers all located in Reading, England.
Based on the listing, the chocolate taster role doesn’t sound much different from the chocolate & cocoa taster position in terms of experience required and job duties. It also pays the same rate.
No matter which role you apply for, the company says that “honesty and objectivity” are a must when it comes to sharing your opinion. You’ll also need to be open to trying new products and flavors.
If you get an interview, you’ll be asked to attend an “assessment day” to taste up to 10 samples and discuss your findings.
As you might imagine, competition for these jobs is pretty stiff. In fact, when the company advertised a job opening last year, they received 1,500 applications within 24 hours and 6,000 applications in total.
Applicants were from every corner of the globe, including from Australia and the United States.
Dream job alert! We're looking for 4 (yes 4!) chocolate connoisseurs to join our Reading Science Centre research team part-time. Chocoholics can find out more here: https://t.co/hwdjqm0iNn Good luck! pic.twitter.com/OTdmsrNu6a
— Cadbury UK (@CadburyUK) February 9, 2018
“Chocolate tasters are vital to our business as their input helps us to perfect our products before they hit the shelves,” Afsha Chugtai, who oversees the tasting panels at Reading, told The Sun. “I can’t wait to see who makes the cut this year to join our 4,000 chocolate-loving employees across the UK.”
Last year, a woman was hired for a similar position because she could tell the difference between two pieces of chocolate.
If you think you have what it takes to taste chocolate professionally, you can apply online and wait to hear back from a Cadbury recruiter. The company is taking applications until Feb. 16.
Of course, the positions are based in England which is kind of a logistical bummer. But good luck if you decide to apply!
As for the rest of us, we’ll just be over here dreaming/drooling about all the chocolate we could be tasting!
About the Author
Kate Streit lives in Chicago. She enjoys stand-up comedy, mystery novels, memoirs, summer and pumpkin spice anything. More.
