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Home / New Zealand

Royal butler needed - can't be a Pisces

NZ Herald
20 Nov, 2019 05:45 PM2 mins to read

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Working as a butler has never seemed like the easiest job but a Buckingham Palace job ad for a new butler makes the position sound absolutely gruelling.

Not only is the service job seven days and 45-hours-a-week - it pays the equivalent of $3 less than the UK living wage.


But the job could well be a career builder.

No experience in hospitality is required and full on-the-job training is provided.

And you get fed.

The advert reads: "By joining our well-established career pathway, we will help you become an all-round hospitality expert.

"You'll deliver functions of all scales, from official lunches and receptions, to state occasions, providing an exceptional guest experience for all."

Plus, you get to work for the Queen - great for the resume.

Another butler service job for a weathly Russian family pays more but has a long list of essential skills.

The job description is very specific - and even required applicants watch British comedy drama Jeeves and Wooster "to see what is expected from the butler".

The Russian job was offering three times the pay as Buckingham Palace but applicants also needed to speak at least two languages, have basic Russian and knowedge of the best restaurants in London and the south of France.

Those applying must also have great negotiating skills to solve "any issue at school, shop and salon for the benefit of the family".

The family followed astrology and stated their preference was for someone under the sign of Sagittarius, Virgo, Aquarius, Capricorn or Leo.

The butler adverts are not the strangest seen recently.

An Australian boss wanted a new team member who was not only "stable and loyal" but who would take after-hours and weekend calls, "deal with profanity and not take things personally."

A job posted to Craigslist was off the scale odd.

A man in his 50s was looking for company to take to the Coachella music festival and had a strict list of requirements.

He was looking for someone between the ages of 19 and 25 who kept their hands and feet moisturised at all times, would let him brush their hair once a day and be OK with periodic hand-holding.

His demands didn't stop there:

"At least twice during the festival you must tell me in a playful manner that I am naughty."

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