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We all want a high-paying job.

Some work for it. Some think they deserve it, while others think they are entitled to it.

Whatever the case, there are some jobs in Asia that wouldn’t have been first into your mind. And there are some that you wouldn’t even have thought of.

One of the most high-paying jobs in the Hong Kong area is that of a submarine chef – yes, you read correctly. A chef with six years experience of working on a submarine can earn up to $227,500 USD, which is about the same as a Rear Admiral in the Navy. The reason why it’s hard to lure a chef to work on an a submarine with the armed-forces, even thought the salary can be $4,000 a week, is that they tend to prefer the perks that dry land can afford them.

If being underwater is your thing, then how about pearl diving? Although it can be considered an incredibly dangerous profession, the rewards are staggering. Colin Burn, a jeweler in the pearl-harvesting town of Broome, Australia said “Pearl divers can pull in up to $110,000 for just two months of work.” Which sounds great, until you find out that you will spend all your working days 100 feet underwater gathering shells and oysters.

Another underwater occupation is that of Oil and Gas Divers. Qualified professionals in this industry can make up to $80,000 a year, according to Nidthia Chelvam, a general manager at leadership consultancy Hay Group. The job, for obvious reasons, can prove more complicated than recreational diving. These workers don’t just visit the underwater sites where oil is being extracted, they also perform technical and physically demanding tasks once down there, like inspecting and installing rigs, welding or laying pipe. “O&G divers work in some of the harshest conditions around the world,” Chelvam says. “They are required to carry out dives and repairs under risky conditions and even during bad weather. Additionally, there is the element of long separation from family. They are very highly trained and require specialized certification beyond other commercial divers. All this adds up to a significant premium.”

The thing about these jobs is that they may be high paying and sound exotic – the truth is they are incredibly dangerous and require a lifetime of knowledge and experience. Either way, no one ever said making that sort of money doing those jobs would be easy!

The jobs above are strange to say the least; not all of us would even think about doing one of those jobs if we had no desire to do them. So what if you don’t fancy the idea of swimming for your wages but still want a job that is out of the ordinary?

For those who have a distinctly mature palate, sommeliers in the region can earn huge amounts of money. An experienced foreign head sommelier can earn up to $10,250 per month – but that is if you can find a restaurant that could afford that high level of salary, which is unlikely considering that there is only 3 restaurants in Hong Kong that could afford that wage according to Eric Desgouttes, fine wine manager for the largest wine retail group in Hong Kong, Watson’s Wine Cellar. Sommeliers must know the details about myriad of wines. They develop restaurants’ wine lists, sourcing vintages from locales from France to California and advise clients on the choicest food-and-wine pairings.

Out of the ordinary jobs and out of this world salaries can be tempting, but the levels of danger and risk can exclude people from certain international health insurance policies. At William Russell, we cannot guarantee that we can cover every occupation or country, but we do invite you to contact one of our team or go and get an online quote just to see if you are eligible for one of our very competitive and comprehensive insurance policies.