10 Useless and Boring Online Jobs – Why? Why Choose?

A lot of online jobs out there may appear attractive or lucrative but not many offer real value - some are completely useless and can actually be detrimental to your career prospects. There are definitely some tasks that you should avoid because they can be incredibly boring. Some of those tasks require very little creativity or thought process, they can quickly become mundane over time. So here are 10 of the useless, boring, and uncool jobs online.

#1 Social Media Manager

The elusive social media manager. They're the ones behind all those catchy hashtags and viral posts that flood our newsfeeds. But the job can be overhyped by those who haven't actually experienced themselves. Not as easy as it sounds.

First off, social media managers spend hours upon hours scrolling through feeds and monitoring engagement metrics. It's endless data analysis that can quickly become monotonous. And let's not forget about dealing with trolls and negative comments – definitely not the most glamorous part of the job.

Standing out on social media requires more than just witty captions or stunning visuals. It takes time-consuming research to understand your target users and constantly adapt strategies to stay ahead of competitors.

And while being "popular" on Instagram might sound cool at first glance, building a genuine network and making meaningful connections often falls by the wayside when chasing likes and followers will become the sole focus.

#2 Search Engine Optimization Specialist

SEO specialists are tasked with improving a website's visibility on Google. But it’s extremely hard to get a good result for their customers.

One reason is that search engine algorithms are constantly changing, so you have to work your ass off to keep learning them and keep trying and testing them forever. It’s hard to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of SEO.

If you take money from your client and can’t get their webpage pushed to SERP No. 1, your reputation will plummet. If you work for a company as an in-house SEO specialist and don’t get results, you’ll be fired.  

#3 Online Surveys

Surveys-for-cash. They still exist, and many websites offer monetary rewards or incentives for participating in their surveys. and tell you that they are “ways to make money online.” But taking surveys all day, every day, really? It’s not even a job. Here are some of the obvious reasons;

• Repetitive Nature: Surveys typically involve answering a series of questions, often covering similar topics. This repetitive nature can become monotonous and uninteresting over time.
• Time-Consuming: Surveys can be time-consuming, requiring you to spend a lot of time answering questions. Not commensurate with the effort expended.
• Limited Financial Compensation: The compensation for each survey is extremely low. You need to complete multiple surveys to earn a decent amount of money, which is tedious.
• Lack of Engagement: Surveys typically lack the engaging elements found in other online jobs. You feel disconnected, which can contribute to a sense of boredom.

#4 Virtual Call Center Agent

Virtual call center agent roles involve handling customer inquiries, providing assistance, and resolving issues via phone or other communication channels, all while working remotely. Someone’s got to do it, and millions of call center agents are out there. But with absolute respect, you're doing the job that people outsource, i.e. your contributions don't get the credit you deserve.

• Repetitive Tasks: Call center agents often deal with a high volume of incoming messages, requiring them to follow established scripts or processes to handle common inquiries. The repetition can make the job feel monotonous compared to other roles that involve more problem-solving.
• Standardized Procedures: Call centers typically have standardized procedures and protocols for addressing customer concerns. Agents are expected to follow guidelines and adhere to company policies. Limiting autonomy means reducing the sense of excitement or challenge.
• Dealing with Customer Complaints: Call center agents deal with unhappy customers. Addressing customer complaints can be emotionally draining, especially when faced with difficult customers.
• Lack of Variety: Agents are expected to handle a range of inquiries. Yet, a lack of variety in the types of interactions which means less exciting for those seeking diverse experiences.

#5 Pay-Per-Click Manager

The role of a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Manager may sound important, the main task is to manage paid search campaigns on Google Ads or Meta Ads. They obsess over keywords, bids, and ad copy, hoping to drive traffic and conversions for their clients.

But here's the thing – PPC campaigns are often fleeting moments in the vast landscape of online marketing. It's like trying to build a sandcastle at high tide – sure, you might see some results at times, but they quickly disappear into oblivion.

PPC Managers spend hours analyzing data and tweaking campaigns to improve performance. Sounds exciting? Not really! It's an endless cycle of monitoring metrics and making small adjustments that may or may not make any difference.

Dedicating your time solely to managing pay-per-click campaigns seems uncool. 

#6 Online Product Tester

Receiving free products to test may sound appealing, an you might actually enjoy it once or twice. But you’ll soon find out the job is boring while the pay is low. 

• Tedious documentation: As an online product tester, you may be required to meticulously document your feedback of the products you test. This involves repetitive tasks, detailed note-taking, which is monotonous and time-consuming.
• Detailed feedback requirements: Companies often expect product testers to provide comprehensive but really specific feedback, such as the product functionality, design, usability, and potential improvements. Quite burdensome, especially if they are not particularly passionate about the product.
• Limited compensation: The compensation is minimal or may only involve receiving free products in exchange for your feedback. While you may appreciate the opportunity to try out new products, you may also find the compensation inadequate.
• Uncertainty of impact: Testing often occurs during the development or pre-launch stages of a product. Your feedback may or may not have an impact on the final product. The uncertainty about the influence of your efforts can make the job feel less meaningful.
• Lack of long-term career prospects: It’s a temporary, project-based job, rather than a long-term career option. If you are seeking stable jobs with growth opportunities, definitely not the one.

You might as well do product testing/unboxing on YouTube or TikTok and make ad income or affiliate income through the views instead. Although you’ll have to buy products yourself, you can work in the way you want to and say what you want to say which is a little more motivating.

#7 Email Marketer

Email marketing can indeed be a repetitive, boring job. You could make good gross revenue, but you really need to be careful of your spending.

• Acquiring Leads: Building an email list of leads is time-consuming, costly, and forever continuous. It involves lead generation campaigns and paid advertising incl. solo ads. The day-in, day-out effort required to acquire new leads can be emotionally draining.
• Repetitive Email Content: Creating and sending emails to a large audience often involves following established templates. If you think “rinse and repeat” is an attractive phrase, it’s not! A repetitive job will only limit your creativity. Less stimulating.
• Deliverability and Spam Complaints: Factors such as spam filters, email deliverability issues, or uninterested recipients can affect the effectiveness of campaigns. Sending frequent emails to those who haven't explicitly opted in can result in spam complaints too. It can be so stressful.
• Data Analysis and Optimization: Email marketing involves monitoring key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Again, continuous testing, tweaking, and tracking are time-consuming and repetitive.

#8 Freelance Blogger/Ghostwriter

Freelance blogging or ghostwriting can indeed be perceived as demotivating for some people, especially when topics are specified by someone else.

• Lack of Personal Interest: As a freelance blogger or ghostwriter, you may be assigned topics that don't align with your areas of expertise. Writing about subjects that you have no passion for is painfully unfulfilling.
• Limited Creative Freedom: When writing for clients, you are often expected to follow their guidelines. This can restrict your creative freedom and make the writing process less enjoyable, as you have to adhere to someone else's vision.
• Repetitive Content: You may be required to produce a high volume of content regularly. If you use an AI writer, you need to make sure to humanize the content. Extremely repetitive when constantly writing about similar topics, which can dampen enthusiasm.
• Limited Authorship Recognition: Ghostwriting, in particular, involves writing content that is credited to someone else. The lack of authorship recognition reduces the sense of satisfaction that comes from seeing your name associated with your work.

#9 Data Entry Clerk

The fact that anyone can “enter data” makes it hard to get the job in the first place. Pay is not great, and it’s not really a job title that anyone can be proud of. 

• Repetitive work: You have to enter the same kind of information over and over again. This can make the job feel repetitive and boring.
• Monotonous tasks: Typing… Copying information... These tasks don't require much thinking, which can make the job less interesting.
• Lack of variety: The work usually involves entering data into a spreadsheet, which doesn't offer much variety. You will not feel engaged by the tasks.

#10 Pyramid Scheme Promoter

Most network marketing owners know that pyramid schemes are illegal because they don’t have a product. So they usually come up with a low-quality product and pretend to sell it well. But in fact, their main activity is to promote their multi-level commission structure, which is very complex sometimes. 

You think you can earn multiple levels of income by recruiting as many other people. But what you’re doing is effectively, promoting a pyramid scheme. It’s unethical because;

• Exploitative Nature: Relying on continuously recruiting new participants to sustain the structure. This means that the focus is on recruitment rather than offering genuine products. You'll end up exploiting people by encouraging them to join a scheme that ultimately benefits only those at the top.
• Financial Losses: Most of the network marketing schemes with low-quality products are designed to collapse at some point because it becomes unsustainable to recruit new members. When it collapses, people who joined later will experience financial losses since they are unable to recruit enough others to make a profit.
• Deceptive Promises: They make false promises of quick and easy wealth with minimal effort. In reality, only a small percentage of those who at the top of the pyramid benefit, while the majority of participants lose money.
• Damage to Relationships: When you promote such schemes, you may unknowingly convince people you care about to join something that could harm them financially.

10 Useless and Boring Online Jobs: Final Words

Life is too short for boring work. Find truly exciting opportunities and never settle for less than what makes you feel alive. Choose your path carefully and don't hesitate to take risks when they align with your true aspirations.

So let us know - have you ever fallen victim to one of these pointless gigs? Or have you managed to steer clear from them altogether? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!