500强8大酷到没朋友的工作

Every Fortune 500 company has executives and employees who serve in recognizable roles. Accountants, lawyers, HR staff—these professional make the Fortune 500 run. But many companies on the list have employees who have jobs that are unique to the companies they serve. We set out to find some of the coolest corporate gigs around. These are the roles that help make the Fortune 500 fun.

每家《财富》美国500强（Fortune 500）公司都有一批岗位明确的高管和员工。会计、律师、人力资源专员——正是这些专业人士让这些公司得以顺利运转。但这张榜单上也有很多公司的员工，他们的工作是这些公司所独有的。下面我们就将揭秘这些公司里最酷的工作，正是它们让《财富》美国500强榜单显得饶有趣味。

Loadmaster - UPS

装卸长——UPS公司

Bland Matthews has transported just about everything from army hospitals in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to the Terracotta Warriors from Shanghai to the U.S. for exhibition. But the most unusual request? One from the Georgia Aquarium asking to move four beluga whales and six whale sharks to its facility over the course of two-and-a-half years.

布兰德•马修斯几乎什么都运过，既有卡特里娜飓风袭击后的陆军医院，也有从上海运往美国参展的兵马俑。而最不同寻常的运货要求是，乔治亚州水族馆要求在两年半时间里把四条白鲸和六条鲸鲨运到水族馆。

“No one knew how we were going to do that,” he says. “It’s not like goldfish in plastic bags.” Matthews escorted the sharks on a 747 jet from Taiwan and Mexico, had them loaded onto flatbed trucks after landing in Atlanta, and driven to the aquarium with police escort. It’s unofficial, but he believes UPS holds the record for the most fish on a plane: 270,000 of them, transported in 72 individual tanks from Taipei to Atlanta.

他说：“当时没人知道该怎么运这些大家伙，它们可不是塑料袋里的小金鱼。”结果，马修斯坐着波音747从台湾和墨西哥启程，一路护送这些鲨鱼到了亚特兰大，再把它们装上平板卡车，在警察的护送下把它们送到了水族馆。尽管没有正式记载，但他相信UPS公司保持着一条记录，在同一架飞机上运送最多数量的鱼：一共27万条，分装在72个水箱里，一路从台北运到亚特兰大。

Today Matthews is the International Postal Operations Manager for UPS Airlines—a service that transports mail internationally for the United States Postal Service, which doesn’t have its own air fleet.

现在马修斯已经是UPS航空公司的国际邮务运营经理了——这项业务主要负责为美国邮政服务公司（the United States Postal Service）在国际范围内运送邮件，因为后者没有自己的机队。

Senior Research Engineer, Biomimicry - 3M

仿生学高级研发工程师——3M公司

Dr. Vasav Sahni’s mom freaked out when he told her he’d be studying spiders and geckos for his PhD. He’s not a big fan of the creatures either, but Sahni uses them as inspiration to make products that have real-world applications--a field called biomimicry. Geckos, for example, can hold 100 to 1,000 times their weight on one leg, stick to surfaces that are dirty and wet, and unstick themselves in a fraction of a second.

当初瓦萨•萨尼博士告诉妈妈自己的博士论文主要研究蜘蛛和壁虎时，他妈妈吓坏了。他其实并不喜欢这两种动物，但他要从它们身上获得启发，研究有实际用途的产品——这就是所谓的仿生学研究。比如，壁虎单腿就能支撑重量为自己体重100倍到1000倍的重物，能附着在又湿又脏的表面，还能一眨眼就拔出脚来。

Post-it maker 3M hired Sahni while he was still pursuing his PhD, studying the webs of black widow and common garden spiders, including the spider pictured above. Now he’s using his research to make adhesives used in orthodontia, skin and wound care, and systems to hang items as heavy as LCD TVs and paintings.

生产便利贴的3M公司在萨尼还在攻读博士学位时就聘用了他。当时他正在研究黑寡妇蜘蛛和普通花园蜘蛛的网，还有上图所示的这种蜘蛛。现在他正用自己的研究成果制造用于牙齿矫正术、皮肤和伤口护理及悬挂液晶电视和绘画这类物体的粘合剂。

Vehicle Collections Specialist - Harley Davidson Museum

摩托车收藏专家——哈雷摩托博物馆

Bill Rodencal owns eight vintage Harleys and rode his 1914 bike across the country (16 days at an average of 37 mph). His first motorcycle was a 1979 Sportster, but the first Harley he ever rode was the brand’s three-wheel golf cart. So when he saw an ad in a magazine for a position for a motorcycle restorer at the Harley-Davidson Museum, his wife told him it was a job he was destined to do. He left behind his family’s three-generation Dodge dealership, which he co-owned with his dad and brother, and now manages the nearly 500-motorcycle collection.

比尔•罗登卡尔拥有八辆珍品哈雷摩托，还曾骑着自己的1914年产哈雷（以37英里的平均时速，用时16天）横穿美国。他的第一辆摩托是1979年产的Sportster，但他骑过的第一辆哈雷实际上是哈雷三轮高尔夫球车。所以，当他看到杂志上有则哈雷博物馆招聘摩托收藏专员的广告时，他妻子就说，这就是他命中注定该干的工作。于是他抛下自己家里传承了三代、和父亲及兄弟共同经营的道奇汽车经销生意，干上了这份工作。现在，他管理着近500辆摩托藏品。

Most are pulled off the line brand new every year, but some have stories attached: Elvis Presley’s bike (currently on tour), the Harley featured in Terminator 2, and another that starred in Captain America.

这些车绝大多数都是每年下线的全新摩托，但其中有些也是有故事的，比如猫王的摩托（目前正在巡展）、《终结者2》（Terminator 2）中的哈雷、以及曾在《美国队长》（Captain America）中出镜的一辆哈雷。

Internal Customer Care Team - Southwest

内部客户关爱团队——美国西南航空公司

The five self-proclaimed Mommas and Papa of Southwest are charged with commemorating the major life events of its employees. Last year alone the small but mighty team sent out 4,646 bereavement letters and more than 25,057 cards, gifts, or letters recognizing marriages, births, illnesses, and injuries. The crew doesn’t have any set guidelines—it’s up to them to use their best judgment.

这五位自称为西南航空公司“老爸老妈”的员工主要负责为公司员工的重大生活事件举办庆祝或纪念活动。光是去年，这个精干的小型团队就寄了4,646封吊唁信和25,057多份贺卡、礼物或与结婚、生孩子、生病及受伤有关的慰问信。他们并没有什么明确的工作指南——要做什么全靠自己的判断。

For example, when an employee was set to have a transplant around Thanksgiving, the team tracked down the hotel where she was staying and had Thanksgiving dinner delivered. They respond to the 30 submissions they receive a day but also find employees who may not have submitted a form by reading "pull sheets," which explain why a crew member off was taken off a trip—illness, death in the family, etc.

比如，当有员工要在感恩节前后接受移植手术时，这个团队就会查到她所住的旅馆，送上感恩节晚餐。他们每天会挑出30份申请回复，但也会通过查看“出勤清单”（pull sheet）找出那些可能无法提交申请的员工。这份清单解释了为什么某个请假的乘务员没有随机服务，比如因为生病、家里有人亡故等。

It’s an emotionally taxing job but incredibly rewarding. It can also have its lighter moments, such as receiving a submission when an employee’s child gave up his pacifier. “We will share in your happiness, but that might not warrant a card,” says team lead Amy Marhoefer with a laugh.

这份工作会给人的心理造成很大负担，但也能带来很大的满足感。它也会有比较轻松有趣的时刻，比如收到某个员工在孩子戒掉了奶嘴后提交的申请。团队领导艾米•玛侯弗说：“我们会分享你的欢乐，但这可能没法保证我们会给你寄贺卡。”

Engineer and Lead on the Research & Development Team - Gamestop

游戏研发团队工程师兼负责人——Gamestop公司

Asim Naqvi was an avid gamer as a kid (he’s a master at Asteroids), and now the engineer likes to joke that he plays video games for a living. Naqvi made the move to GameStop five years ago from Motorola. “When the opportunity came up, my kids were even more excited than I was,” he says.

阿希姆•纳克维从小就是个游戏迷【他是玩《宇宙救援》（Asteroids）的高手】。现在这位工程师喜欢开玩笑说他就是靠打游戏谋生的。他五年前从摩托罗拉公司（Motorola）跳槽到GameStop公司。他说：“当时知道有这个工作机会时，我的孩子们比我还兴奋。”

He and his team develop the recipes for fixing the common failings of gaming consoles, which customers can trade in at GameStop stores. The fun part comes when Naqvi and his team develop a fix: they then spend hundreds of hours playing video games to make sure their solution works before passing on instructions to the company’s technicians. “I’m not going to be left out of that,” he says. Another perk: Naqvi gets early access to newly introduced gaming platforms and works on developing products like a controller for gaming on tablets.

他和他的团队主要是为修理游戏机的常见问题开发解决方案。这些游戏机都是顾客在GameStop店里折价换购留下的。纳克维和团队开发修理方案时正是这份工作最有趣的部分：为了确保解决方案管用，他们要打上千个小时的游戏，最后才会把修理指南交给公司的技术人员。他说：“我可不想错过这个。”这份工作的另一个好处是：纳克维能很早就接触到新推出的游戏机，还能开发平板游戏手柄这样的产品。

Senior Manager, Chemistry and Electronics Laboratory - Mattel

化学和电子实验室高级经理——美泰公司

Jason Kroskrity was studying epidemiology at UCLA until he realized that while it satisfied his love of data and science, it wasn’t tapping into his creative side. “The idea of not having a creative piece as part of my profession started to scare me,” Kroskrity says. He left school and was recruited to Mattel by a high school friend in 1998.

杰森•克洛斯科瑞提本来在加州大学洛杉矶分校（UCLA）学习流行病学，后来他意识到，尽管这个专业能满足他对数据和科学的热爱，却无法发掘他与生俱来的创造性。他说：“一旦意识到我未来的职业没什么创造性，我就吓坏了。”所以1998年他就离开了学校，被自己的一个高中同学招入了美泰公司（Mattel）。

Now in the lab where Slime was born 40 years ago, Kroskrity and his team come up with the chemical components of toys, such as the cosmetic grade ink for a Barbie digital nail printer that paints photos right onto fingernails. One of his most recent projects to hit the shelves is the Hot Wheels Car Maker that lets kids inject melted wax into a car body mold. It passed muster with a tough critic—Kroskrity’s nephew. “Fortunately he liked it,” he says.

现在置身于40年前发明了Slime黏质物的实验室，克洛斯科瑞提和他的团队打造出了玩具所需的各种化学成分，比如芭比数码指甲打印机所用的化妆品级的墨水，这台打印机能直接在指甲上印出照片来。他近期上市的产品之一是风火轮车模（Hot Wheels Car）制造机。它能让孩子们把融化的蜡注入一个车身模具，自己做出车模。它已经通过了一位严苛批评家——他外甥的考验。他说：“很幸运他喜欢这玩具。”

Senior Scientist - The Kroger Co.

资深冰淇淋研发科学家——克罗格公司

Quoc Tra had four job prospects when he graduated with a food science and technology degree: one in seafood, a gig in poultry, another in nutritional beverages (think Slimfast), and one in ice cream. He made the obvious choice. Now at supermarket giant Kroger, which has 16 dairies and two ice cream plants, Tra figures out how to make the marketing team’s dream ice cream flavors a reality. His creations end up getting sold exclusively in Kroger’s supermarket aisles.

国茶（音译）拿到食品科学和技术学位毕业时共有四个工作机会：一个是在海产品行业，一个是家禽业，一个是在营养饮料（如Slimfast这类），还有一个是冰淇淋业。他最后做了显而易见的选择。现在他供职于连锁超市巨头克罗格公司（Kroger），该公司共有16个乳品厂和两个冰淇淋厂。国茶的工作就是设法让营销团队梦想的冰淇淋口味成为现实。他所创造的成果最后会在克罗格超市的货架上独家售卖。

Since the base dairy mixes aren’t tinkered with that often, most of Tra’s work is around the ingredients that go into making flavors. This year he developed a huckleberry product, especially challenging since there’s not much of the fruit out there. Look for a pineapple coconut frozen yogurt he worked on that’s launching soon. Clearly the best part of his job is the spoonsful of ice cream he’s required to eat every day. “It’s all about portion control,” he says.

因为基本的奶制品混合物常常达不到这种要求，国茶的工作大部分都是围绕用于制造口味的原料展开的。今年他开发了一种越橘味的冰淇淋。因为美国这种水果不多，所以难度特别大。他开发的一款凤梨椰肉酸奶很快就要上市了，大家可以先尝为快。很显然他这工作最让人开心的一点就是每天都得吃一勺冰淇淋。他说：“这就得控制好份量了。”

Director, Global Agronomy - Starbucks

全球农艺总监——星巴克公司

Carlos Mario Rodriguez is the guy helping make sure your morning cup of coffee isn’t going anywhere. Immediately after Starbucks hired him in 2004, Rodriguez started making noises about starting a Starbucks-owned farm. He even brought it up with CEO Howard Schultz the first time they met. Rodriguez got his wish last year in May when Starbucks bought a working farm in his native Costa Rica.

卡洛斯•马里奥•罗德里格斯就是那个确保你每天清早喝到的咖啡绝不走味的家伙。2004年，他一进星巴克公司（Starbucks）就提出要开设星巴克自己的农场。甚至他在和首席执行官霍华德•舒尔茨首次见面时就提出了这个想法。去年五月，他终于梦想成真，星巴克公司在他的家乡哥斯达黎加买下了一个农场。

Here, he and a team are working on developing 50 new bean varietals that are resistant to coffee rust, a fungus that devastates coffee plants. The company will distribute seedlings of the successful ones to coffee growers for free. Rodriguez, whose family has always worked in coffee and sugar cane, also works with farmers to help them figure out how to produce higher quality coffee and get better yields.

在这个农场，他和自己的团队正在开发50种全新的咖啡豆新品种。它们能抵御咖啡锈病的侵蚀。这种病由真菌引起，会彻底毁掉咖啡树。星巴克公司会把成功培育出来的树种免费送给咖啡种植者。罗德里格斯自己就出生在一个一直种植咖啡和甘蔗的家庭，现在他还与农民们通力合作，设法帮助他们生产品质更高的咖啡，获得更高的收益。