Issue Date: December 12, 2004

And you get paid for that?!

Some have it way too good: Four dream jobs and the lucky dogs who do them.

By Tameka L. Hicks

Imagine someone cutting you a check for doing things you already do in your free time for fun. Playing video games sounds ideal. Or how about people-watching, shopping or downing a cold one? Well, my friend, these too-cool-to-be-true jobs do exist, and USA WEEKEND Magazine caught up with some of the people who do them for a living. Hate if you want to; here's what they had to say about your dream job.

Professional drinker
Name: Jesus Ceja, 39.
Title: Senior assistant brewmaster at Anheuser-Busch in Houston.

Starting salary for comparable job: $70,000.
Responsibilities: The "quality guardian" critically samples the Budweiser ingredients and beer at each step of the exacting brewing process. "A brewmaster pays attention to details," says Ceja, who studied food chemistry at the University of California, Davis.
On day of interview: Checked e-mail and reviewed reports from the previous shift before joining technicians and the management team in the brew house.
Words of wisdom: American lager is best at 40 degrees Fahrenheit, says Ceja, who tells us he had his first drink at 21.
First job: Picked fruits and vegetables at a farm in California's San Joaquin Valley at 13.
Best perk: Drinking on the job! (The samples are small: Ceja consumes about 12 ounces of beer a day at work.)

Shoe dude
Name: Norm Gress, 33.
Title: Senior footwear designer at Timberland in Stratham, N.H.

Starting salary for comparable job: $40,000.
Responsibilities: Drawing up design ideas based on what he sees on the streets or on hiking trails. Each shoe takes up to five months to design.
On day of interview: Worked on designs for spring 2006 day-hiking gear.
Words of wisdom: A designer takes a good idea on paper and works it into 3-D form, considering the best materials and colors. "My job isn't just about doing a sketch," says Gress, who studied industrial design at Syracuse University.
First job: At 16, he washed dishes at a restaurant in suburban Cleveland.
Best perk: The inspiration trips (like hiking in the Alps or attending fashion shows in Italy). For the fall 2004 Mont Cham climbing shoe, Gress and a team of designers traveled to London outdoor shops before heading to Chamonix, a French resort for hikers and skiers. "When you're told to 'Go take a hike' and it's part of your work, it's kinda cool," Gress says.

Globetrotting shopper
Name: Gigi Guerra, 31.
Title: Executive editor at "Lucky," based in New York.

Starting salary for comparable job: $60,000.
Responsibilities: Traveling the globe as often as five times a year to shop for cute, trendy outfits, then writing about how the clothes can work for the customer in the magazine's "Shopping Trip" guide. In any given city, she fingers through clothing racks in about 75 stores, chats with the salespeople and tries on items.
On day of interview: Edited a new West Coast "Shopping Trip" and met with the photo editor to discuss which shots to use.
Words of wisdom: You don't need a fashion editor's credentials to be a smart shopper. It's about "having an instinct or drive to check every corner and leave no stone unturned. ... I look around like a shopper would, ask for help, have them recommend things, just to see how they interact with the clientele. I don't like to write about stores that have pushy sales help or ones that completely ignore you."
First job: At 16, she cut fabric for Hancock Fabrics.
Best perk: Discovering new lines -- and having something to wear for every occasion. Guerra has two storage spaces filled with items from her excursions. "My world's favorite store is Top Shop [in London]. It's like H&M times a thousand. I go nuts in there."

Gaming geek
Name: Fritz Striker, 33.
Title: Senior systems test engineer at Activision in Santa Monica, Calif.

Starting salary for comparable job: $30,000 to $45,000.
Responsibilities: Playing a video game day in and day out for two or three months. The mission: Find design defects and control malfunctions, or "bugs," that the game coders can correct. "I worked on "Spider-Man 2" [the game] over the summer, and when all was said and done, there were 30,000-some bugs."
On day of interview: Tested the online functionalities and European versions of the World War II action game "Call of Duty: Finest Hour."
Words of wisdom: Striker, who has a degree in visual arts from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, says a strong understanding of video games and what makes them work is a must. But so are good typing skills. "We have to write so many reports," he says.
First job: Paperboy at 12.
Best perk: All the coffee-and-soda breaks on those grueling eight-hour shifts. It's an arcade-like environment, with foosball and a pool table. Plus, the free games he takes home help him save money on Christmas gifts for his nieces and nephews.