Want to Get Paid to Binge-Watch TV? Netflix May Have a Job for You!
If your idea of the perfect day is an Orange Is the New Black marathon followed by a Walking Dead marathon, you now have a great excuse when friends (or your mom) ask what you’ve been doing with your time:
You’re training for your new career.
Netflix recently announced that its London office is looking to hire a new tagger — someone who watches movies and TV shows and identifies appropriate tags to help categorize them, like “sports comedy” or “drama with strong female lead.” These tags allow Netflix to present you with genres of entertainment you might find interesting, down to a ridiculously specific level (i.e. “Cool Moustaches” or “Canadian Made-for-TV Movies”).
That’s right; you could get paid to watch Netflix’s streaming content (often before it’s available to the general public) on your own schedule and in your own home. Want to work from your bed in your pajamas? Totally acceptable.
How many jobs can say that?
What It’s Like to Be a Tagger for Netflix
Of course, it’s not all PJs and popcorn. As Greg Harty, one of the first taggers when Netflix created the position back in 2006, can tell you, it requires a decent work ethic — at least, if you want to avoid becoming a 700-pound hermit who never gets out of bed.
Harty recently spoke with TODAY Money about the day-to-day realities of being a tagger. His workdays can be eight to 10 hours long, which enables him to view and tag three to four movies a day. He has a workstation equipped with dual screens and an ergonomic chair.
While he knows it’s what many would consider a dream gig, he says, “I keep in mind that I’m working and not slacking off.” Sometimes, his butt goes numb and his eyes get blurry. Granted, these are hardly the worst workplace hazards you’ll encounter, but it’s important to remember this is still a job, even if it’s one of the more enjoyable ones.
Qualifications for the Job
If you’re interested in becoming a tagger, you’ll need to demonstrate that you have an analytical mind, an eye for detail and a “deep understanding of movies and TV shows,” as Todd Yellin, VP of Product Innovation for Netflix, told Digital Spy.
If you have a degree in film and TV, experience working for a production company or have written plot synopses before, that will also help you stand out. And you can expect to be tested to prove you know your stuff.
Keep Your Eyes Peeled for Future Job Postings
The tagger gig is currently only open to people in the UK and Ireland, and some people believe it may involve strictly UK-created content. But Netflix also employs US taggers, and as it continues to roll out new content, it could theoretically be on the lookout for more in the future.
Stay tuned to the Netflix job board, and watch this video the company created for the UK/Ireland job for more info on the job you may, one day, be able to do yourself:
Your Turn: Do you think you have what it takes to be a Netflix tagger?
Kelly Gurnett is a freelance blogger, writer and editor who runs the blog Cordelia Calls It Quits, where she documents her attempts to rid her life of the things that don’t matter and focus more on the things that do. Follow her on Twitter @CordeliaCallsIt.
