If you haven’t been following along, the ‘best job in the world’ is caretaker of Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. It isn’t really a Park & Rec job, though — the job description requires the caretaker “to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, snorkel, make friends with the locals and generally enjoy the tropical Queensland climate and lifestyle.” He’s expected to share any adventures along the way through a blog, photos, videos and interviews.

The decision on just who would get the best job in the world was finalized today: Ben Southall, a charity fundraiser from the UK, will be spending the next six months documenting the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef.

Defining the Best Job

In a way, I’m certainly not surprised that the best job in the world involves blogging and otherwise documenting daily life for the web. Considering the hiring process was intended to gather just as much attention for Tourism Queensland, it made sense to target applicants who could publicize the contest, as well as their own attempts to win… all that has built an ideal platform for Southall to move forward with.

Simply hiring a content marketer — someone who handles the type of tasks Southall has been assigned as a matter of course — wouldn’t have gotten nearly as much interest in the project as a whole.

And I’ll freely admit that I think that blogging about a topic that interests you truly is the best job in the world. And who isn’t interested in exploring tropical islands?

Other Greatest Jobs

I’m confident that Tourism Queensland’s efforts won’t be the last of its kind. Many corporations are already working with bloggers to create slice-of-life connections to consumers — albeit without a giant contest to kick things off.

But with the major upswing in content marketing, I think we’ll be seeing similar offers in the future.

Photo — Michael McDonough