For a lot of people, a dream job involves looking forward to going to work every day, doing a job that you love, surrounded by colleagues who have your back. For Clare Ballantyne, Mairi Hilton, Natalie Corbett and Lucy Bruzzone, running the "penguin post office” on Godier Island in Antarctica fits that bill completely. Of course, the job is not a bed of roses. Employees have to deal with the lack of running water and flushing toilets, showering on passing ships, having no access to WiFi, constant daylight, subzero temperatures, and a dizzying array of tasks, including monitoring the island’s 1,500 smelly gentoo penguins. However, the job’s term limits make it doable for the four women, who say they can deal with almost anything for five months. Between November and March, the four women lived on the island, one of the most popular tourist attractions on the coldest continent. Annual recruitment for the outpost’s four positions has been going on since 2006, with the typical number of applicants being around 6,000 for the four positions. Applicants are narrowed down to 12, at which point they’re brought together in person for a day of interviews, tests, presentations and group activities. After all, if you’re asking four people to live together using the bathroom in a bucket for five months, you want to make sure they’re likely to get along. This year, a small and experienced team of alumni are filling the 2025-2026 season, so there will be no recruiting again until the 2026-2027 season.
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| Lucy Bruzzone, Mairi Hilton, Clare Ballantyne and Natalie Corbett |
