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Thanks to Brazilian law, which states that any pool larger than 20 feet square requires lifeguards, a group of extremely under-occupied workers have spent the last couple of weeks on duty watching over the world's greatest swimmers at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.

At least one has been snapped looking just a little bit bored - with some justification, given that their skills are highly unlikely to come into play. But the fact remains that they're earning around £260 a day, while watching the world's best athletes compete, and all from the best ringside seats.

And it's not the only weird job at the Rio Olympics. There's the guy named Eric, for example, who's been paid to wander round the Olympic Village making sure the athletes have all the condoms they need. Apparently the ration amounts to three per person per day.

Meanwhile, a scuba diver was hired to retrieve objects dropped in the pool, including American swimmer Kathleen Baker's pearl earring; a team of janitors has been mopping up sweat; and a group of people equipped with rakes have been smoothing sand between the rounds of volleyball.

You're probably kicking yourself about having missed the boat when it comes to snapping up these or any other jobs at this year's Olympics. However, there's always a chance that you could make it on to the list next time.

We look at some of the jobs that may be on offer, and how you will be able to apply.

The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games run from 9-25 February 2018 in PyeongChang, South Korea. While there are no jobs currently listed, the organisers say there will be plenty of opportunities in planning, marketing, public relations, operations, facilities and accommodation planning, transportation management and IT. Vacancies will be listed here.


Meanwhile, Team GB isn't hiring yet either, but will be posting job opportunities here. In the meantime, the British Bobsleigh team is looking for a financial controller and office manager; and while the posts are based in Bath, it might be worth asking sweetly for tickets to PyeongChang in eighteen months' time...

The 2018 Youth Olympic Games

The Youth Olympic Games, for athletes aged between 15 and 18, will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina between 1 and 12 October 2018. You can sign up for news alerts, including job information, using the form at the bottom of this page; you can also offer your services as a volunteer.

Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics

The Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo will take place from July 24 to August 9 in 2020. Planning has already started, and jobs are likely to include everything from organising travel and accommodation to cleaning and catering. They'll be advertised here.

Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympic Games will take place from 4 to 20 February in Beijing. Jobs will be advertised here.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC)

While you're waiting for the job postings for Olympic events to appear, you could do worse than check out the vacancies at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

It's currently got more than a dozen vacancies, including jobs as an events manager and events intern, as well as positions in the legal and finance departments. You never know - some may swing you a free ticket.

Volunteering

It's worth remembering that there are often plenty of positions volunteering - the London 2012 games, indeed, made use of nearly 70,000 volunteers. To get to do the same in PyeongChang, Tokyo or Beijing may be trickier.

But the Olympic movement is above all an international one - and of the 50,000 volunteers at Rio this year, hundreds come from abroad, from countries as far-flung as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka. There's always demand at any Olympic event for people with good language skills, so if you speak the local language and any others you may be in with a chance.

For Tokyo 2020, for example, the volunteer recruitment process is expected to begin in September 2018. The organisers are expecting around 240,000 applications, of whom more than 90,000 will be chosen.

In the meantime, volunteer recruitment has already begun for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. The organisers are looking for 16,000 helpers for the main Olympic Games, plus another 6,400 for the Paralympics.

Opportunities include everything from providing transport information to interpreting for the press - and many of the positions require advanced English. You'll need to apply by the end of September; there's more information here.