Sydney - If life were always as it seems, the dream job of caretaker on a paradise island in the Great Barrier Reef would go to Sydney swimming pool technician Nick Aitkin.

After all, few of the other 30,000 people who lodged 60-second video applications have hands-on experience cleaning filters, and not many of them live in Australia and could relocate to Queensland's Hamilton Island so cheaply.

The job description asked for someone to look after the pool, collect the mail and keep a blog on lazy days snorkelling and feeding fish. The lucky appointee gets a six-figure pay packet and rent-free luxury accommodation for six months.

It's an easy bet that come March 2, Aitken will not be among the 50 short-listed candidates from which 10 will be called for interview on the island.

The 26-year-old pool cleaner's prospects are dim because a sparkling blog is more important than a sparkling pool. A closer reading should have told Aitken that it's a marketing job, not a maintenance job.

Like many jobseekers, his mistake was to read only the first few lines of the job description.

His oversight is replicated thousands of times over in the applications posted on the islandreefjob website. Most applicants have ignored the plea to be creative, to make the most of multimedia magic and to demonstrate communication skills in their 60-second clips.

Manfred from Germany talked into the camera of his mobile phone and even then could only manage 42 seconds of self-promotion. Countryman Joerg, forgot to smile - and tried to make a virtue of being dull and boring, saying he was "just like most of the tourists."

The United States, Canada, Germany and Britain provided the most jobseekers. Fewer than one in 20 were Australians.

Queensland Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said more than 20 million people had looked at the website and that "for a
1.8-million-dollar campaign we've received nearly 80 million dollars in publicity."

As well as the 50 short-listed applicants announced March 2, one wildcard candidate will be named March 24. The vote winner will be announced May 6 and starts work July 1.

Melissa the self-styled Mermaid is hoping that the really quirky will triumph over the well-qualified. The US model and actor is pictured underwater and blows bubbles rather than speaks. Her big asset, apart from her lissom figure, is that she can hold her breath for 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

Tourism Queensland spokesperson Nicole McNaughton says applications are in from over 200 countries, with barely dressed women from cold climates particularly well represented. "We've seen a lot of bikinis in the snow," she said.

Claire, a fully clothed 21-year-old graduate from Britain, was light on creativity but strong on self-pity. "I have no ties in England and nothing to keep me here at all," the glum environmentalist tells the camera lens.

Qiyun, from Shanghai, take a more aggressive tone. Describing herself as "an ordinary Chinese," she tells Australian authorities they ought to select a winner from the world's biggest potential tourism market.

Some applicants fall before the first hurdle. Olga, a Russian, is almost mute. Fellow Russian Stoyanov Lev declares his love for "the vegetative world."

Others are frighteningly professional. Canadian Scott Kimler claims a huge internet following already. "Hire me and I'll bring my family, my experience and half a million visitors to the islands," he promises. (dpa)