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Envision your first job out of college. You sit in a cubicle. You fill out paperwork all day, or maybe answer phones.

Nick Osiecki chose something different after graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 2007. He chose to drive an 8 feet wide, 11 feet tall and 27 feet long hot dog around America.

Osiecki is a Hotdogger, one of 12 drivers of six different Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles that travel the nation promoting the meat company. Hotdoggers, in groups of two, go to parades, festivals, fairs, stores and radio stations for promotional events, sometimes attending five events in one day.

?We get to go around and see little pieces of Americana,? Osiecki said. ?And really that?s what the Wienermobile is, too, and that?s what we try to emit when we?re going out on the road.?

Osiecki started his yearlong stint as a Hotdogger in May, touring the southern region of the United States. He recently met up with his new partner, Stephanie Geidel, and started traveling the Midwest. Hotdoggers switch regions and partners halfway through the year so they can see different parts of the country. Their itineraries are coordinated from the Madison Oscar Mayer headquarters by Mobile Marketing Coordinator April Lopez.

Lopez receives more than 10,000 requests for Wienermobile appearances each year. Hotdoggers access their schedules on an online calendar and are in constant contact with the home office. Hotdoggers rank their preferred regions of the country when they?re hired, but don?t have much say in the day-to-day events they attend.

?Driving the Wienermobile is itself is such an amazing experience that most people don?t care where they are,? Lopez said.

Geidel said she has really enjoyed the experience so far, but it can be a little overwhelming to spend so much time with a partner.

?You pretty much are married to each other,? Geidel said. ?Actually, worse than married because you don?t work with your husband or wife. ? The only time you don?t see each other is when you go to your own hotel room to sleep.?

Osiecki added, ?We eat, sleep, breathe together; we?re in the Wienermobile all the time.?

?It?s our company car,? he said.

The Wienermobile is a national icon that has traveled the United States handing out Wiener Whistles for 72 years. The six current Wienermobiles, which are equipped with Global Positioning Systems, began traveling the nation in 1988 and have traveled a combined total of 5 million miles, Osiecki said.

The different vehicles over the years have been built on Ford, Dodge and Pontiac chassis, but the current Wienermobile is built on a Chevy chassis. The inside has a ketchup-and-mustard colored decor, complete with a ?bun box? (glove box), passenger seats with ?meat belts? (seat belts) and a ?bun roof? (sun roof).

Puns like this are a part of the job and roll off the tongues of Oseicki and Geidel as smoothly as ketchup onto a hot dog. They?ve become ingrained; Geidel said they often slip out.

?I kind of think that not everyone can deal with [the puns] ? but the type of people we are, we can handle that kind of thing,? Osiecki said.

Lopez said when hiring and pairing Hotdoggers, Oscar Meyer considers different personality qualities, as well as professional strengths and weaknesses: If one person has a strong background in media, they may be paired with someone who has more experience with event planning. The company looks for people who are outgoing, energetic, creative and friendly.

?We want consumers to feel comfortable to go up to them and interact with them and have ? a memorable experience with the Wienermobile,? Lopez said.

Neither Osiecki nor Geidel had any previous experience with the Wienermobile. Osiecki heard about the job from a friend who worked for Oscar Mayer and then attended a recruiting information session at UW. Geidel read about the position online and applied. She had never been inside a Wienermobile until she had her 40-hour driver?s training at the two-week-long ?Hotdog High? after being hired for the position.

?I can drive this giant hot dog around the country and do really cool things, meet great people, great job connections, make kids smile, make memories,? Geidel said. ?This is a great opportunity to travel and have fun for a year.?

Oseicki said he has learned things on the road he wouldn?t get a chance to in another job.

?For me, just from a cultural experience, I grew up in Northern Wisconsin, population for African Americans: zero,? Osiecki said. ?I was in Houston for a few weeks, and I was in neighborhoods where I was the only white person and it felt great because I was immersed in a completely different culture ? I could even sing you the wiener jingle in Spanish.?

Besides cultural awareness, another large perk of the job is networking with people all over the country, Osiecki said.

?The connections are kind of endless when you?re on the road working with different professionals and people in the media,? he said.

But Osiecki and Geidel said Oscar Mayer recognizes they like to have fun too.

?They know that you?re a young 20-something and you?re going to go out on your off days,? Geidel said.

They each get $20 a week in cab fares to use when they can?t or don?t want to drive the Wienermobile.

?We can?t ever turn it into a cocktail wiener,? Oseicki said with a smile.

This doesn?t stop Osiecki and Geidel from thoroughly enjoying their job.

?You get up in the morning and your office is a giant hot dog,? Geidel said. ?And yes, [stupid] questions can get mundane, but one of us is always like ?Okay, remember we have the best life in the world right now!? Cuz you could call your friend right now and they?re doing paperwork.?