Looking forward to seeing some interesting jobs I haven’t really thought about. Bonus points if it’s an IT job.
Machinist, electronics, or glass shop at a large university. Half make more than most professors (although that isn’t saying much)
Offshore seismic survey. The positions vary in title, but technician, observer, seabed logger, etc are, quite honestly, easy as fuck. If you’re able to display reasonably good troubleshooting skills and adaptability to a “different” kind of job, you’re golden. Pays quite well too. Your background certainly plays a role, but it’s more about being the right kind of well-rounded personality.
Pros: Computers, heavy machinery, robotics, nice people, loads of travel, nice ships (most of them, at least), five weeks at home to do whatever you want, well paid.
Cons: Five weeks offshore gets tiring, you sometimes find yourself in the shittiest shitholes in the world, the work can be really repetitive and boring, and if you’re unlucky you will find yourself on a ship with shitty food.
Source: I used to be one. Now I hold a more specialized supporting role instead. Been in the industry since 2008, and before that I had no fucking clue what I wanted to do with my life. It didn’t take me long after to figure out “what I want to be when I grow up”. I’m now 41, not quite a grownup, but I definitely am happy with my career.
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Try this book. “Discover What You Are Best At.” Linda Gail. First half of the book is a series of self administered tests to see what you are good at. Things like math, mechanical problem solving, interpersonal skills etc. Second part is a listing of jobs that use those skills.
Pretty cool suggestion! Thanks! :)
It actually changed my life, so I love letting folks know about it. Good luck.
I can relate. Many books have changed my life in more or less strong ways. Simplify your life and 7 habits of highly effective people were two of them. I‘ll check it out. Have a good one.
I’m curious about tests like this. I took a couple when I was younger and it pointed me a lot of places that had nothing to do with my current job. So I’m not sure how much value I place on them, but if it helps people point themselves in the general direction they want to go I guess that’s good.
There are a lot more jobs in the medical profession than doctor or nurse. It’s indoors so climate controlled. There’s 2 yr programs that start out around 60k a year.
Unit Clerk here is a 4ish month course plus a practicum. GF is union and gets shift premium for working outside business hours.
I cant comment on the ubiquity of these jobs. But I work for a (non us) national government organisation with a union. Pay is the same the country round so living in a relatively major city with significantly lower cost of living than the majors means I get a pretty damn good quality of life, better cost of living and job security out of less money than some jobs.
Its not just the dollar figure but what it gets you and where.
Database Administrator (DBA) can be a lucrative position with a low barrier to entry. Can bridge nicely into data science/AI if you want to go that route. Data is the new oil, and AI/LLMs are the refineries.
Industrial PLC is probably good money. Building and maintaining all the industrial automation.
If you aren’t risk adverse I hear undersea welders make a ton.
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Getting sucked into a pipe through an opening that’s a few mm thick isn’t my idea of a fun death
Yeah, nah, fuck water. I’m good
What country are you in?
Trades generally make a decent amount. Masonry, carpentry, welding, transportation, electrical, plumbing, waste management, etc all have decent pay rates in most first world countries with codes and regulations.
Communications and drone operators might have a future career, depending on the job and company.
I’m in India. Everyone I talk to just recommend either working as a developer or working abroad.
They do have a reason for saying this though. The average electrician , plumber and carpenter that they know are all make enough to survive but not enough to lead a lavish lifestyle. People who work in waste management and transport usually make even less than electricians and plumbers.
Maybe things are changing these days, I’ll have to talk to the right people to get a better idea…
Where in india
That makes a huge difference. You’re going to get mostly West-specific answers that will be useless over there.
Here in my part of the US, electricians are middle class ($80-120k/yr) and trade company owners well above that.
Trades are one of the best ways to become the owner/self employed and make a lot more. If you are smartish and have your life together you can make a killing.
Learn ServiceNow or any other cloud based platform. Get on LinkedIn and build a recruiter relationship. You’ll be drowning in jobs.
US government jobs. Find something you’re interested in, get some education, take the civil service exams, profit.
When I was early 20s, I wanted to get rich quick. Followed my dad into insurance, even though I had no interest or sales skills. Learned a lot! And dad was a stunning salesman. Made about every penny off referrals, because he hooked people up with products that worked for them, not a monolithic company. (He represented 20 or so firms.)
Yeah. Easing into IT worked out, and I’m doing well, but looking at where I’m at 30 years later, fuck me, I should have stuck with forestry and been a ranger. I’d probably be retired by now and raking in pay. Benefits out the ass, all that. Imagine how healthy I would be after 20-years of ranger work! I’m OK now, despite a “sinful” life. :) Then I could retire to my dream job, being a campground host at a national or state park. LOL, live on a lake and tell the kids to keep it quiet and keep the beer on the downlow. Walk around killing the occasional fire ant mound.
And while we’re at it, US military. God. Damn. I could have learned IT properly, retired after 20-years in, came back and consulted for the DoD. My bf in high school went in a fat body, came out hard, spent a couple of years active, then went National Guard.
Retired after a few years in, and then once a month on exercises, he’s fucking loaded. Retired at 39. Collects classic cars for kicks.
And for those of you who think “military” = “combat”, LOL no, most of you couldn’t get into combat if you tried. He only saw “light” combat in central America, in the early 90’s (we were not in El Salvador, did not happen!) He got in the fight because he begged for it.
The military sounds like a great job except for the whole - supporting the US government murder and exploit third world countries and enforcing even more inequality in the world - thing. (Yes, even if you’re not actually holding the guns)
Nobody should join the US military.
As a vet I can’t recommend the military
If you learn graphic design and are good with IT then there’s a lot of small companies that need an ‘everything guy’.
You see them advertised as graphic design jobs but with executives assistant responsibilities in the descriptions.
UX / UI work lends itself to designers with IT skills in a similar way. I ended up falling into Business Analysis ultimately, but graphic design experience mixed with IT skills have helped immeasurably throughout the twisting path my career took.
Graphic Design skills are low key some of the most valuable in any field.
Inherit rich.
Best job yet, and you can start a company at the age of 20 and get a 2-page spread in Forbes about being a self-made young entrepeneur with your parents in the background!
It wasn’t when I took it, but condominium superintendent. I fell into it. It’s very minor work since all the repairs are done by contractors. I’m just a homesteader essentially, I get up and make sure the property is cared for.
I get paid $50k a year plus benefits, pension, Union, and I get a rent free condo unit, free internet and cable, free phone.
The free apartment saves me roughly $2500 a month on rent, in this ridiculous city I live in, so that alone makes this job extremely worth it
How did you land this job and what country are you in?
I just took a job as a condo cleaning staff to make extra money. The fact that I was younger guy, who speaks perfect English made me kind of an elite hire for the cleaning industry.
So once a building needed a super while one was on vacation, I tried it. After that, I just got a call from the company owner one day saying a condo needed a live in super, so I went in for an interview.
All I had to show was that I have common sense and I’m able to put together an email/incident report.
General handyman is also a good job if you know what your doing. Lots of smaller condo associations would love a someone they can pay $40/hr to fix a mailbox, paint a sign, fix siding, paint a deck, replace shingles, change light bulbs, talk to contractors, etc.
have you had to evict people yet?
Condos are privately owned, so any renters in the building are the individual unit owner’s concern. I only deal with the common areas and amenities, if there’s a flood in a unit I can shut off the water and call a plumber. If there are any other issues in a unit, I can suggest contractors for the owners to call. My job is mainly to coordinate contractors, keep an eye on things and make sure stuff is getting done.
If I ever have any residents who are causing issues, I just pass it up to the manager and condo board, so I don’t have to deal with confrontations or anything like that.
I had a friend who managed a huge building of both private owned and rentals. it was trip what people did on their way out. some nightmare scenarios. and some people would give him things like a kitchaid mixer or old stereos or furniture etc. the evictions and occasional death were the hardest on him. he lasted about 7 years before the management company changed hands and started messing with his deal.
High value crop consultants - good ones can make a surprising amount of money (200k+) This isn’t your dumbfuck row crops like corn and soy. Think fruit trees, nut trees, viticulture, vegetables, organic production etc.
Many college graduates have a job offers their junior year. Anymore you’ll want to have a double major of biology/Ag.
If you really want IT. Then telecom
Most people in telecom are old and are analog phone people, they don’t know ip/sip and don’t want to learn.
It’s basically a small networking job that you never get calls on nights and weekends about and if you do it’s a system you can reboot remotely. If it’s not the system it’s a switch and its someone else’s job.
Telecom isn’t sexy but it’s still needed, no one’s going into it as it’s not ‘sexy’ and to be honest it’s easy AF.
Telecom seems fantastic except it’s really hard to get into At&T or Verizon at the moment
You don’t need to work with the big guys.
Small businesses, managed service, utilities, hospitals all need telecom guys. Ive been out of telecom for years and I still have recruiters occasionally reaching out to me.
All of this is true. I work with telcom and it is needed in all these areas. I’d add schools, government, anywhere with lots of phones.
How would you prepare for telecom? I’ve got a background in IT and have been trying to switch to Software Engineering by learning React and TypeScript. Would the skills compare at all?
No idea if those skills would be transferable. I was on the small to mid sized biz side. Never worked for a provider or anything. Mainly managing, installing and configuring systems.
Once you understand the basics of telephony it’s pretty easy. It’s getting more complex now since it’s all ip/sip based but because that’s a skill that is lacking because everyone who does know that wants to be a network or security guy, not the phone guy/gal.
If you are working it now. Figure out who’s doing your phones and express interest in learning. It’s how everyone I know got into it.
