In the past one two years however, my motivation has been on a steady decline. I have largely lost my interest in IT, partly because it no longer feels challenging, but also because I feel inactive.
I would love to do something else, optimally something that requires my being physically active. I am more athletic than 99% of my peers, doing at least 12 hours of sports every week, and I would love to expand on that.
However, throwing away all that I know feels wrong, it is the capital that I have built on, and I don't want to take a large cut on my salary. Perhaps more importantly, I need the prospect of advancing my career.
Any idea for jobs that are both well paid and require a lot of physical work? Of course, the right mix of physical work and science would be perfect, but I am guessing that such a thing does not exist?
Besides the immediate risks of drowning and dismemberment, a lot of experienced commercial divers end up with chronic damage from repeated decompression and being in the water all the time. And in the long run it looks like human divers are increasingly being replaced by ROVs.
For example, my formal background is in computer science and a large part of my job involves applied math, physics, algorithm design, and writing code but I am now also involved in electronics design and mechanical design (picked these things up on the job). Further, I spend many days outside working with vehicles, powered wheelchairs, and other mechatronic devices: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fPgIPgzIfc I happen to work in an industry building assistive devices for people with limited physical abilities but depending on the application area you can be outside doing numerous physical things, for example, look at iRobot's involvement with the gulf oil crisis: http://www.irobot.com/gi/more_information/gulf_oil_spill_res... Heck, the guys at Willow Garage recently went on a dev sprint to have the PR2 (one of their robots) fetch them beers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3Cq0sy4TBs
There is a somewhat steep learning curve to becoming a "guru" in the field due to how broad the required skill set is yet at the same time, due to the breadth of skills needed to build useful systems, if you have depth in a particular area (e.g. writing code) there is definitely room for you to fit in on a team and you can pick up the stuff you don't know over time as you get more exposure to it.
http://www.bnrobotics.com/ http://www.resquared.com/ http://www.aethon.com/ http://www.redzone.com/ http://www.seegrid.com/ http://www.bostondynamics.com/ http://www.irobot.com/ http://www.cyphyworks.com/ <-- started by some of the original iRobot folks http://www.mobilerobots.com/ http://www.willowgarage.com/ http://www.evolution.com/ http://www.sensiblemachines.com/ http://astrobotictechnology.com/ ... etc ...
NOTE: Some of the companies are further along than others but all of them (to the best of my knowledge) started as startups and/or university spin-outs (which is a subset of startups). You can normally find startup robotics companies near/around the schools with the best robotics programs (i.e. CMU, UPenn, Stanford, MIT, etc.)
There's also big pros and cons to working a non-9-to-5 schedule. 4 days on, 4 days off, etc.
My brother spent about ten years trying to become a firefighter. He went to firefighting school, got his B.Sc., and worked as a private firefighter on a military base - didn't help. I don't think a single person from his graduating class in firefighting school actually became a firefighter.
roughneck (drilling): "A low-ranking member of the drilling crew. The roughneck usually performs semiskilled and unskilled manual labor that requires continual hard work in difficult conditions for many hours. After roughnecks understand how the rig operates and demonstrates their work ethic, they may be promoted to other positions in the crew."
"This might actually refer to roughneck duties, or to one of the other crew positions, such as lead tong operator, motorman, derrickman, assistant driller or even driller."
http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Display.cfm?Term=roughn...
Do you have experience with this? Likes/dislikes of the job?
The pay is high (my friends earned about 12k/month) but it is dirty, dangerous work. You are isolated for weeks or months at a time. Drug use is extremely common, and your safety and even life often depends on the clear thinking and detail-orientation of someone who is hungover or high or both. There will be no internet access, although there is probably a communal television with satellite access. Many workers lose much of their money gambling: you can not participant and be isolated, or participate and lose, or participate and win and risk physical interventions.
My mom wouldn't let me go. :)
The reason everyone doesn't roughneck is that it's extremely physical, dangerous work that requires long hours and often living in company dorms away from friends and family in the literal middle of nowhere.
Somewhat wishing I had made a more vocational career choice such as plumber or electrician. I have an interest in both and have done a significant amount on my own, but they both require training and apprenticeship to be officially certified in my state.
Unfortunately it's a little late in life to make a career change like that work economically, so I'm thinking about getting a Treadmill desk and requesting more time working from home.
Has anyone tried a treadmill desk? Something like the TrekDesk: http://www.trekdesk.com/ How did it work? Was it awkward or difficult to do actual work?
Or try what I'm about to try next week (once my solor pack comes in), hike out with a kickass beach/lawn chair (cupholder a must, also recommend the ones that have a leg rest built in so you can put your feet up) and just setup somewhere... Of course the pre-requisite would be a good tethering situation (3g or better - edge is a bit rough)
In personal training, one-on-one in a gym, you need absolutely no training, certification, or even knowledge to get started. It's a bad situation from the consumer's point of view, which I imagine means a bad situation from the point of view of competent, knowledgeable trainers:
http://www.stumptuous.com/how-to-choose-a-personal-trainer
Many trainers are fly-by-night, students trying to make an extra buck, people filling time till they get a “real” job. There’s nothing wrong with working part time as a trainer but often it results in people with minimal hands-on experience. If possible, find someone who has experience working with various types of people, and if you get really lucky, someone who has powerlifting or Olympic lifting experience.
The trainer I use now works at a small gym (where I pay $10 per month), charges $25 per hour, and gives me competent coaching on all the lifts I want to do, including powerlifting and Olympic lifts. He has a sports training degree and experience both as a high-level high school athlete at a school with a very sophisticated training program and also as an assistant trainer with a Division I college sports program. That gives him no economic advantage over the Brad-Pitt-in-Burn-After-Reading type trainers. If you go to a fancy gym and hire a no-nothing bimbo or himbo to train you, odds are they'll charge a lot more. Knowledge and enthusiasm for the job are cheap. If you want to make money in personal training, you have to sell yourself on the other factors: looks, rapport, motivational skill, etc.
P.S. Make sure you check out the sample job listing at the end of the post I linked above.
Downsides: you need to be near LA, NY, London or some other international city to get regular work. It's psychologically as well as physically demanding, with many extreme personalities. Upsides: if you have talent or brains you can rise fast; film is an extremely meritocratic results-based environment. Arty types are mostly technophobic and will worship you like a god as long as you don't screw up.
That said, the camera operators at the top of their game get paid really well. Its a total racket too, if you're good and in whatever guild controls the camera operators you can command ridiculous amounts of money.
Typical salary can be found here: http://www.superyacht-crew-academy.com/salaries_superyacht_c...
I work on a 78ft yacht in the Med, (http://www.camperandnicholsons.com/sales/search/-/page/sales...), PM me if you want more details about this kind of work.
I'm looking forward to any questions you might have.
That or UFC.
It doesn't have to be overly taxing physical work (requiring a lot of strength), but it is usually a very active physical work (requiring constant movement).
Getting well paid while doing it might be tough. It is not a well paid job by default. However, with some imagination you might be able to use your scientific/math/engineering background to make products that have decent margin.
I've often considered landscaping / lawnmowing, especially when my landscaper took off for a two-week vacation to Europe that I can't afford. A few of my firefighter friends have landscaping businesses on the side.
My father-in-law works in environmental permitting. He spends about 4 days a week in the office (home or corporate) and about 1 day a week out in the field, surveying plant and animal life. It's not the most physically demanding work, but it is outside.
I had a friend in the Army Reserve that spent a year in Afghanistan, doing IT work for the Army. Sucked, but he was very close to going right back as a civilian contractor and making 5x as much doing a similar job. Afghanistan probably isn't the best place to go, but with bases all over the world, there are probably some more desirable locations.
You could get involved with FEMA or even someone like the Red Cross. I wouldn't call it high-paying, but they employ IT guys in disaster areas.
What I find really interesting is how much the process these really successful owners use mirrors what we do in technology companies. They try different pitches. They test different call-answering tactics. They hone in on the words, phrases, and ideas that resonate with customers. They test different advertising metrics and are obsessed with tracking and analytics.
Once they understand how to close deals and what the best sources of leads are... they scale. For instance, one of our air-duct cleaning partners (that clears 7 figures in profit) has grown to four crews and a full time booking agent. The booking agent is extensively trained and closes 60-70% of all leads. The owner spends her time focused on quality control of the actual crews for the most part.
The point being: There is PLENTY of room for small business owners to make a lot of money with manageable levels of scale. You still have to have a keen business sense... but outcome based decision making works no matter what business you run.
"Physical therapists practice in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and private offices that have specially equipped facilities. These jobs can be physically demanding, because therapists may have to stoop, kneel, crouch, lift, and stand for long periods. In addition, physical therapists move heavy equipment and lift patients or help them turn, stand, or walk." And: "Median annual wages of physical therapists were $72,790 in May 2008." (From http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos080.htm )
Plus, you get to help people recover from ailments and improve their daily physical experience.
Here's what I've found. Starting on a new career path is a crappy proposition. Most of the trades that have been suggested do either require extensive training and preparation, or some degree of paying your dues (as with any industry). However, what really killed it for me is that basically I would be doing contract work (we all know how that goes - ebbs and flows) for about 150% less than I do now.
Here's my current solution to this issue. Change of working environment and the addition of a second job. Boy am I busy NOW!
To change environments I decided to go solo contractor, get my 3g tethering setup on my iphone, get my laptop, and now I go as far out into the wilderness as possible while still getting 3g signal, and I work from the shade of a tree in nature. I try to do that for at least 50%-60% of my work. It has helped tremendously!
I've also spent a great deal of my extra sports time brushing up on skills that I had thought would never be an actual part of my life - shooting. This is something that doesn't require formalized instruction or training - although there is plenty of that available. The additional benefit is that I can now instruct others how to properly, safely, and boldly handle a firearm - and to use it effectively. This not only solidifies the knowledge I already have (teaching others is by FAR the best way to get something deeeeply rooted into you), but gives me an opportunity to be outside doing something physical, make money, and give back in an area where there is a DESPERATE need for quality instruction without ego (there is sooooo much ego in the shooting work it's sickening).
This particular path has actually relieved a tremendous amount of stress in my life and opened up opportunities and connections with people and communities that I never expected. It's quickly becoming a secondary career path. My new mission is to find a way to bring both worlds together - find a need in the market that fits a shooting developer ;) and fill it.
I'm currently a certified instructor of the C.A.R. System by SabreTactical http://www.sabretactical.com and the civilian variant IPD Systems.
PM me - you're in my head. lol get outta my head get outta my head!!!
Wouldn't that mean, instead of getting paid, you were paying them 50% of your current rate?
One day I asked him why he was doing this and he told me he was a kernel programmer working on some piece of gear that needed to live in the lab, sometimes the kernel panics and he has to go bounce the box.
I was about to ask him why he doesn't set up some kind of a watchdog to bounce the box for him, but then I realized he was probably the fittest guy in the building.
So just become a kernel hacker, and keep your test boxen a few hundred feet away.
I had a professor in college who decided he was going to work construction during the summer. He's obviously in a different situation than you, but I still liked the idea.
A few thoughts:
1) Read "Shop Class as Soulcraft:" http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Class-Soulcraft-Inquiry-Value/dp/... . I have no idea if it will help.
2) Have you thought about an IT job that requires, say, moving around computers (as colleges must require somewhat regularly), or maintaining systems on ships, or something like that? I have no idea if any of that would work.
3) Could you combine two part-time jobs? An IT job that pays bills, perhaps, with a job doing something else?
Lawrence: Fuckin' A, man!
Personally, I just go for walks at random intervals during my workday. It keeps me from being completely deskbound, and also keeps my brain from getting stuck.
He has to be able to engineer support and rigging systems to move old/new equipment out of tight spaces, knocking out walls, contracting out metal workers to add in support beams (elevator generators and motors are very heavy and big). I got him setup with autocad to draft some counter weight plates he had cut via a fire cutter (laser cutter but with cutting torch).
Lots of fun projects, lots of problems, lots of solutions. It pays $55 an hour i think, top scale, and you get something like $15 an hour in benefits. It takes around a year to get called off the bench (it's a union job, but not a shitty union like teamsters. People can and will get fired for not doing their jobs).
Finally, for the workaholic, overtime is always available and it's double time. $110 an hour an extra 2 hours a week can really add up.
Basically, if I wasn't programming I'd be making elevators go up and down.
Another option I have considered is an arborist. Kinda funny, but I love rock climbing, and being an arborist is basically "the same thing", in that you get to harness up, jug up some fixed lines, rig up lowers (can't always drop branches), etc. Looks like alot of fun at least for a while!
How about going on a long walk every lunch break and maybe a short walk in the afternoon too?
I'll suggest an alternative that doesn't require you throwing away your 10-years of experience: you just need to find the right place to work.
I'm an engineer for a company located in a fantastic location with lots of opportunities for outdoor recreation of all kinds. We really do support a better life/work balance than any startup I've worked for.
And we do interesting work with modern tools and methods (Rails, agile, etc.) And we're growing and hiring.
I'm not gonna spam this post with a job posting. But if you're interested it's not too hard to figure out how to contact me or find out who I work for.
Licensed surveyors make good money, particularly if they run their own small firm. This is due to the difficulty in getting licensed (education + exams + apprenticeship) and importance of the data they gather (property surveys become legally binding documents and site surveys provide essential information to civil engineers). And with GPS, etc, there's plenty of technology involved.
You could also get a teaching certificate and become a coach. This may be a lot of work as well depending on your state, education, etc.
You can become a personal trainer with not too much effort if you're like spending time in gyms. It'll take awhile to build up and maintain clientele, but it's not a bad way to go.
My experience: I tried to start my company in the sports field, but I failed. At that time I was surfing 2h/day and running a bit. Now I'm employed, I gained 10kg, and I'm not really motivated and looking for a better way of living.
Perhaps you could also reduce the number of hours you work everyday.
- jump for 'list files', punch for 'double click', punch in different places for different letters ... you get the idea
then you just have to force yourself to use this one hour a day ...
imagine if you could map tai-chi movements to your keyboard.. you could learn tai-chi while filling in those tps reports !!
anyone think this is a good startup idea ?
take dermidgen's advice and get a hobby. take up something that you can invest yourself in outside of computing. if that's coding something not work related, great. if that's finding a more physically challenging hobby, go for it.
personally, i took up triathlon about a year ago and it completely changed my life. 3 sports each with it's own challenges. it's a bit pricey to get into but, it's time-consuming and there are an incredible number of attractive women that participate in the world of multi-sport (ie: triathlon clubs).
i also do an outside project with a friend which keeps me learning new things. Last idea, Take a foreign language class.
I've always been way too optimistic with technology :-(
