Readers had a tremendous dialog the opposite day about non-desk jobs, so we thought we’d accumulate all of their recommendation into one place. Curious what non-desk jobs are on the market, or get right into a profession area the place you aren’t chained to a desk all day? This put up is for you.
First, right here was the query that sparked the dialogue:
As I sit chained to my desk for occurring 8 years, I generally daydream about having a job that isn’t a desk job. It’s by no means a particular job in my daydreams although, as a result of I’ve no need to enter the medical area or be a policewoman, firefighter, plumber, and many others (what all these “non desk job” lists encompass). Who right here has an interesting non desk job? Or is aware of somebody who does? How did you/they get into it?
Readers got here up with a TON of nice concepts, so we thought we’d spherical them up. Some individuals who HOLD non-desk jobs weighed in, whereas others knew individuals who had been in particular non-desk careers (equivalent to forrestry)!
Have you ever ever thought-about non-desk jobs? What are your finest tips about get an incredible non-desk job?
The way to Discover a Nice Non-Desk Job
Artsy Non-Desk Jobs
One reader famous that you possibly can be an “[a]rtist, seamstress, clothes designer, inside decorator, dietitian… something the place you go to purchasers’ properties or workplaces!”
Jeweler. However, the reader who prompt this famous, “I’m obsessive about jewellery, particularly pearls and semiprecious gems. Tremendous interested by lab created treasured stones as properly.”
Stage supervisor. One reader famous, “In my fantasy life, I’m a stage supervisor for stay theater (like performs or musicals, not rock exhibits).”
Museum jobs. Not fairly an artsy job, however in the same vein, one reader famous that her favourite job working at a museum, “particularly on the ground interacting with friends. Pay was absolute sh!t however I cherished it.”
Occasion Administration/Coordination. (I’ve truly heard these are nice jobs for former theater managers!) As one reader famous, when you’re on the occasion you’re operating round taking good care of every part, however there’s a number of hands-on prep work, equivalent to “scoping out the occasion house, assembly with distributors, and many others. There are firms that do that full time and several other massive firms have a full in-house occasions crew. Likewise, many customer expertise jobs are basically occasion administration jobs in-house for a venue (NFL stadium, museum, live performance venue).”
Educating Non-Desk Jobs
One reader got here up with a ton of nice concepts, together with instructing. “Whereas there’s a number of prep work, grading, remark writing, and school conferences, the time you’re bodily instructing shouldn’t be at at desk. It’s after all grade and topic dependent, however instructing a science class with a lab element can be palms on, as would instructing elementary schoolers.”
Readers additionally famous that daycare/preschool lecturers ought to be included in addition to Ok-12 lecturers!
Non-Desk Jobs That Are Not Docs (However Are Drugs-Adjoining)
One reader got here up with a bunch of nice concepts for medicine-adjacent non-desk jobs:
– Therapists equivalent to specialists in bodily remedy, occupational remedy, or speech remedy. Readers famous, “I’ve pals who’re all 3 and they’re all so proud of their careers. You are able to do these jobs in so many alternative settings. For instance, I’ve two pals who’re OTs. One works in a hospital with sufferers recovering from survey whereas one other works with toddlers and younger kids of their properties and colleges completely.” (Word that you could be want a BS to pursue this path — I had one good friend who had a BA in appearing and determined to not pursue occupational remedy as a result of she would have wanted to mainly redo her whole school schooling.)
– Medical gadget gross sales. One reader famous, ” I’ve a couple of pals in medical gadget gross sales they usually all find it irresistible and make actually nice cash. They’re totally on web site at hospitals after which a little bit WFH for the admin a part of the job.”
– Scientific analysis coordinators and lab scientists. One reader famous: “Undecided what your background is and/or for those who’re prepared to return to high school, however I’ve a number of pals who work in labs doing various things (don’t ask me what) or as scientific analysis coordinators that appear to be desk and non-desk. Likewise, some engineering jobs are all desk work and a few engineering jobs are very palms on and a few fall in between.”
Non-Desk Jobs Exterior
Forestry. One reader famous, “My ex husband was a forester. He labored for a state forestry fee. Obtained into it by going to forestry faculty.”
One other reader prompt working for a public lands company or changing into a backcountry information. “I had non-desk jobs within the first decade of my working life, although it’s been virtually a decade of desk jobs now. They have been largely within the hospitality / outside schooling / environmental consciousness house. My pals who nonetheless work in that space usually are some sort of backcountry information or work for a public lands company.”
One more reader famous that she’d like to get right into a wilderness search and rescue with a canine crew.
“Skilled” Non-Desk Jobs
One other reader got here up with a number of nice concepts for non-desk jobs that have been in corporate-adjacent fields:
– Business pilot. Readers famous you could be a industrial pilot till you might be 65 — and there’s speak that age might enhance as a result of general pilot scarcity.
– Company coaching. There are a ton of company coaching jobs on the market, together with orientation, onboarding, technical expertise coaching, administration coaching, DEI coaching, and extra. One reader famous that:
for those who like the thought of instructing however don’t wish to work with youngsters or in a college, there are many company and authorities coaching groups. My first job in my area was working for a big emergency administration company on their coaching crew. We didn’t do onboarding or orientation (that was all HR) however we did coaching on completely different emergency conditions for our employees and employees from companion companies. I used to be the coordinator, so I didn’t develop or give the trainings, however it was an incredible crew.
– Authorities jobs with neighborhood engagement roles. One reader famous, “There are a number of authorities jobs that contain working with the general public / neighborhood engagement roles. Clearly, that isn’t everybody’s cup of tea however there’s a crew of three in my present workplace who do it they usually appear completely satisfied.”
– Lobbyist. Loads of desk time, however plenty of going locations: conferences with lawmaker employees, conferences with purchasers/coalitions/stakeholders, fundraising occasions. (Fundraisers are generally fancy such as you think about them; different occasions it’s consuming a stale danish at 7:30 am in a cramped restaurant occasion room.)
One reader chimed in together with her expertise in native authorities emergency administration:
I’m a neighborhood authorities emergency supervisor. I’ve loads of desk work: common admin work, writing experiences, emails and cellphone calls with companions and distributors, managing grants and distributors, writing plans. Nevertheless, there are a number of conferences, trainings, neighborhood engagement work, logistics work, and naturally, emergency response. Emergency administration shouldn’t be for everybody (and I’m at the moment extremely burnt out), however it’s general an incredible match for me.
Why Non-Desk Jobs Could Not Be a Good Match For You
One reader added a giant caveat to non-desk jobs: “One factor I’ve discovered about non-desk jobs is that almost all of them require in-person work all or the vast majority of the time. So, for those who worth distant or hybrid work then these jobs usually are not possible an excellent match.”
One other reader prompt staying away from analyst positions if you’d like a non-desk job. “At an previous job of mine we had an analyst who just about stayed at her desk and made dashboards, trackers, maps whereas others obtained to go do “cool” issues.”
One more reader had an incredible quip that defined why she selected her desk job: “I really feel prefer it’s both take care of the general public, be good at math, or have a desk job. I can’t do the primary two, so I settled for a desk job.”
Readers, what are your ideas? Have you ever ever thought-about non-desk jobs? What are your finest tips about get an incredible non-desk job?
Inventory picture through Deposit Photographs / deniskalinichenko.