- #1
DReicht
- 5
- 0
What career prospects are there for those of us who don't want to settle down? Are there jobs out there that let us work from home/on the go?
Career Prospects for the Non-Settler: Working from Home & On-the-Go
Click For Summary
Discussion Overview
The discussion centers around career prospects for individuals who prefer not to settle down and are interested in jobs that allow for remote work or travel. Participants explore various fields and roles that accommodate a mobile lifestyle, including technical positions and consulting opportunities.
Discussion Character
- Exploratory
- Technical explanation
- Conceptual clarification
- Debate/contested
Main Points Raised
- Some participants suggest roles such as field engineer, which involves traveling to customer sites for troubleshooting or demonstrations.
- Others mention technical sales as a career with significant travel, where representatives may cover large territories.
- Consulting and auditing are proposed as flexible career options that can also involve travel.
- Corporate rotational programs are highlighted as opportunities for movement within a company, though options may be limited.
- One participant emphasizes the importance of clearly stating a desire for travel on a resume and considering the extent of travel one is willing to undertake.
- Questions are raised about the balance between working from home and the desire for mobility, including preferences for travel frequency and the nature of work environments.
- A humorous suggestion of being a "rockstar" is made, indicating a less conventional approach to career mobility.
Areas of Agreement / Disagreement
Participants express various viewpoints on the types of careers available for those who wish to remain mobile, with no consensus on a singular best approach or career path. The discussion reflects a range of preferences and interpretations of what it means to work from home or on the go.
Contextual Notes
Participants have not fully defined the parameters of "mobile" work, leading to varying interpretations of travel preferences and work environments. There is also uncertainty about the potential limitations of certain career paths in terms of travel opportunities.
Who May Find This Useful
Individuals considering careers that allow for travel or remote work, as well as those interested in flexible job arrangements that do not require settling in one location.
- #2
TMFKAN64
- 1,121
- 22
Field Engineer. Not literally a field, of course... but field engineers travel from customer site to customer site to either debug problems or setup demos for the sales force.
- #3
lisab
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
- 2,050
- 612
Truck driver 
?
OK, seriously...lots of careers have a big travel component. Technical sales, for example. Often, a territory for a sales rep will cover several states.
?OK, seriously...lots of careers have a big travel component. Technical sales, for example. Often, a territory for a sales rep will cover several states.
- #4
kote
- 867
- 4
You can also do consulting in pretty much anything. Or auditing. There are corporate rotational programs in many fields that allow you to move around for a few years after graduation. Larger companies may give you the opportunity to move every 2 or so years in the regular course of business, although your options may be limited.
- #5
Moonbear
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
- 11,959
- 54
You'll probably have an easier time finding a job/career if you enjoy traveling. As lisa points out, there are a lot of careers that involve frequent travel, and it's hard for them to hire people, because most people reach a stage in life when they just want to settle down and stay in one place. Put your interest in travel right on your resume, in your objective statement. After you describe the type of work you're interested in, put in a sentence like, "Ideal position would offer opportunities for travel; willing to relocate."
The question is, how MUCH do you want to travel. You say working from home, which isn't mobile at all, so do you mean you don't want to just work at a desk, but want a home "base," or do you want to be sent on business trips once a month, once every six months, once a year, every week, etc.? Do you want to relocate to a new city every 6 months, or do you want to have a house in one place that you return to at the end of every trip? Or, do you really mean you just don't want to be tied to a rigid schedule and have to work in a cube farm, but rather would like to work from home and/or on your own schedule via telecommuting?
Think about what you mean by mobile, then find what really suits your needs (and accept that you might not get it right away...you might have to spend a few years working at a desk in one office before a company decides you have enough knowledge to represent them on business trips to see clients at other locations, as an example).
The question is, how MUCH do you want to travel. You say working from home, which isn't mobile at all, so do you mean you don't want to just work at a desk, but want a home "base," or do you want to be sent on business trips once a month, once every six months, once a year, every week, etc.? Do you want to relocate to a new city every 6 months, or do you want to have a house in one place that you return to at the end of every trip? Or, do you really mean you just don't want to be tied to a rigid schedule and have to work in a cube farm, but rather would like to work from home and/or on your own schedule via telecommuting?
Think about what you mean by mobile, then find what really suits your needs (and accept that you might not get it right away...you might have to spend a few years working at a desk in one office before a company decides you have enough knowledge to represent them on business trips to see clients at other locations, as an example).
- #6
maverick_starstrider
- 1,118
- 7
Rockstar
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