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Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

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Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#81

Post by BrandonM »

karmel wrote: post #54

Physical Therapist! "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 th…

My ex is working on this degree right now, and it requires 4+ years of schooling along with a 3-month unpaid internship (she's actually paying tuition!).

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#82

Post by jimmyswimmy »

mtw wrote: post #62
gamble wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These jobs are extremely hard to land. 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.

why so? competition? or the physical standards are so high barely nobody can manage it?

Physical standards aren't that hard - look up CPAT, finish in under 10:40 and you have a shot. The biggest hindrance is that most larger (high-paying) departments are historically white and male and departments are looking to diversify. If you're a white guy, opportunities are proportionally harder and you may need to get your paramedic license to have a chance.

Great work if you can get it, though, most places work 8-10 days per month and you get to sleep on the job (unless a call comes in). IT people will definitely have a hard time with this work, though, the field does not attract a lot of intellectuals.

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#83

Post by mikeditkaditka »

gamble wrote: post #68
mtw wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why so? competition? or the physical standards are so high barely nobody can manage it?

Way, way too much competition. Besides being the one gov't occupation the public has unalloyed respect for, firefighters get great pay and benefits and a lot of free time. Plus there aren't that many positions available, and many of the ones that do open up often go to 'legacies' and others with insider connections. Even before the recession, advertised positions routinely got hundreds of qualified applicants.

All of the above reasons against firefighting are absolutely correct. There is rampant cronyism, and corruption, as would be expected from a union comprised of supposed civil servants. Minimum standards are moving towards becoming an EMT-Paramedic prior to even being hired. Nonetheless, great work if you can get it.

And don't get me started on people double dipping...

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#84

Post by CognitiveLens »

rwhitman wrote: post #75
anigbrowl wrote: post #35

Camera operator. The film/video field is rife with opportunities for smart digiterati, the work is challenging, fulfilling, and well paid. Not a photographer? Become a 'dgitial imaging technician' - arrive in middle of nowhere, set up a bulletproof fileserver, push terabytes of video data around on demand while creating secure backups and often working with alpha builds, work 18 hour days. Downsides: you need to be n…

I have so many friends in the industry and it blows my mind that movies ever get made. The inner workings of the movie business with its 'extreme personalities', on-set politics and its ridiculous accounting processes would likely drive any computer programmer to madness. 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 control…

This is purely anecdotal, but a guy that one of my friends is dating is an ESPN golf cameraman, and apparently goes to like 8-10 tournaments a year all over the world, aims a camera at that tiny little ball for a few days at each tournament, and gets paid 6 figures (in GBP)... I have no idea how to get a gig like that but it always sounded like a sweet deal.

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#86

Post by lani »

I'm waiting for someone to come up with a wii type remote controller-based operating system

- 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 ?

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#87

Post by nradov »

elbrodeur wrote: post #5

Underwater welding ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbaric_welding ) and dive engineering are extremely lucrative, physically demanding and exciting jobs. A friend makes 6 figures and gets to travel to exotic places to boot.

If you're interested in a commercial diving career I recommend reading the novel "Louisiana Blue" by David Poyer. Parts of the plot are a bit silly, but it's a fun read and the descriptions of oil field divers are (from what I'm told) fairly realistic. http://www.esva.net/~davidpoyer/tiller.htm

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.

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#88

Post by [deleted] »

knipknap wrote: post #9
elbrodeur wrote: post #5

Underwater welding ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbaric_welding ) and dive engineering are extremely lucrative, physically demanding and exciting jobs. A friend makes 6 figures and gets to travel to exotic places to boot.

That sounds very cool, but probably requires multiple years of training (with little income).

[deleted]

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#90

Post by ct_ »

this falls under the work-to-live/live-to-work question. i've found in my adopted city that 90% of the people here live to work, which (i think) is pretty typical in western (american) culture. career == life-fulfillment/self actualization. there is nothing wrong with what you're going through, you are just redefining yourself.

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.

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