Desk Free Technology Career Path?

nickjohnson wonders: "I realize that in business there exist many career paths out of software engineering, but in the corporate world, most of those career paths still involve sitting in front of a computer or sitting at meetings or sitting and talking on the phone a significant part of the time. I'm sure there's a number of people out there with neck and wrist pain, or aging bodies hard to keep in shape -- what career paths have you or are you considering that are interesting and rewarding for techie engineering types that do not involve so much sitting still?" "I'm reaching out to the Slashdot community for advice on a career change for myself, a veteran software engineer who, for physical reasons, does not want to work sitting in front of a computer anymore. Actually, I really don't want to spend many more years sitting still in front of *anything* anymore. I need to move around more, and maintain a more upright position throughout the day. Short of becoming a yoga teacher or a dance teacher or I don't know a skydiving instructor, what else is out there for a techie like me?

* interesting problems to solve
* opportunities for discovery and success
* financially lucrative
* more invigorating (not tiring) than sitting still all day"

Comments

Ummmmm

[Alpha27]

Well you don't leave many options left....

You can go into teaching. I did this for about a year, teaching a linux course and this required me
- to move around alot,
- drink alot more water,
- be active, constantly on my feet,
- constant talking,
- was semi-lucrative as long as you can make this a regular gig that can pay the bills, a number of places will pay good money, and if not, you can convince them why they should, considering they get good money for the course from the student.

All the other options I was going to write, would have taken you out of technology, but considering you want to stay in it, I guess on some level, this seems like the best option, especially if you have the skills to back it up, and the ability to teach. Plus someone with years of experience is a valuable asset to any teaching institution.

Good luck.

Integrated Systems

[gremlin_591002]

Learn to program control systems. The language is simple, the problems are not. I do mostly building automation in refineries and hospitals. Have you ever walked around a hospital? Typical day is 18 miles. And when something doesn't work, it usually requires a hammer or a wrench. How many times have you wanted one of those at work?

Nuts and bolts field tech

[x00101010x]

If you have any interest in network nuts and bolts, you could get a job as a DSL lineman with the local telco. Last I checked, CWA (Communication Workers' Union) still had pretty good benefits too.

Other alteratives, that I've actually done, are PLC programming. There's still lots of nights sitting at the desk at home with a test setup on the table next to me, but there's just as much time spent out at sites installing and trouble shooting the units and sensor/relay wiring. And usually the sites don't really keep having a place to sit down in mind when they allocate a cabinet for the PLC, so some of my best fixes have been coded standing up.

Re:One answer:

[Bill Dog]

IANAPA, but I heard on the radio that these jobs are being outsourced as well. I think it was Brazil that the report said the industry is getting their cheap "talent" from. The days of highly-paid megastars in that world, like messed-up ole Jenna Jameson, are over, as they just don't want to pay much anymore.