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

Carpentry

[mr_rattles]

I'd like to take up woodworking and carpentry. You get to be creative, use your hands, and put an idea into existence and someone gets to use the end product. You can also start simple and work up to more advanced projects. It's very rewarding when you finish a project as well.

Creating moldings for plastics is interesting too because you have to visual the inverse of what the object will look like and do so in 3D. Getting something to turn out just right is difficult but makes you feel damn proud of yourself when you're done.

Re:excerise at 30,000 feet?

[woobieman29]

Yes indeed. I am a Sales Engineer, and this is a job that involves a lot of local + airline travel. Get's you outside a bit, and it helps with your social networking skills as well, since you are constantly meeting new people, and helping the sales department to sell products to them. Plus, there are few better ways to get excercise than sprinting full speed through an airport terminal to catch a plane!

Marine engineer

[cybergibbons]

I'm training as a marine engineer. I like computers, but not as a job.

• Learn about maintenance/repair of all the ship's systems (engines, generators, compressors, air con, reefer, hydraulics, boilers, steam systems, turbines, motors, conventional wiring, etc.). Throw in some control systems as well, and comms gear, to keep the IT stuff...
• Learn how to use hand tools and machine tools to make almost anything.
• Decent first aid and fire fighting training
• Great sense of responsibility
• Playing with massive expensive machines
• A lot of holiday (one third of the year, but in great big month long chunks)
• Reasonable pay - but tax free (at least in the UK, that is the case)
• Uniforms always impress the ladies. Even if mine is a boiler suit....

The long periods away might not be to everyone's taste, but it means I can spend the rest of my time travelling or climbing, without the day to day worries of a job.

You have a misguided impression of "electrician"

[arete]

Before I get into this specific rebuttal... I'll summarize my points about the original point: To use your existing knowledge you can basically a) teach, b) manage or c) do. Any of these can be more active if you find the right kind of "field" assignment and/or travel - like "Geeks on Call" etc. But since you don't want to sit on the phone, sales is probably less than desireable.

Personally, if none of the above options were appealing enough - or I couldn't find an appropriate placement - I'd shift my focus away from computers as slowly as possible, because your knowledge is highly applicable to an increasing lot of life. So specializing in how computers INTERACT with some other field.

Want to be in home services? How about home automation? Possibly alarms? High end AV systems (increasingly digital & HDs..)

Want to remain more commercial? How about computer controlled machinery repair - again applying your knowledge but most of your day is moving.

As an option I would definitely consider third, if you want to adjust your knowledge to the technical service industry like this sub-thread, you can get decently rewarded and remain pretty mobile.

I would expect a large construction company will hire the fewest number of electricians possible - and I agree that they'll do this precisely by using less skilled, less expensive labor to do whatever work they can. In this scenario an electrician is mostly walking around inspecting stuff - which is still far from desk work.

So - point 1: the poster didn't say it couldn't be management, it just couldn't be a _desk_ field management of any kind - construction, cellular, IT can under the right circumstances involve very little desk work.

I further agree that it takes several years to be a certified electrician (or plumber, which I think has even more IT parallels) Once you are, though, I think $100k isn't an unreasonable estimate even for going into business for yourself.

Around here (Chicago), such professionals share secretaries that they pay about $8/hour, for an average yearly expense of about $5k to each pro. And a classified ad that says "$80/hour" will have people beating a path to your door - most of them are $125 or so, and HARD to get to come out. By my math that means you have to bill for about 27 hours a week to make $100k (slightly more for tools, insurance etc.)

Now, billing 27 hours is probably working pretty hard (nonbillable driving and whatnot) but it is clear to me this isn't an insane estimate. You specified "cushy" - he did not.

However, I wouldn't go this route, because I think the journeyman process is likely too big a barrier for a late-career engineer. If I was going to do something like this I'd start a Heinlein-esque General Services handyman business where you'll happily fix their computer, their phone, their toliet or their door. People will pay a lot for a personal relationship they trust.