Readers had a tremendous dialog the opposite day about non-desk jobs, so we thought we’d acquire all of their recommendation into one place. Curious what non-desk jobs are on the market, or easy methods to get right into a profession subject the place you aren’t chained to a desk all day? This submit is for you.

First, right here was the query that sparked the dialogue:

As I sit chained to my desk for happening 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 subject or be a policewoman, firefighter, plumber, and so forth (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 (similar to forrestry)!

Have you ever ever thought of non-desk jobs? What are your greatest recommendations on easy methods to get an incredible non-desk job?

Tips on how to Discover a Nice Non-Desk Job

Artsy Non-Desk Jobs

One reader famous that you would be an “[a]rtist, seamstress, clothes designer, inside decorator, dietitian… something the place you go to shoppers’ properties or workplaces!”

Jeweler. However, the reader who instructed this famous, “I’m obsessive about jewellery, particularly pearls and semiprecious gem stones. Tremendous concerned about lab created valuable 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 reveals).”

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 company. Pay was absolute sh!t however I liked it.”

Occasion Administration/Coordination. (I’ve really heard these are nice jobs for former theater managers!) As one reader famous, whilst you’re on the occasion you’re working round taking good care of all the pieces, however there’s plenty of hands-on prep work, similar to “scoping out the occasion house, assembly with distributors, and so forth. There are firms that do that full time and a number of other giant firms have a full in-house occasions crew. Likewise, many customer expertise jobs are primarily occasion administration jobs in-house for a venue (NFL stadium, museum, live performance venue).”

Instructing Non-Desk Jobs

One reader got here up with a ton of nice concepts, together with educating. “Whereas there’s plenty of prep work, grading, remark writing, and school conferences, the time you’re bodily educating isn’t at at desk. It’s after all grade and topic dependent, however educating a science class with a lab part can be arms on, as would educating elementary schoolers.”

Readers additionally famous that daycare/preschool academics ought to be included in addition to Ok-12 academics!

Non-Desk Jobs That Are Not Docs (However Are Medication-Adjoining)

One reader got here up with a bunch of nice concepts for medicine-adjacent non-desk jobs:

– Therapists similar to specialists in bodily remedy, occupational remedy, or speech remedy. Readers famous, “I’ve associates 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 associates 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.” (Notice that you could be want a BS to pursue this path — I had one buddy 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 complete school schooling.)

– Medical system gross sales. One reader famous, ” I’ve just a few associates in medical system gross sales and so they all adore it and make actually nice cash. They’re totally on web site at hospitals after which a bit WFH for the admin a part of the job.”

– Scientific analysis coordinators and lab scientists. One reader famous: “Unsure what your background is and/or in the event you’re prepared to return to highschool, however I’ve a number of associates 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 arms on and a few fall in between.”

Non-Desk Jobs Outdoors

Forestry. One reader famous, “My ex husband was a forester. He labored for a state forestry fee. Acquired into it by going to forestry college.”

One other reader instructed 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 had been largely within the hospitality / outside schooling / environmental consciousness house. My associates who nonetheless work in that space typically are some kind of backcountry information or work for a public lands company.”

Yet 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 plenty of nice concepts for non-desk jobs that had been in corporate-adjacent fields:

– Industrial pilot. Readers famous which you can be a industrial pilot till you’re 65 — and there’s discuss that age could improve as a result of total pilot scarcity.

– Company coaching. There are a ton of company coaching jobs on the market, together with orientation, onboarding, technical abilities coaching, administration coaching, DEI coaching, and extra. One reader famous that:

in the event you like the thought of educating however don’t need to work with children or in a college, there are many company and authorities coaching groups. My first job in my subject 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 totally 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, nevertheless it was an incredible crew.

– Authorities jobs with neighborhood engagement roles. One reader famous, “There are plenty 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 and so they appear completely happy.”

– Lobbyist. Loads of desk time, however numerous going locations: conferences with lawmaker employees, conferences with shoppers/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 studies, emails and telephone calls with companions and distributors, managing grants and distributors, writing plans. Nevertheless, there are plenty of conferences, trainings, neighborhood engagement work, logistics work, and naturally, emergency response. Emergency administration isn’t for everybody (and I’m presently extremely burnt out), nevertheless it’s total an incredible match for me.

Why Non-Desk Jobs Could Not Be a Good Match For You

One reader added an enormous 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, in the event you worth distant or hybrid work then these jobs aren’t seemingly a very good match.”

One other reader instructed staying away from analyst positions if you need a non-desk job. “At an outdated 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.”

Yet 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 of non-desk jobs? What are your greatest recommendations on easy methods to get an incredible non-desk job?

Inventory photograph by way of Deposit Photographs / deniskalinichenko.