Good professions for work/life balance?
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Anonymous
+1, sort of. Most weeks are probably 35-40 hours for me, but when things get busy, I can easily be working around the clock for a week or more or worse, working on case going to trial in California or something. All in all, it's a good gig. But I would never advise someone to go into law primarily for the reasonable hours and flexibility. the jobs exist but they are rare and hard to get. |
Anonymous
| Physical therapist. Like other suggestions here it requires years of specialized school. |
Anonymous
| I'm a dentist. I own my practice which allows me to work about 30-35 hours a week. I can work, and make more money, if I want to, but I have a pretty good associate dentist and dental hygienists who work when I don't. I'm 32 weeks pregnant so my job definitely allows that free time that I need. |
Anonymous
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I'm a corporate recruiter. I used to be a "headhunter" and worked in search. You can make a LOT of $$ depending on industry (ie IT, Finance, healthcare, etc).
No start-up capital needed. Manage your own time, work from home. Need phone/internet connection. DONE. Business development via LinkedIn, associations/events/networking. 20-30% fee of first year's salary or if you do contract, make maybe $3-10/hr margin per person placed (so - if they work 40 hours, you make $400/week - contracts is a better gig actually than perm placement having done both myself). You don't need experience - you have to be good with people, they have to like you, it's a lot of sales. You have to be well organized, good at sales/have energy. Be diligent and consistent. Work hard but you have the luxury of managing your own time. It's not as "easy" as some people think it is but it's a really good self employment opportunity because it's effort based - anyone can do it. It's an AWESOME biz model. You also feel good because people you get a job for think you are God and your clients will be happy too  Win-win on the most meaningful scale. Corporate recruiting is less money but more stability and you can still do 6 figures if 10+ years of experience depending on industry. My first year in search with no experience at age 24 I made $150k. No joke. Never worked more than 40 hours if that.
To PP - I recruit salespeople and yes depending on the industry and company, you can absolutely have an awesome sales gig that is a work/life balance and make $$$. Totally. Everything depends on who you work for, what your boss is like, how they structure comp and whether you are new biz dev, account managing, or responsible for combo. Outside sales always makes their own schedule. Inside sales is straight 40 hrs/week and you can make more than $60k if you are good frequently. |
Anonymous
Those that are happy being engineers, i.e., not managers, etc. |
Anonymous
| Government lawyer. |
Anonymous
Should clarify, not at DOJ or in litigation. |
Anonymous
I'm a prof and say the same. It's 3:08pm right now. I've been correcting final papers from home and am now off to pick up the critters. Summers off, so it was no problem pulling DD out of the second session of camp last summer when it didn't seem a good fit for her. She hung out with me for a few weeks before school started. I can take DS to therapy each week without taking time off. It's great. The pay is not. That's the trade off. I get to do what I love and they basically get a SAHM. |
Anonymous
But it's hard to call out sick or take vacation during the school year as a teacher, this probably varies by district. |
Anonymous
| DH is a govt engineer makes $110 plus some overtime if he wants it. He comes and goes as he pleases. I am very jealous bc I've never had a straight 9-5. |
Anonymous
What kind of engineer? |
Anonymous
| HR. Many different specialties (Comp, LR, Recruitment, Policy, Planning, etc.) and you can work in any industry. I work from home for an S&T organization and make $100k. I have worked in HR in healthcare, finance, and manufacturing. |
Anonymous
| IT....requires no formal training...great pay, easy hours...what's not to like? |
Anonymous
| RN. Work 2 12-hour weekend shifts each week. Sometimes 12 hours turns into 13 or 14 because the workload can be heavy and patients fall apart. However, it's manageable because I have 5 days off and SAH with my toddler during the week. I make about $60K and fully fund my retirement accounts (work-sponsored with matching and personal). Not having to worry about expensive daycare helps tremendously. I don't plan to work weekends forever, but it's working out well for now. |
Anonymous
So is that a common offering or are finding those slots like hens teeth.? |