Short work year, high paying, non-degree jobs

[sloof70]

Checked a few pages back and couldn't find a thread on these so I thought I'd start another.

This is about the recent reader case study about the person with the vacation home.  More specifically, her job.  She was a merchant mariner that works 4-5 months a year, making $70-80k.  And she lives in my city.  I read that and thought, "WOW!  She's living my dream!"  Job pays well, loads of travel, abbreviated work year due to long hours, and didn't need to go to college for it.  Started doing a little "what if" research, and found that becoming a merchant mariner requires years of academy training, and the cutoff age is 25.  Verging on 26 and not wanting to go back to school, I quickly nixed this as even a possibility.

Does anyone else know of similar occupations?  I'm curious what pays well enough ($50k+), requires two or fewer years of training, preferably a fair amount of travel, and doesn't necessitate year-round work.  Also, something that isn't such an insider position that I'd need to be born into the industry.  For starters, I already know of jobs such as working on a fishing boat in Alaska or out in the oil fields in North Dakota (which I happen to have familial connection with both).  I like to keep an eye on what my options are when the office really gets me down.

[AlmostIndependent]

Being a merchant mariner is a great gig. I work about 4 months a year and make about $100k. The downside is that for those 4 months you are gone. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you are gone. You need to have a VERY understanding SO to make it work. I would guess from the pay in the recent MMM article they are officers. To get a license as an officer you either have to attend a maritime academy or spend a significant amount of time sailing and taking classes to qualify. I also have a great schedule, a lot of people work 6-8 months per year, sometimes for significantly less pay.

[sloof70]

Being a merchant mariner is a great gig. I work about 4 months a year and make about $100k. The downside is that for those 4 months you are gone. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you are gone. You need to have a VERY understanding SO to make it work. I would guess from the pay in the recent MMM article they are officers. To get a license as an officer you either have to attend a maritime academy or spend a significant amount of time sailing and taking classes to qualify. I also have a great schedule, a lot of people work 6-8 months per year, sometimes for significantly less pay.

Please don't rub it in.  It's already not a possibility for me at the ripe old age of almost 26.

[SnackDog]

I had a friend who did it. He some wild stories about having to cut up dead cattle with a chainsaw after hitting a cold front at sea and too many of them giving birth prematurely. Gruesome!

[Freedom2016]

Flight attendant?

[expatartist]

I've met people in the oil and gas industries who work their tails off for about half the year, and live it up for the rest. If you're smarter about saving than they are (say, live in a low-cost country/lifestyle during your off-time), it shouldn't take you longer than a decade to become FI. Sorry, no connections to the industry, but it's worth checking out. For the best positions I believe you'll need a related degree.

Also look into working holiday schemes in Australia and the UK, New Zealand and elsewhere. For some, you may need a degree. But you'll need to apply before you turn 30. Having at least a Bachelor's - in anything - will make you more employable around the world.

[NumberJohnny5]

Does anyone else know of similar occupations?  I'm curious what pays well enough ($50k+), requires two or fewer years of training, preferably a fair amount of travel, and doesn't necessitate year-round work.

Travel nurse. Become an RN with a 2yr Associate's Degree. Get a staff job (regular year-round position). If you want some flexibility, go PRN (or casual bank, whatever it's called in your area). Higher pay, no benefits, work your own schedule (there'll be a minimum amount scheduled per schedule, and you'll be the first called off). Once you have a couple years of experience, start applying for travel contracts.

I wouldn't recommend becoming a nurse just for the high paycheck though.

[2527]

26 is hardly too old.

[Worsted Skeins]

Nuclear power plants have regular refueling outages during which a number of contract workers are brought in for intensive hours with lots of overtime--usually for a month or so.  Many of these jobs pay very well. 

I struck up a conversation last spring with the wife of one of these outage workers.  She told me that she and her husband have a home but live in their RV five or six months a year while he works these outages.  They go home to tend the garden in the warmer months. 

Not all of the jobs require a degree however the higher paid ones certainly require training.  I am unsure though how one gets one's foot in the door.

[rubybeth]

Flight attendant?

No way, flight attendants make crap pay and it's not seasonal work. Even newer pilots don't seem to make much (have a relative who is a commercial pilot) and that takes lots of schooling (i.e. flight time) to become a pilot.

[jrhampt]

I have an uncle who does tax prep work seasonally.  I'm not sure how high the pay is, though.

[jrhampt]

I'm also interested in hearing more about the merchant marines if anyone wants to share...

[sloof70]

26 is hardly too old.

As I said above, the cutoff age for entry to the merchant marine academy is 25.

[nawhite]

Its not quite the pay level you're looking for but a Search and Rescue EMT can make $25+ per hour. The EMT course is on the order of a month or two full time and the seach and rescue stuff is paid for by your employer. The work is very sporadic so you have an "on-call" schedule, so not quite "work 4-5 months per year".

[AlmostIndependent]

26 is hardly too old.

As I said above, the cutoff age for entry to the merchant marine academy is 25.

The merchant marine academy is only one avenue to work in the merchant fleet. There are plenty of opportunities. If you are seriously interested PM me and I can fill you in on details.

[Stretch]

When i was in between jobs I looked all over. I found a career/corporate job that was pretty good and took it, but the next day after I accepted one of my apps hit and I was offered a job up in Alaska. Pay was $300 a day up in Denali,  work 4 10s, with 3 day weekends. Would have been initially from snow melt to snowfall (3 month season). You wouldn't get rich, but it would be enough to get by. It was a heavy equipment / class A CDL position. I sometimes wonder how much different my life would be if they would have called me a day earlier, I would have taken the adventure.

I have a friend who does salmon fishing up in Alaska. He works a few months a year, makes a ton of money, and spends it all on motorcycles, strippers, and booze in Seattle. Lives broke with his dad the rest of the year until the next season. He has a really nice Harley though :)

[Roses]

I know a web designer who takes 3-5 months off every year.  He's self employed so he just stops taking jobs at a certain point and tells his regular clients when he'll be back.  He's living abroad in cheaper countries some of the time - even some of the time that he's working.  I don't know how much he makes but his rate is $90/hour so I'm sure it's way more than 50K a year.  No degree either, just lots of self-training, some courses here and there, and a great portfolio.

[omegashop333]

Real Estate Agent.

The peak times are April-September. You can hustle hard for 6 months and take the rest off or you can  go year round and take a week every month.

[SnackDog]

Not seasonal, but airline pilots earn up to $200K and only fly about 10 days a month.

[AlmostIndependent]

Not seasonal, but airline pilots earn up to $200K and only fly about 10 days a month.

The road to making a lot of money as a pilot is long and far from guaranteed. The training is expensive and you will spend years making very little money before getting hired on at a major airline. I looked into it and the picture is rather grim. It's one thing to fly because you love it but doing it to make a lot of money is not a particularly wise career move.

[Spork]

Not seasonal, but airline pilots earn up to $200K and only fly about 10 days a month.

The road to making a lot of money as a pilot is long and far from guaranteed. The training is expensive and you will spend years making very little money before getting hired on at a major airline. I looked into it and the picture is rather grim. It's one thing to fly because you love it but doing it to make a lot of money is not a particularly wise career move.

It's also a very fickle industry that does serious booms/busts. 

It's the path I was going to take, but between the cost and my eyesight... I eventually decided my odds were bad enough that I didn't take that route.  A friend of mine did it... and made it to the big time.   But he's spent years off and on out of work (and is out of work now).

That said: the prediction is that there will be a serious pilot shortage as the Vietnam vets are starting to hit mandatory retirement ages.

[GuitarStv]

Not seasonal, but airline pilots earn up to $200K and only fly about 10 days a month.

On average, starting pay at major airlines is $36,283 –- which is about double where many regional airlines start pilots (http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2009/06/16/pilot-pay-want-to-know-how-much-your-captain-earns/).  Does not seem like an easy way to make a living . . .

[Spork]

Not seasonal, but airline pilots earn up to $200K and only fly about 10 days a month.

On average, starting pay at major airlines is $36,283 –- which is about double where many regional airlines start pilots (http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2009/06/16/pilot-pay-want-to-know-how-much-your-captain-earns/).  Does not seem like an easy way to make a living . . .

And remember: that guy making $36k probably has 10,000+ flight hours... some paid out of pocket and some paid crap for.  (Starting pay for right seat was around $20k when I was looking at doing it.)

[Villanelle]

I too was going to suggest commercial fishing.

Pilot is not an option.  If would requires years or training and a ton of money for you to get a commercial rating, and breaking into the industry is still extremely competitive.  And that fails to mention that you asked about seasonal work, which commercial piloting must assuredly is not. 

[Spork]

I too was going to suggest commercial fishing.

Pilot is not an option.  If would requires years or training and a ton of money for you to get a commercial rating,

One clarification: "commercial rating" is, to be honest, not worth squat. 

To be marketable you need an ATP rating and then type certifications in various pieces of big iron. 

That may have been what you meant... but if someone googles around for the qualifications for a commercial pilot, it won't look that hard.  However, you also won't make any real money hauling skydivers to 10,000 feet all day long.

[Villanelle]

You right, that is what I meant and I used that term as it would make sense to people, but you are correct that it could be misleading. I apologize for that.
 

[needmyfi]

Underwater welders can make over $100,000 a year-from what I've been told the pay increases dramatically the deeper you are willing to go.  i've known two underwater welders and both were lovable lunatics-not sure if the job made them that way or you have to be nuts to do that kind of work in the first place.

[rubybeth]

Not seasonal, but airline pilots earn up to $200K and only fly about 10 days a month.

On average, starting pay at major airlines is $36,283 –- which is about double where many regional airlines start pilots (http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2009/06/16/pilot-pay-want-to-know-how-much-your-captain-earns/).  Does not seem like an easy way to make a living . . .

It is definitely not a good option if you're looking to make good money quickly. DH's cousin is a pilot with a regional carrier, and it just sounds like hell. Flight hours were horribly expensive and they are in massive debt, plus being on-call during holidays, low pay, super stressful with uncertainty on the business side of things, etc. just sounds awful.

Not seasonal, but airline pilots earn up to $200K and only fly about 10 days a month.

The road to making a lot of money as a pilot is long and far from guaranteed. The training is expensive and you will spend years making very little money before getting hired on at a major airline. I looked into it and the picture is rather grim. It's one thing to fly because you love it but doing it to make a lot of money is not a particularly wise career move.

All of this rings very true to me.

[sol]

The pay isn't great, but I know a bunch of folks who work seasonal jobs in McMurdo during the Antarctic summer (like Nov-March) and then travel the third world the rest of the year. 

All expenses (food/lodging) are covered while you're there so 100% of your paycheck is savings, except what you spend on booze.  Even $10k goes a loooong way over eight months in Fiji or Thailand or Tanzania or Nepal.

Those folks typically don't have families or housing back in the states.  They're just nomads, with a recurring gig in the great frozen south.   I know some folks who have been doing it for more than 10 years.

[sol]

Another alternative: commercial diver.  Geoduck harvesters make decent money around here.  Like coldwater fishing or roughnecking, it pays well because it's dirty dangerous work.  Is that what you want?

There are easier seasonal jobs for older folks.  Tax prep and Accounting come to mind.

[Spork]

Not seasonal, but airline pilots earn up to $200K and only fly about 10 days a month.

On average, starting pay at major airlines is $36,283 –- which is about double where many regional airlines start pilots (http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2009/06/16/pilot-pay-want-to-know-how-much-your-captain-earns/).  Does not seem like an easy way to make a living . . .

It is definitely not a good option if you're looking to make good money quickly. DH's cousin is a pilot with a regional carrier, and it just sounds like hell. Flight hours were horribly expensive and they are in massive debt, plus being on-call during holidays, low pay, super stressful with uncertainty on the business side of things, etc. just sounds awful.

Not seasonal, but airline pilots earn up to $200K and only fly about 10 days a month.

The road to making a lot of money as a pilot is long and far from guaranteed. The training is expensive and you will spend years making very little money before getting hired on at a major airline. I looked into it and the picture is rather grim. It's one thing to fly because you love it but doing it to make a lot of money is not a particularly wise career move.

All of this rings very true to me.

Not to keep beating the dead pilot horse... but one additional tidbit.  As I recall the $200k pilot jobs don't exist any longer.  These jobs are heavily unionized and at some point the union implemented a 2 tier wage scale.  If you're not already in the top tier... you won't get there ever.  It doesn't mean the left seat guy won't (someday) make good money.  He'll just never make the money the old guys made.

[mgreczyn]

Flight attendant?

No way, flight attendants make crap pay and it's not seasonal work. Even newer pilots don't seem to make much (have a relative who is a commercial pilot) and that takes lots of schooling (i.e. flight time) to become a pilot.

To quote a friend of mine who flew F-18s for a while and now is a business development guy for a grocery chain (instead of being a commercial pilot): "Your competition is dudes who will work for peanuts.  Literally."  Flying is a blast.  As a career, commercial aviation with a few exceptions seems to suck. 

[kkbmustang]

On a cruise ship? Not sure what the pay is, but you are provided food, lodging and travel. A friend of mine did that for several years after she finished college.

[AlmostIndependent]

On a cruise ship? Not sure what the pay is, but you are provided food, lodging and travel. A friend of mine did that for several years after she finished college.

It's something to look into but unless you have a skill set that they cruise is after (maritime, safety, etc.) the vast majority of the jobs are filled by people from countries who are willing to work for far longer and for less pay than anyone here.  The average crew member on a cruise ship (or any non-US flagged ship for that matter) will be from the Philippines or Indonesia (or a handful of other relatively poor nations), will have signed onto the ship for an entire year and will make only a few hundred dollars per month.

[sol]

It's something to look into but unless you have a skill set that they cruise is after (maritime, safety, etc.) the vast majority of the jobs are filled by people from countries who are willing to work for far longer and for less pay than anyone here.

I know a juggler who makes a great living on cruise ships.  It's not as good as Vegas, but it's better than doing birthday parties and county fairs.  Just saying that not all of the "skills" they're after are ship-related. 

One of my friends from college also spent six years working cruise ships as a hospitality hostess or something.  She mostly did guest relations.  She was gorgeous and charming, though, so maybe not everyone's bag.

And the pay may be besides the point.  If the option is between working a year of office drudgery while living frugally to save $10k compared to working a year on an international cruise ship to save $5k, I would take the cruise ship in a heartbeat.  Travel, interesting people, and a new chapter to your life story. 

[Simple Abundant Living]

Here in UT, a lot of college students work summers selling security systems or pest control out of state. My neighbor is a manager/recruiter for a pest control co.  He and his family move to Sacramento for the summer and his only job during the rest of the year is recruiting/training. From what I can tell, this is extremely lucrative for him. They seem to like bright, energetic young people.

[plantingourpennies]

Intersting stuff on Deep water diving-

http://www.aws.org/education/plunge.html

Have to tell you-the pay scales for commercial pilots scare the bejesus out of me. I want the guy who is in charge of landing the plane to be taken care of...

best,
Mr. PoP

[Matte]

Oil and gas! You can either do shutdowns as a contractor, they hire all skill levels, trades, basically an army that comes in and overhauls a plant, working 12+ hour days, even low skill labor makes over $25/hr, most in the 30-50 range.  The other option is operation, schedules vary from 3 on 3 off 12s to 2weeks on 2 weeks off.  Usually these jobs require an engineering ascociates degree or diploma.  Pay 30-50 an hour.  Barge men loadibg and unloading barges make 6 figures and don't work much, same with tugs and wharf crew. 

[jrhampt]

On a cruise ship? Not sure what the pay is, but you are provided food, lodging and travel. A friend of mine did that for several years after she finished college.

I had forgotten about this!  When my sister and I were traveling in Thailand, we met a guy who plays the piano on Disney cruises for half the year and just travels around the other half of the year.  I'm not sure what the pay was, but it sounded like a great lifestyle.

[Villanelle]

On a cruise ship? Not sure what the pay is, but you are provided food, lodging and travel. A friend of mine did that for several years after she finished college.

I had forgotten about this!  When my sister and I were traveling in Thailand, we met a guy who plays the piano on Disney cruises for half the year and just travels around the other half of the year.  I'm not sure what the pay was, but it sounded like a great lifestyle.

Husband and I recently went on a cruise and talked to the staff a bit about their jobs.  If you have a specialty skill (like playing piano, singing, or other entertainment) then it seems the pay is decent, but for the rank and file, it is painfully long hours for very little pay. 

[Bigote]

Prostitution - high end of the market anyway.   

[Adventine]

On a cruise ship? Not sure what the pay is, but you are provided food, lodging and travel. A friend of mine did that for several years after she finished college.

It's something to look into but unless you have a skill set that they cruise is after (maritime, safety, etc.) the vast majority of the jobs are filled by people from countries who are willing to work for far longer and for less pay than anyone here.  The average crew member on a cruise ship (or any non-US flagged ship for that matter) will be from the Philippines or Indonesia (or a handful of other relatively poor nations), will have signed onto the ship for an entire year and will make only a few hundred dollars per month.

This is true. I used to process Filipino seafarer visas and saw copies of their contracts. The officers, captains, first engineers, and other high-ranking seamen are paid extremely well, but the rank and file seamen (welders, scaffolders, etc.) are paid very poorly. The guest relations crew members, cruise ship performers and private yacht staff are somewhere in between. That middle salary tier might appeal to the OP and, last I heard, doesn't have an age limit.

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

<snicker>seamen </snicker>

[Adventine]

<snicker>seamen </snicker>

Yup, one of our old office classics.

[pirate_wench]

Pirate_Wench here;

Haven't read all the replies, but have to scream, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE UNDER 26 TO GO TO A MARITIME ACADEMY.  The only one that requires that is the "Merchant Marine Academy" aka "Kings Point", which is a military academy like West Point, and requires the congressional letter, blah blah blah. It is far from the only option. I went to the California Maritime Academy, part of the CSU system. You can be ANY AGE and go to this school. It is 4 years, with the possibility of finishing in 3, it is not cheap, and you have to wear uniforms and half act like you are in the military (you are not). I have a bachelor's degree from this. There is also the Great Lakes Academy, Maine Maritime, Mass Maritime, a Maritime branch of Texas A&M, and SUNY maritime in New York. Some academies are tougher on the quasi-military aspects than others. All make you a Merchant Marine Officer, deck or engine, and give you a degree. There are a ton of people doing this as a second career.

Also, it took me about 7 years to move up enough in my union to feel confident in getting that much work/year at that higher contract level. Now I can work a lot more, but I don't want to. I once went over a year without getting a shipping job, and I've worked much lower paying contracts. My yearly income has been as low as $45K and as high as $90K. Talk about having to think about money differently! It is a strange business, I can assure you :)

p.s. You can work your way up without going to college. I wouldn't recommend this method. Those guys are at sea for upwards of 7-8 months a year!