Enjoyable and constantly challenging careers.

[Rat Fink]

.

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by Rat Fink
I have recently applied as an air traffic controller with Nav Canada. It seems like a fairly exciting job if I can get into a major center. Even then....might get boring??

My dream job would be a military pilot but unfortunately my eyesight isn't perfect. ( nearsighted with -2.25) and corrective surgery puts you out of the running.



Depending on where you get stationed at, ATC can be boring as hell, slightly interesting or turn into an alcohol stressful.

There are usually no ATC at smaller airports during the night , as you probably know since you're a pilot iirc, click PTT twice to tower freq and the runway lights up etc, work an 8 to 6 job or whatever and sit and relax and barely worry about anything, or ATC at canadas third busiest airport (YYC) and constantly be occupied, even do night shift.

have you ever considered getting your CPL/multi IFR etc if you havent yet? do air taxi 703 ops or whatever?

[Rat Fink]

.

[Sophal]

Do this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s8x2efUY5c

http://www.altalink.ca/default.aspx?DN=276,86,1,Documents&cid=1094

My buddy does this for altalink. I on the otherhand have no ambition to be jumping out of helicopter. Lineman is a good career. Trust me you won't be bored.

[rinny]

A lineman job I think would be so monotonous you'd probably lose interest in it ASAP. The only challenging aspect is climbing poles in the cold of winter and being able to withstand the conditions. All the work is the same, after a year its all repeat.

Something crazy and exciting? How about a forest fire fighter? Repel out of heli's into a burning bush where you're faced with building barriers to stop the flame all with raw strength. Seems like a very dynamic and challenging job to me...not sure what the pay is like though.

[HiTempguy1]

Sounds like you need a hobby... let me be the first to suggest some sort of racing :D

Unfortunately, I don't have much to offer as actual career device. I definitely thought of policeman or military after reading through your whole post. The problem with a lot of education based jobs (going to school and getting that piece of paper) is that the job tends to not be nearly as stressful/work overload like the schooling was. I'm sure you've kept that in mind though.

[The Cosworth]

bomb squad/tac team?

[natejj]

Originally posted by n1zm0


Depending on where you get stationed at, ATC can be boring as hell, slightly interesting or turn into an alcohol stressful.

There are usually no ATC at smaller airports during the night , as you probably know since you're a pilot iirc, click PTT twice to tower freq and the runway lights up etc, work an 8 to 6 job or whatever and sit and relax and barely worry about anything, or ATC at canadas third busiest airport (YYC) and constantly be occupied, even do night shift.

have you ever considered getting your CPL/multi IFR etc if you havent yet? do air taxi 703 ops or whatever?

I work for Nav Canada, I'm a Flight Service Specialist. I know a lot about ATC as well, if you have any specific questions, PM me.

Air traffic CAN be one of the most stressful jobs, but honestly, as an FSS, its 95% boredom, 5% stress. I work in Fort Nelson, and it's a pretty quiet airport. I've hung out at Calgary a few times, it's pretty steady during the day, a midnight is what you expect, dead.

Oh, and as for considering being a pilot, the industry is in the hole right now. If you got on with CMA you could expect to start around $25k a year.... there are hardly any jobs out there right now, and believe me, if you want to support a family, commercial aviation is not the route. In my opinion.

[AG_Styles]

Originally posted by Rat Fink
My question for you beyonders is this. Do any of you have a job you LOVE, that is constantly challenging? If so, what are you doing?

Also, from my description of what I'm looking for, do you have any suggestions? I am good in school. I don't want to sound cocky with this statement but I know I can pass anything in University or College. I love all sciences, math, art, english, history.

How do you thrill seekers not get bored at work? I'm thinking I need to take on an extreme hobby to offset my boring work.


i'm a game designer and i love my job. i have to try to meet and exceed all expectations from the editorial team in the company as well as the worldwide public in terms of generating a product that earns revenue and meets a certain level of expectation in quality and gameplay from the general public.

A GD's published work is constantly criticized by everyone around the world including peers and colleagues. Lets not even get started about the multitudes of kids and people on the internet who think they can do a better job.

A GD also has to maintain the original vision of any given game while providing innovative and creative ideas to try and leapfrog the competition. Not to mention handling personel and pretty much having to force everyone to work overtime while constantly keeping morale high isn't too easy.

Pretty great gig for me personally. Not to mention I'm able to say that I get paid to play games at work also. I'm not sure if that would be what you call thrill seeking though. oh well, just my 2 cents.

As for education needed, a degree in computer science or design helps you get started as a tester or QA or junior gameplay programmer. Then you slowly work your way up to level designer and then hopefully you can show enough talent to make it to game designer. An analytical mind with programming, art and operational management experience is required for this job. Not to mention a decent portfolio highlighting all relevant past achievements.

[BigMass]

When you find out, let me know…

Working for someone else, in general, will always feel like a monotonous job. People hire other people to do something specific. Rarely do people get hired to complete a wide array of work that can change in scope on a regular basis.

Minus your work experience, I’ve discussed this topic time and time again with friends and family. Nobody has any good ideas because their lives are very regimented and structured. They can’t imagine doing something else than what they’re doing now.

Sometimes I think a change in scenery would help. Just pack up and move to Australia or something like that. See how life plays out. PS. I’m married as well. My only advise is to explore this now before you end up having kids.

[thrasher22]

Originally posted by BigMass
Sometimes I think a change in scenery would help. Just pack up and move to Australia or something like that. See how life plays out. PS. I’m married as well. My only advise is to explore this now before you end up having kids.

A change of scenery will only help for a couple years, then you'll be back in the same bored place you were before. I've lived in Aus specifically, I'd go back in a heartbeat, but I found within a couple months I hadn't outrun any of the problems I had back home.

Why not become Police Officer or Firefighter? You already have some education (really helps) and they're both hiring.

[msommers]

I've always wanted to be a military pilot, my optometrist keeps telling me to be a pilot, must be all the carrots ;) I have no idea how I would get started with it and the pay, from what I've heard, isn't great and can be transferred all over the country. When I was working in the Cold Lake Airbase on Canada Day though, HO-LY CRAP was that ever exciting. The whole time I was just picturing being in that fighter jet!

While a lot of people don't really like their jobs that much, they enjoy the stability that it brings. From my point of view, working for someone contains a handful of people who truly love what they do. You may find starting a business to be a dynamic avenue to explore.

I understand where you're coming from regarding taking a hobby and making it a career. Awhile back I was honestly considering to take the rest of my money I had for tuition and start a photography business. So I did a couple 'assignments' just for friends. In the end, I couldn't stand it. It's a selfish hobby that I have and really don't want to do it for anyone else :rofl: The same goes for psychology. The way the mind works, why people think the way they do, it's very interesting. That said, I don't think I would be a very good psychologist.

RCMP, CPS or EPS are all good routes to take for something up your alley. Try PMing some of the members on this board who are officers to get a flavor of what you might expect; it will probably vary considerably depending on department as well.

You sound a lot like myself actually, albeit a couple years younger :P. I'm in school now doing geology, something I never in the world would have considered a few years back. There are a lot of dynamic elements to it (or appears to), chances to travel and pretty high job security. Plus I'm a dork and actually like rocks; surprised the hell out of me too!

I'm not entirely sure of your relationship status either. May it be single, dating or married, that may or may not be influencing your desire to fulfill this "gap" that needs to be filled. I could be totally off-base as well.

[Amysicle]

Just glancing at the title made me think of EMS. It's probably not always enjoyable, but I'm sure it's a constant challenge of trying to keep people alive, avoid cars and pedestrians, and meeting people who call 911 after chopping off their dick and eating it...

My friend's dad does that for a living and he's been doing it forever so I'm pretty sure he enjoys it.

[Stealth22]

Originally posted by Amysicle
Just glancing at the title made me think of EMS.
:werd:

Except I thought of CPS and CFD too.

From what you've written, I'd say being a cop or a paramedic is right up your alley. And Calgary EMS, Calgary Police, RCMP, etc are all hiring right now. And at 27, I don't think you're lacking life experience at all. CFD is an option too, but you won't be on the move as much. Firefighters (no disrespect to what they do) sit at the firehouse and watch TV while waiting for calls. Cops are always on the move, patrolling the streets the entire shift, the idea being to find/prevent crime before the 911 call comes in.

I would PM one of the cops or medics on Beyond, if thats something you'd look at. I've been on 2 ridealongs with the CPS myself, and I'm probably going to go for it after I'm done university. There are actually quite a few Beyond members who are considering the CPS/CFD/EMS as a career.

[Rat Fink]

.

[Mibz]

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/deadliestcatch/deadliestcatch.html

[Rat Fink]

.

[Mibz]

Haha, fair enough. I also forgot the "Enjoyable" part of the title. Sounds to me like you're never gonna be happy though. At least not with anything traditional. Perhaps continuously changing careers -is- your career.

[blueToy]

Interesting .

After reading your post and like already posted , sounds like you'd be interested in some kind of police , military or maybe firefighting .
I had no idea you had to be only ' clean ' for 3 years to be a cop . Back in the early 90's a friend got dissmissed because she had even tried it once . Either she was mistaken or standards have really been dropped . WOW .

I can't really tell you what to do , but I too had a work wanderlust and ended up all over the map , so to speak . The career path I chose for myself though , ended up being my first love , which was construction . A couple of years of fine tuning and it was heavy equipment that kept me intrigued long enough that I'm still at it ( 20 years now , yikes ) and still look forward to putting on the boots . It's definitly not for everyone though , and I've know plenty of guys who got bored and went their separate ways . Plus , this year is not looking like it's a good time to get into it ( slow ) .

Have you also looked at either some kind of sales , or maybe even starting your own business of somekind ? When I did have my own business , there was no time to get bored and you can 'fill your boots' as much as you can stand . Maybe buy a truck and haul only local ? :dunno:

Keep on trucken' :D

[95civicgsr]

you should take up rock climbing/ice climbing as a hobby :D its a all-year round hobby and every mountain is different, which also presents different challenges. Being 1500ft in the air hanging onto a cliff face with the only safety being a anchor you set yourself with a rope ran through it is pretty awsome in my eyes :D

[Rat Fink]

.

[natejj]

The best advice I will give you your Navcan testing session is

1. Get a nintendo DS and play brain age or math tutor, get your basic math/multiplication skills refreshed
2. Look in the library for some problem solving books... hard to describe.
3. Get an amazing sleep, do not try this test hungover, you will fail.
4. Prepare to be shocked and blown away by how fast this test goes by, it is timed, do not expect to finish.
5. Just try your best, and fill in any answers you cant complete. Actually, thats what I did, and I passed, not sure I should be telling you to do it though lol.

Are you applying for ATC, or FSS?

[Rat Fink]

.

[syeve]

Sounds like you might be on your path now but one more thing to consider.

I was in a similar boat to you but I discovered my problem was not WHAT I was doing, rather, it was whom I was I doing it for. I got bored and lazy because I had no vested interest in any of the work I was doing. I decided to partner up and start a Clean tech/Green tech O&G company and I have never felt satisfaction like it. Working for yourself and putting in the extra effort and hours for your own well being is a completely new feeling. You might want to try it.

[Rat Fink]

.