Find solution
Do all post office jobs start at $20 an hour?

Professional jobs that require night or shift work?

  • My parents have always worked night shifts as a nurse at a geriatric support centre, and as a mail sorter for the post office. They make enough money. They've made their schedules work for them, and also raised 4 kids while doing so. Because of their shift work, they do get a lot of time off-- maybe working double shifts sometimes, or three 12-hour shifts in a row, but then they get 3 days off. They also tend to know their schedules a month ahead of time. I do not work well in a 9-5 M-F schedule, so I'd like to know what are other similar jobs to this. I'm a night owl. I can do the 9-5, but not well; it's always a struggle due to my circadian body rhythm. In the past, I have been happy when working at a coffee shop and doing shifts-- the early shift was be at work by 5:30-6 AM, but then done by 2-3 PM, the late shift was start at 3 PM and be done by 12 AM. No traffic on the roads when going to and from work makes for a shorter commute, plus plenty of time to do errands after work, and it felt like more of the day was available to me after I also like a job where I am always on my feet and busy for the day running around (not sitting sedentary at a desk), and where I do not have deadlines to worry about and do not have to take work home with me a lot of the time. Currently, I'm one year away from being called to the bar as a lawyer, and while I am okay with it, I do not enjoy certain aspects of legal work-- the pressure, for one. It is always stressful due to always having an upcoming deadline, and it involves long hours. I want a job where I can work nights to better fit my natural rhythm. I also do not want to have to bring work home with me the majority of the time. Being outdoors or on my feet would be a plus. Lots of time off as is involved with shift work would be a plus. I am thinking maybe working as a police officer, or as a civilian in a police department. Obviously, jobs that could make use of my legal training would be best, but I am willing to re-train for up to another 2 years. Hive mind, is there anything of this sort? Do you know any former lawyers who are now working in the police department, or doing alternative jobs? Do you have a job where you work shifts and get a lot of time off? Is there anything that I am not considering?

  • Answer:

    Truckers work long hours. It's sedentary but you're moving. Flight attendants also usually have funny shifts that happen at all times of day, with blocks of free time in between. My father has worked in the pressroom of a newspaper for my entire life, and almost entirely third shift. It's a dying field but depending on how long-term you're thinking, it'd be a reasonable thing to do to kill time until you pass the bar. There's very little down time, although it's not strenuously physical. I imagine a lawyer setting out their shingle, who listed their hours as being 6pm-2am would get a fair amount of work from folks who can't come in during regular business hours.

anonymous at Ask.Metafilter.Com Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

Firefighters frequently are on call at all hours in the firehouse for long chunks of time and then get long chunks of time off.

rabbitrabbit

I'm like you. I've had luck working night shifts for video stores (3pm-midnight), evening shifts for college libraries (12:30-midnight), and now I work from home grading essays for the http://etscrs.submit4jobs.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=85332.viewjobs&CID=85332&notes_id=1 on "west coast" hours which, since I'm on the east coast, end up being from 11:30 - 8. All of these might be a little more sedentary than you want, though there are always plenty of returns to do at libraries and video stores, and working from home has its own benefits (no commute, know my schedule a month in advance, can take on extra shifts as needed.)

PhoBWanKenobi

Working in risk management at a hospital involves sharing 24/7 call duties with your team. Large medical centers might have in-house risk management at all times; in smaller hospitals, call might involve having a pager next to the bed. Although you wouldn't actually be practicing law, having a legal background would be hugely advantageous; risk managers need to understand the dense legal-ese of federal, state, and local regulations and help staff work within those regulations in very complicated situations.

jesourie

I work at a therapeutic boarding school as a youth mentor/counselor, and while I don't make crazy amounts of money, its fun, I have a great 2:30-11 schedule, and days off when I want them. You could also do a wilderness type program, they go one week on, one week off.

Marinara

I'm a night shift manufacturing quality engineer. I'm sitting in the office right now, in fact. There's a lot of advantages to this situation--I don't have an engineering degree right now, so I go to school during the day and come in to work at night in my support role. I'm available to deal with problems on the shop floor when they happen overnight. Typical duties include assessing whether questionable parts meet specification or whether out of spec parts can be candidates for a deviation from specification, troubleshooting machining and robotic operations, enforcing quality inspections, and analyzing data for day shift engineers. I can also work on capital projects as long as I'm willing to call into conferences from home now and then. I really enjoy not sitting in meetings for most of my workday. While you don't have an engineering background, it's possible that you could apply for factory operations supervisory roles on night shifts.

TrialByMedia

What is your lifestyle like otherwise? Are you married? Kids? How do you feel about Alaska? Jobs in the oilfields (e.g., North Slope, Prudhoe Bay) are abundant but can be a challenge to get without exactly the right skills. And in general the do pay crazy good wages. Because of the harsh environment and general lack of infrastructure to support families, rotational schedules on the Slope are typical. For example: two weeks on working 12-hour days with no break, then two weeks off. You sleep in employee housing and eat cafeteria style. Employers provide jet service between the Slope and either Anchorage or Fairbanks. After that, it's up to you. I've met people who live in Arizona and do this, paying their own way to Anchorage when their "hitch" begins. Jobs vary, with lots of engineers, geologists, equipment operators, drivers, security and all the required support staff. Big employers include ConocoPhillips, BP, Doyon plus lots and lots of subcontractors. This is all north of the Arctic Circle. Other jobs elsewhere in Alaska offer similar schedules, like fishermen or tugboat crews. I knew a person who worked as a cook for Crowley for two-week hitches on a boat in Prince William Sound. There may be similar jobs with the ferry system. It's a different life with long hours in sometimes harsh environments, but the pay is often beyond fantastic and the time off makes for some pretty nice vacations for single folk, or 100% immersed family time for the rest.

AnOrigamiLife

Shift engineering in factories is a thing, and it meets your requirements well (and your non-STEM training doesn't necessarily rule you out). I'm specifically thinking about the semiconductor industry, but maybe other factory types as well.

janell

CNC machinist or other factory/manufacturing jobs. Big factories often work 24/7.

Deodand

Nursing/EMT, if you're willing to put in even more time in school.

sparklemotion

Load more

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.