Alternatives to 9-5 jobs after college

Parent Cafe
1

Hey guys, Emmanuel here, and I will be a freshman at CU BOULDER in the fall and before I even start I just wanted to know if there were alternatives to 9-5 jobs??
I’m just sick of the promise of college getting you a “real job” with no creativity, a steady pay and a side. And the reality of it is most times you don’t even get a job, you wait for two years and you just give up on finding a job on your major and just settling for anything that comes up even though it has nothing to do with your major.

I just want to have a plan out of a boring life, do you guys feel the same way??

2

Be careful what you wish for…

3

what do you mean by that

4

Well, my life is not boring, but it’s because of having three kids diagnosed with mental illness over the past seven years. It’s a rollercoaster! My husband and I also own our engineering firm that we run out of the house. Never boring but often stressful.

5

Don’t knock steady pay and benefits. (That is what I thought when I read it)

6

Why do you think all “real” jobs are boring or involve no creativity??

Even just my internship this summer is something different every day. Something is always going wrong in a new way and it’s up to the (more experienced than myself) employees to fix it so the plant can run.

7

You could get a job where you are on your feet -like physical therapist, occupational therapist etc…
You could get a boring desk job and then do something fun and physical on the side -like mountain biking. I know lots of weekend warriors.
It sounds to me like you should meet with your career services at your school. Not all jobs are desk jobs

8

Jobs in education require being active and creative. Field work in any number of industries (social work, forestry, environmental science,.) is not office work. Logistics is 24/7 and often based at port or airport. I just met someone who runs a site that has commercial kitchens for chefs and caterers and heLPS them develop business plans. There are tons of jobs that don’t require sitting in an office and plenty that are not 9-5.

Visit career services and do some assessments and work through the results with them.

9

Do you have specific areas of academic interest?

10

Lots of jobs out there that don’t require M-F 9 to 5 sitting in a cubicle. I gave up a great job when I was 24 (after two years) because I couldn’t stand that schedule or the monotony. Looking back, I would have retired a few years ago with a decent pension and some fantastic benefits for life. Not sure if it would have been worth doing for 30 years but the jobs I’ve held since were much less boring, allowed me to live in a rural area (and buy a house because real estate was much cheaper) which I preferred to the city/suburbs, provided me ample time for traveling, let me be at home during the day while my kids were young, and didn’t feel stifling. On the downside, there is no retirement or lifetime benefits so my “golden years” might be more like mustard colored LOL. Good for you for being honest and taking a hard look at the potential alternatives.

11

This is what we’ve told our kids. A job is 40 hours a week give or take. There are lots of hours outside of that to do what you want to do. My one kid has flexible hours which allow them to go in early to get off early to purse their passion. It’s about what you do with the hours not working.

Sorry I’m not a big fan of following your bliss. Work should interest you but there is a lot to be said for being able to pay the bills.

Lots of people don’t work 9-5. A lot also work weekends and holidays. My kids have jobs that they work M-F and have weekends, holidays and 3 weeks of vacation.

12

This is why you have to choose a major that will actually lead to a job. Many, many majors listed on college websites look like they’d be interesting to study but do not yield jobs. Buyer beware - that one is on the consumer.

Work is sometimes interesting, challenging, creative and even fun. Sometimes its not. That’s why it’s called work. Your attitude is a bit much - grow up and get over yourself. There are many who would love to have your opportunity for a “boring” life.

13

I disagree about the connection between major and job. Certainly there are some fields that are vocational (nursing, accounting for example) but in general, I think it is fine to major in whatever interests you and not worry so much about connection to a career. Life is flexible.

I have read several articles on what is supposed to be a favorite of your generation, the “gig economy,” but in my view is more typical of my generation, the almost retired! For some very creative or entrepreneurial souls, the gig economy is a possibility (this means a collection of self-started enterprises that are in your control). But if I had three kids, not sure I would want to rely on it.

I do know single people in their 20’s who function that way though. One woman I know runs her own historic preservation organization, focused on churches. Her path to that was circuitous as she picked up skills, then took classes or went back to school, and worked for various organizations before going out on her own.

If you want a “career,” the job market is very complex, and kids are raised to think in simple categories. Maybe for fun you could peruse craigslist or the wonderful hireculture.org or some other sites, or visit career services, to get an idea of options.

People find their ultimate path in zigs and zags and our whole culture is telling you to figure it out in a straight line. Don’t listen. Work hard at school at something that truly interests you. Intern, volunteer or work to get some experience and perspective. When you graduate try out a job, maybe another, and you will find a job you like.

I worked at a large homeless shelter for many years. I was an administrator but rarely at my desk. I interacted with everyone from the guys on the bench to the mayor and my duties were incredibly varied. I would not have imagined that job during school.

You will find your way but for now, enjoy college AND your studies and get some experience off campus but please delay career worries for now.

14

@manny1469

There is the saying “do what you love…love what you do”.

So find a career path that is something you like a lot…regardless of the hours, it will be something you like.

Just FYI, one of my kids is self employed and does not work 9 to 5. He has no job benefits, no sick pay, no PTO time…and he is responsible for creating and finding his own work.

TBH…he is a little sick of it.

15

OP has just finished HS and not even begun his college life. Still maturing. Has not yet had the chance to immerse him/herself in an interesting field.

When you enjoy what you are doing it is not enduring a 9-5 life. All jobs become routine once you are competent and are doing a task for the nth time. Many professionals work a lot more than those 9-5 hours, 40 hours a week to get the work done. When you are working as an adult you are performing needed functions. Society is willing to pay us to do them. Some tasks are boring in any job- even for physicians “saving lives”.

Life is more than just your job, btw. You make it sound like we all were robots while working. Not so. We engage our minds in problem solving. Sometimes the day is filled with tasks that we have done many times and there is no challenge. Other days we wish for those easy days.

College is an education not just having a major which will/will not lead to a specific job. You increase your knowledge and experiences plus learn how to think more than in HS. These tools allow you to think creatively and solve problems. This prepares you for filling many needed niches.

It will be interesting for you to look at yourself four years from now. Currently you are being extremely self centered. Take some time to realize how you got this far. Were you worth all of the boring tasks your parents did for you. The endless feedings and diaper changes for that baby. Getting meals on the table, cleaning, teaching you as you developed? So much repetition. Was that boring for your parents? Sometimes thankfully yes, too much excitement is stressful. Was there enjoyment in doing it? Of course!

Okay, apply the above to your paid job. Life is like that- a series of mundane experiences punctuated with some excitement. It does not matter if you have the luxury of varying your work times. You will find that all work that yields something useful will have the above.

So, go off to college and enjoy the freedoms of being an adult with no responsibilities except those you take on for yourself. You will learn and grow.

Finally, as a physician, there were many days I wish my job could have had a defined starting and ending point. I have always been a task, not time, oriented person. Homework/studying was never an x hour thing for me. It was always a finish the chapter, problem set, master the material.

16

I might put it less sweetly: Manny, college doesn’t “get you a job.” YOU do. The people you’re afraid of becoming like (and many kids are very concerned) often don’t have the vision and risk tolerance to identify and go for more. YOU have to open your eyes and find out what you want and what allows that, what the compromises are, then build a path to it. Life’s like that. At college graduation, they don’t hand out job assignments. You have to have the ‘get up and go.’

The job itself is the work. Many young adults make friends at their 9-to-5 or where they live or in activities and have a blast in their free time. They continue to grow, help others, are involved in causes, are building a life.

17

Just in the company I work for there are desk jobs, manufacturing jobs, jobs that require technical skill, jobs that require lots of travel. And you are able to try different jobs within the same company. For example, I travel a lot and work from my home when I’m not. I almost never go to our offices, talk to my boss maybe once a month and each day is different. Point being, you can have the security and benefits of a company while having autonomy to create your own work stream. You may have to put in front end time to build to that though.If working for a company isn’t your thing then firefighting, law enforcement, military, opening your own business, outdoor guide etc are all alternatives to the 9-5.

18

Have you had any jobs yet? Do you have any skills that might get you a job now? If you don’t that’s OK. But talk with the career ofice at your college, and start developing some skills so you can find at least part time work soon somewhere. Once you are working, you will develop a notion of what you do and don’t like.

Happykid is a freelance theatre lighting designer and stage technician. Definitely not a 9 to 5 office job! She started on the stage crew in middle school, and moved up the ranks through lights crew chief, to stage manager of all events scheduled in her high school’s auditorium. She walked out of high school with a very specific skill set that would have made her immediately employable in our metropolitan area. In her mind, college was a chance to hone her skills and to get better professional opportunities. She loves her career!

19

Side note to your original post, but - for us - the biggest key to freedom (and thus creativity, pursuit of dreams, not being locked in a job we dislike, etc.) is living with little to no debt.

That being said, it can take a long time to get to that point. And sometimes you have to do stuff that’s boring and/or slog-ish to reach goals.

As you get your education and grow up you will have to decide what is important to you. What do you value the most? Keep in mind that these values can evolve or shift from your 18-yr old perspective. Keep growing and soul-searching.

20

One of the things I like about architecture is that it is not sitting at the desk every day. Last week I met with a wetlands expert, measured an old house, did some corrections to drawings that were submitted to a building department, met with some prospective new clients, did some research to tell another prospective client to explain why they were not going to be able to finish their garage even though their neighbors could (they had a double lot), did some calculations for a small drywell, and prepared for an upcoming presentation before a zoning board.

One thing to be aware of in the gig economy is that health insurance will usually have to be taken care of separately. There’s a reason a lot of people end up with the safer boring jobs. And as lookingforward points out, working 40 hours a week gives you a lot of time to pursue other activities.