<p>There are a couple of current threads about “smart slackers.” That got me thinking … what is the perfect (legitimate) job for a grown up with that profile? You know, intelligent, only does assigned work that interests him/her, knows that his/her behavior is unappreciated and doesn’t care.</p>
<p>My first thought was Telephone Help Desk for some soul-less government bureaucracy, but surely we can do better than that. Environmental Activist perhaps? One person law office?</p>
<p>United States Marine. No, I am not saying that’s what they would want to be, but a hitch in the USMC will straighten out most slackers just fine.</p>
<p>College professor.</p>
<p>“… intelligent, only does assigned work that interests him/her, knows that his/her behavior is unappreciated and doesn’t care.”</p>
<p>Sorry, I cannot think of any job where a person like that would survive. Most workplaces value teamwork and would fire assignment cherry-pickers without hesitation. Geek_mom’s suggestion sounds rights, although to get to that stage a professor-wannabe has to survive years of postdoc-ing and other brutal treatment. Perhaps this person should look into self-employment.</p>
<p>Self-employment has worked for one S who fits the description. Seven years in a prestigious college studying only what he chose to study (none of it employment related), no degree. His customers are around the country, some overseas. He gets into contract disputes, partly due, I’m sure, to his work ethic, but makes enough to support a family and be a hands on father to 3 kids who are not his by birth. It’s not the life we expected for him but it’s his life.</p>
<p>Environmental Activists??? No way. I know bunches of them, and some, I will grant you, give the appearance of slackers. But the actuality is they are working their butts off, and if they don’t, they do not keep those jobs.</p>
<p>MBA Grad 2009, I think the majority of slakers would either not get near a recruiting office or would be washed out in basic traing. But you are correct in that some of them really rise to the occasion and it was suprising to me which ones stuck it out. </p>
<p>They make for very interesting people as they remain slackers at heart yet live a life of discipline. I fear there may be a lot of badly written poetry in their futures.</p>
<p>Just slacker (not smart) - toll booth collector, now what’s that all about.</p>
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<p>That alone would make my heart burst with pride. </p>
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<p>I hope to be this accepting of my son’s choices. Thank you for the reminder.</p>
<p>I’m thinking: Manager for Warranties, Express and Implied</p>
<p>From my own experience: Become skilled and/or educated, then move to a part of the country where no one is skilled or educated. You can be a slacker and look like a superstar.</p>
<p>the military. let someone else yell at them to wake up, make their beds, clean up after themselves - and then pay them for the trouble. The smart slacker would wake up and figure out that maybe a college education is worth it afterall and then will have the money to go!</p>
<p>Slacker son is a good waiter. He is smart, remembers people and what they like and the rewards for his efforts are immediate. Only did 2 years of college and is having trouble finding any other kind of job.</p>
<p>Well, that depends on what they like doing, right? Most “smart slackers,” at least as defined on CC, tend to be the type who WILL work if they find something interesting, but not the rest of the time. So ideally they would get a job doing something they find interesting. </p>
<p>So, a smart slacker who likes computers should try to get a job involving that (anything from Geek Squad at Best Buy to programming, depending on their skill set). One who likes music maybe could look into giving lessons, etc. Of course, if their interest are hard to market, this gets harder. Same if their interests are really narrow (I like music, but ONLY when I play, and ONLY in this one genre…).</p>
<p>Of course, if they are really slackers and won’t even put in much work at jobs they like, that’s a problem.</p>
<p>I once had a friend who provided over-night supervision at a group home. Her responsibility was to see that all 5 residents were in bed on time. Then she got to sleep the night away on the couch in the living room. She set up “noise traps” to wake her in case one of the residents tried to sneak out. In the morning she woke, and headed to her day job. </p>
<p>I doubt most slackers could hold two jobs like Friend did, but one sleep-on-the-couch job might suit them. :p</p>
<p>S1 just commissioned as a Ensign in the U.S. Navy. He is most driven person I have ever known. He has no tolerance for slackers. </p>
<p>It is disheartening to see posters suggesting that our nation’s Armed Forces would be a good place for slackers who don’t fit in anywhere else in the civilian world. </p>
<p>“The state that makes a great distinction between it’s scholars and it’s warriors will have it’s thinking done by cowards and it’s fighting done by fools” Thucydides</p>
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<p>Over the years I’ve learned to cultivate this attitude for my job as a Mother. I only do the chores I feel like doing. No one notices if the weeds in the yard haven’t been pulled so why aggravate myself by doing the tasks that I didn’t want to do anyway? The work that I do accomplish goes unnoticed. This used to bother me but after many years I can’t get too worked up about it anymore.</p>
<p>I’ve often thought that the sort of job where you sit around and wait for an emergency would be best for ‘slackers’ who can’t motivate themselves to perform on a consistent basis. I hated that sort of work - too much down time - but having a peer group leap to their feet to work together (firefighter?) would motivate some.</p>
<p>^^ Pea, LOL. So true!</p>
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<p>Oh, for Pete’s sake, no one said that.</p>