Jobs you can skate by on

[SimpleLife]

Maybe more than skate by on, but not as stressfull as the day to day high paying corporate IT grind I'm in now. Luckily I can be FI now if I downsize, or FI in a year or two if I stay where I'm at now. But at that point I don't see a reason to kill myself for money anymore. Why not take an easier job that still pays well even if it doesn't pay top IT dollars.

-Corporate Recruiter: Writing job descriptions, assessing pay for the market, and interviewing people has got to be the easiest thing I've ever done...cake job. I'm sure it's not so much fun as a commission based agency recruiter.

-Software Tester: cake job, writing test plans and executing on them, documenting bugs. No nights weekends and low stress due to simple nature of the job.

-Technical Writer: cake job, writing technical documentation doesn't involve the stress of a web site being down, software that is too buggy to be usable, impossible feature requirements, etc.

All of these involve less politics, less stress, etc. than say, being a Sr. Network Engineer, IT Director, etc. They may pay considerably less, but at 60K a year easy for any of the above cake jobs, when your living expenses are 12K a year, does it really matter? It's a way to retire from your career and do something that pays money to live on AND still save a ton, while letting your savings compound until SS kicks in or you don't want to work anymore.

Being FI gives you that freedom to walk anytime you're unhappy, but allows you to occupy your time and let your nest egg grow even more. There is a value to work for the social aspect of it. Most of my friends I've met through work. I'm such an introvert/homebody that if it wasn't for work, it'd be very rare for me to leave the house.

[Chad]

That's all true. Though, I would rather have the difficult higher paying job than any of those other jobs. Those other jobs would drag, as you would just be killing time.

I would rather get to FI faster at the difficult job and "downsize" to a job I like (coaching, whitewater rafting guide, etc.) than "downsize" early to a job that would be easy, but still drain my life.

This is kind of where I fall on a lot of the "make my own soap" projects that can save me money. For me, making my own soap or the equivalent sounds as bad as going to my normal job. I'll just work an extra week and then buy soap for the rest of my life.

Of course, if the difficult job is not just difficult, but psychologically/physically destructive...then I might have to make a new decision.

[chenda]

Working part time is another option

[Spartan_Warrior]

+1 Chad.

I can vouch for technical writer as a more or less "cake job" if you have any competency at writing (judging by your post, you'd probably be fine). Do it in any capacity for the government or government contractors, and it's not even cake... more like that processed pixie dust sugar that kids used to snort back in the day. (Add "white collar government work" to your list, btw.)

However, be very careful what you wish for. Cake is good. Cake is fun. Once in a while, as a treat. As a replacement for your daily bread? You say you don't want to kill yourself for money anymore, but counting minutes and twiddling thumbs everyday is just as fatal, IMO. It'll be a different kind of stress, and maybe one you're more equipped to handle (everyone's different), but in my experience Chad is correct: it's a drag.

Remember, "Let them eat cake!" wasn't meant to be a good thing.

If you can truly be FI now by downsizing and you're sick of your job, I would indeed quit, but get another job that's actually fun--not just killing time.

[Scott 2]

I've seen plenty of guys having fun in senior IT jobs. They have learned to say no and don't let other people dump their problems / stress on them.

Part of the fun of being FI, or close to it, is you can try those behaviors on without any real risk.

[UrbanHermit]

That's all true. Though, I would rather have the difficult higher paying job than any of those other jobs. Those other jobs would drag, as you would just be killing time. I would rather get to FI faster at the difficult job and "downsize" to a job I like

The worst job I ever had was a co-op position where we had been hired just to avoid losing the budget allocation. There was no work for us to do, there were no expectations. The guy in the cubicle next to me spent the whole 4 months playing Age of Empires and watching anime. I made regular tours around the office begging the developers to assign me some work.

The last thing I would ever wish on anyone is an "easy" job. Being at work and bored out of your mind is far, far worse than being stressed out and overloaded. The day goes so slow you wouldn't believe... there's no reason for you to be there, nothing for you to do, but you still can't leave. And it's very hard on morale... all the downsides of the corporate environment, with no interesting challenges, sense of accomplishment, moments of flow, contributing to a team, or other compensating factors.

I'm with Chad, full tilt right to the finish line.

[SimpleLife]

The jobs above are active and busy, just less stressful. You still "do stuff" throughout the day. No one ever said you would be doing nothing but stare at the clock. Personally I've never had a problem with downtime. I do research and post on forums like this And like I said, this would be a way to occupy my time by working in these jobs rather than just sitting at home after I hit FI.

I've had to do a little of all of the above indirectly and of all recruiting was my favorite because it involved just people skills for the most part and I enjoy talking to people. Testing and technical writing were good too for solitary atmosphere but more tedious. In any case, each was something far less irritating than what I do now. I enjoy what I do, but I'd like to not be tired after I get home and actually be able to go out and do stuff.

I posted this more as feedback on whether these really are relatively cake jobs and if not, what other jobs are cake? The above jobs are good for me because I could transition into them easily since I work in IT now. Heck, I could walk over to my boss and ask to become a tester starting Monday. Company would probably let me keep my current pay too.

[Chad]

The jobs above are active and busy, just less stressful. You still "do stuff" throughout the day. No one ever said you would be doing nothing but stare at the clock. Personally I've never had a problem with downtime. I do research and post on forums like this And like I said, this would be a way to occupy my time by working in these jobs rather than just sitting at home after I hit FI.

This seems to be where I differ with the majority of the work force. Just because I have some work to do doesn't mean I'm not bored and feeling my life slip away. I can easily fill my days with my own "work", which would actually matter to me.

I posted this more as feedback on whether these really are relatively cake jobs and if not, what other jobs are cake? The above jobs are good for me because I could transition into them easily since I work in IT now. Heck, I could walk over to my boss and ask to become a tester starting Monday. Company would probably let me keep my current pay too.

I would say they are cake jobs or close to it. As Spartan noted, white collar government work, especially anything outside of serious national security issues is cake. A lot of staffing jobs are cake, as the company is usually just looking for a body they can push work to every now and then.

[vivacious]

Interesting. I was just thinking about this lately. What are some more easy jobs? It can free up some mental effort so you have more at home etc.

Some of the government office jobs, sure.

Basically any job where they're required to have someone there, even if there's not that much work or the work isn't that hard.

This is as opposed to the opposite where they want to get as much out of you as possible and pay you as little as they can, which is how most jobs work.

So some practical examples? Certain outdoor jobs maybe. I know someone who is a park ranger. Gets to spend a lot of time on some nice national parks. I think the work is a bit of a blend of nurse/ranger/police. Sounds pretty low key most of the time though.

We got some more?

[vivacious]

The worst job I ever had was a co-op position where we had been hired just to avoid losing the budget allocation. There was no work for us to do, there were no expectations. The guy in the cubicle next to me spent the whole 4 months playing Age of Empires and watching anime. I made regular tours around the office begging the developers to assign me some work.

The last thing I would ever wish on anyone is an "easy" job. Being at work and bored out of your mind is far, far worse than being stressed out and overloaded.

Disagree. They're both bad. Being underworked and overworked. But I would rather be underworked. It's boring but at least you're not stressed.

C'mon, getting paid to watch movies? Can you really complain about that that much?

Obviously the happy medium is best. A decent amount of work doing something reasonably interesting for you etc.

But between under and over, I think I would take underworked.

[Tyler9000]

In any case, each was something far less irritating than what I do now. I enjoy what I do, but I'd like to not be tired after I get home and actually be able to go out and do stuff.

I think it may be helpful to dig a little deeper into what specifically is stressing you out and keeping you from having a life after work. I'd wager the issue is not necessarily that your work is too challenging, but that other boundaries have been broken or improperly set (unrealistic schedules, abusive boss/coworkers, lack of support, etc). Unless you isolate the cause of your stress, cake work may not actually address the core issue and only add tedium on top of your problems.

FWIW, I'm also contemplating a major FI downshift away from the current career track, but I'm trying to be honest with myself about my pain points so that I don't idolize change just for the sake of change. In my job-hopping experience, switching scenery only band-aids the stress for a few months before old patterns reemerge.

[Scott 2]

From what I've seen, barring extreme conditions, the quality of life associated with a job has to do with the person filling it, and not the job itself. Every new job has a honeymoon period, but then it's same stuff, different day. Might as well get paid.

I've spent a good amount of time doing software testing. There's definitely a big pile of crap that can flow downhill. Incomplete requirements, compressed timelines, business people trying to test quality in rather than build it, princess developers, projects that are obviously doomed to failure, stupid design decisions that increase the number of system states by a factor of 10, etc.

On the other hand, when testing, you get paid to play with the computer all day.

Of course, senior guys get paid to talk at each other, boss people around, travel and go out to eat. Permanent all expenses paid vacation, more or else .

[EdithKeeler]

This is an issue I'm wrestling with right now.

For 6 years, I had a balls to the wall, running a hundred miles an hour for 12 hours a day job. I worked myself into a significant health problem that I wrote about someplace else on this site. I moved to a different office to be closer to my elderly mom.

Now I work for the same company, get the same salary, but literally spend half the day surfing the net, reading, and generally looking for stuff to do. I would love to be able to go home... but I have to physically be there the whole time.

I'm 49 years old, and will probably be able to afford to retire in 5 years. But i'm not sure I'm going to make it--I'm bored to death, I feel like I'm losing vital skills in my field, and the days are LOOOONG.

Ideally I'd like to find a happy medium between the old job and the new one. Not having a lot of responsibility sounds like a good thing--and I will admit I'm a lot less stressed--but I'm looking for something else more challenging.

[Ian]

One option that's not for everyone is teaching English overseas, as I'm doing. In my position, for example, you're guaranteed to work half time or less. The work itself could be engaging (if you like teaching) or you could skate by with pre-developed resources (if that's relaxing to you).

Maybe not a good option for those of you who can make six figures, but I've found it's one of the easiest jobs I can get people to pay me to do.

[dot_com_vet]

I'm in a similar situation, and I'd recommend strategically taking vacation in short durations to emulate "part time". A four day week vs. five day when the weather is nice can make a huge difference. If that works, you could start downcycling to PT and beyond as you reach FI.

I would find jumping into a new field very stressful.

[jacob]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... _skill.svg

Csikszentmihalyi's flow model is worth considering. Lets agree that we all want to be in the flow sector. Now, from that point if you lower your skill level (skills on the graph are relative to the task) but maintain the challenge, it leads to arousal. If you lower the challenge but maintain the skill, the result is control. Both of those sound fine to me.

Now, if you lower the skill twice while maintaining the challenge, it turns into anxiety and stress. On the other hand, if you lower the challenge level, control turns into relaxation, and then boredom.

I notice that boredom is only one step about from relaxation. Boredom is the curse of the high-skill player. I think this is why I got bored just "being retired". Once the problem was solved and I had relaxed for a few years, it simply became too boring to just blog, water the plants, and go sailing a couple of times each week. My main mode of operation is to shift field/interest to get into the arousal state and work it towards the flow stage. Eventually, then, it gets into the control stage which serves as an early signal to start thinking about moving on to something new. If it ever becomes relaxing, that's an even bigger signal.

Mileage obviously varies, but using the diagram is a good way to match your lifestrategy with your current state and tendencies.

[e3434]

That flow model makes a lot of sense. Along those lines it's also worth considering how overall life satisfaction varies by being at different points on the graph. All things equal, would you rather be bored or worried?

As a first year grad student, I seem to hover between anxiety, worry, and arousal. Unfortunately, being between these states has a significant (negative) effect on my general level of happiness. While I dislike low challenge work in principle, I find that I'm not all that generally unhappy while in the apathy-boredom-relaxation states. Perhaps this has something to do with having time to also pursue hobbies, and to approaching the flow sector in other areas of my life.

[ICouldBeTheWalrus]

Having personally taken a job that I thought would be lower stress (because it was lower pay), and later finding it both stressful and frustrating, I would be careful with this approach. I worked a below-market-rate job for a non-profit while still doing stuff that was within my usual occupation and skillset. As it turned out, it was just as demanding and more frustrating (due to lack of funds and organizational disfunction) than the usual corporate job.

Now, I do think individual personality has a lot of bearing on this too. I am an INFP on the Meyers-Briggs, and I find I have a very difficult time being in situations where I feel like by doing a bad job, I'm letting people down.

Personally, the best thing is something part-time that's tolerable and pays decently. I'm currently working for a slightly more dysfunctional group than my previous job, but working part-time (paid hourly), has really helped me learn to not care as much about problems beyond what I'm presently working on.

[JohnnyH]

Challenge vs Skill model has worked almost exactly like a clock for me.

First few months: Anxiety
Year 0.3-1: Arousal
Years 1-3: Flow
Years 3-4: Control
Years 5-6: Relaxation
Years 7-8: Boredom

I am bored and my skills have definitely declined... I need to GTFO before hopelessness and Apathy sets in.

I'd say in I'm a cake job, fwiw.

[pretire]

I'm glad you made this thread.

I'm in a very challenging area of Enterprise IT support, that rarely moves beyond anxiety because the problems are rarely familiar. And I have IT industry certifications. Its like being trained to prepare Asian cuisine, but every day you get orders from walk-ups, phone calls, emails, IMs, and tickets to prepare Italian, Greek, Southern, etc., all dishes you've got little-to-no-experience preparing. Its quite nerve-racking. I'm also in school full time.

I need work or school to teeter more towards flow or control. What other areas of IT, aside from technical writer or tester, would you guys recommend?