07 Jan 2020

Does the idea of sitting in front of a computer screen all day give you anxiety? Do you hear the words “nine-to-five” and immediately feel like running away from society and joining a hippie commune deep in the forest?

Do you want a lifestyle with a bit of flexibility?

If you answered ‘yes’, laughed, chuckled, or even cracked a quarter of a smile at any of the above questions, then I seriously suggest you read on.

Teach

Forget the nine-to-five life. The teacher life is all about nine-to-three.

And four weeks of annual leave? Pfffft, try twelve! Yep, school holidays for the rest of your working life. Dreamy.

Of course, it’s not always that simple. Outside of those hours you’ve gotta spend your own time planning lessons and marking assignments, but if you can sort yourself out in your downtime at school then you’re looking at some serious free time.

Teaching is also a very rewarding career. By educating the next generation, you know that you’re helping to carve the way for a brighter and better future for the country.

Do A Trade

If you’re the hands-on, outdoorsy type who finds the idea of sitting in an office all day pretty stale, then you should consider doing a trade.

Tradies are practical. They build, repair, and maintain real, tangible things. They don’t sit at a screen all day crunching numbers – they get outside, get their hands dirty and make things happen. They learn great, practical skills like how to project manage and see things built from start to finish.

Oh, did I mention getting outside? Yep, if you’re considering a trade, there’s no doubt that you’ll be seeing more sunshine than your mates stuck at a desk all day. On top of that, if you’re in building or construction then the work you’d be doing can often be physically demanding, meaning you’ll be keeping yourself in tip-top shape – and getting paid to do so!

 

Being a tradie also means you’re not gonna be struggling to find work. Employment rates are way higher than most uni graduates and on top of that they don’t have to deal with a crippling debt when they finish their studies. Simply put, if you do a trade you’ll be financially miles ahead of your mates at uni.

If this is sounding up your alley, then check out Construction Skills Queensland (CSQ) – they provide a bunch of support for apprentices in the building and construction industry, allowing you to kickstart your office-free lifestyle with as little stress as possible.

Become a personal trainer

If you liked the idea of staying in tip-top shape as a tradie, but the rest of it wasn’t really your jam, then maybe you should consider becoming a personal trainer.

Spending your days keeping other people in the best physical shape possible tends to mean that you stay in top physical form as well. You learn about everything that keeps your body at its peak from exercise to eating habits and especially the discipline you need to keep at it.

Similar to teaching, this can be an incredibly rewarding career as you get to encourage and inspire people to transform their lives (and their bodies) for the better. There’s even the opportunity to work al fresco every day with outdoor boot camps and beachside fitness seshes all the more popular these days.

Be a pilot

Imagine your job required you to sit in a chair for hours at a time, pressing buttons and staring straight in front of you. Sounds a bit like an office, right?

Well, imagine that straight in front of you was a breathtaking view of the country. One that any ordinary person would probably never get to see in their life (besides Instagram, of course). And imagine that the buttons you had to press weren’t that of a keyboard, but those you would find inside a cockpit. The ones that control a frickin’ aeroplane!

It’s true; pilots lead a privileged life. Flying planes is one of the highest paying jobs you can get without a degree – and do I even need to mention the travel perks? While you might need to spend some time checking weather conditions and making flight plans, this is not the type of career that’ll see ya trapped inside an office all week.

There are plenty of careers out there that will set you free of the office life, but these are some of our favourites. If you’re up in QLD and like the sound of being a tradie, be sure to check out CSQ’s course selector and see how they can help you get properly set up!