Wednesday, April 20, 2011

120 jobs that won't chain you to your desk


If you hate the idea of sitting at a desk all day, 120 Jobs That Won't Chain You to Your Desk may give you some ideas of careers that won't chain you to your desk. The Princeton Review put together a fun guidebook.

Unlike Occupational Outlook, this book is written in a fun, honest, easy to read way. Careers are divided up into general categories such as the mobile office, creative, or the great outdoors to help the reader focus in on careers that fit their general interest area. Each job has an overview of the typical day, qualifications, perks, and preparing for success. Each job also has an interview with someone who is actually doing the job. There is starting salary information, salary after 5 years, and salary after 15 years on many of the jobs.

I called the book honest because the job description for Mystery shoppers make it pretty plain that it's rare to make a decent full-time income at this job. The description for artists mention the reality of being a starving artist for a time. It's not to say you can't make a living at these activities, but you also have to be real about how quickly you can live off that income.

There were 3 job descriptions that I wouldn't really count as a part of the 120 jobs (making the book only 117 jobs). The three not-necessarily-a-job descriptions are Entrepreneur, small business owner or freelancer. Well, many small business owners are entrepreneurs that work as freelancers. An example of this would be a hairdresser since many stylists work as freelancers and entrepreneurs. There were many jobs in the list of 117 in which the job requires you to start your own business or work as a freelancer, both entrepreneurial activities. Anyway, I was puzzled by the inclusion of those things as actual jobs when they were really a part of the description of the other 117. It's a small nit though as the rest of the book was helpful.

Book Rating: 3 stars

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