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Career for the kid that likes to physically move


bethben
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A few things about ds.  He really really really doesn't want a desk job.  As in - it makes him depressed to think that he could have a desk job.  He wants to be creative and is a kid who needs to move to find joy.  He's always been a kid that needed to move in order to think.  He hates science (or claims to hate science - at least he's never found a science that he liked lately).  He tests high in mechanical and people skills.  We were considering industrial design but everything about that field is not positive.  It's an oversaturated job market and to get a decent job doing it, you have to be very very good at it.  Ds has never been an art person.  He likes building 3d type structures but has always used patterns or a picture to do so.  I'm not sure he would be very very good at design.  Nothing in his life to this point has indicated a love of art and drawing.

 

So, what are we looking at?

 

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My kid likes to move too and we've had similar discussions. This is what I've noticed for him recently in case it helps.

 

My ds is going to PT right now. He enjoys the camaraderie of the therapists and the moving and physical aspect of it. I told him to keep it in mind for a career.

 

But surprisingly, he has been doing a Lego robotics class at the library since January and loves it. He is really good at creating challenges and writing code. It does fit his black and white type world, but I'm surprised he enjoys it so much since I view it as desk work. He is up and about with the hands on testing, but not sure what that would compare to in the job world.

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Self employed car mechanic?

My brother was trained as a tank and car mechanic during compulsory military service (not US) and enjoys it. He has a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering after having an associate degree in mechatronics engineering. He isn't a people person and is working in manufacturing.

The car mechanic who fine tune and repairs our Toyota Corolla is self employed with his own shop (family business) and earns enough for his family to take a few weeks off a year to visit elderly relatives in Asia.

When my husband's former and current lab technician colleague couldn't find a lab tech job during his previous layoff, he earned a good wage as a temp car mechanic. My husband was able to pull him into his current job by employee referral.

 

A hard to get in area but might fit him is stage props work. When I was in college and staying in college hostel, we did stage props for annual hostel/dorm plays and nobody gets much chance to sit down except to eat. Sawing wood, painting props, checking stage curtains ...

 

My friend who doesn't like desk bound job is a swimming instructor and lifeguard and has a bachelors in arts. However nothing to build in that job.

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National Park Ranger?

 

One of my sons is attending university, majoring in recreation management, with this potential future career in mind.

 

ETA: While this fits the "likes to move" requirement, I don't think it fits the "likes to design" requirement.

Edited by Kinsa
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Outside sales, almost any industry. For some of the more technical fields, you do have to start inside and work up to outside sales, but it can involve a good amount of problem solving and design.  

 

Event planning. 

 

Fundraising. 

 

Mechanic, electrician, construction, maintenance, ship building.  

 

Law enforcement. 

 

Restaurant management. 

 

 

 

 

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What about training as a paramedic and then if he likes that, trying to become a Medevac Flight Nurse? We were at the local children's hospital at the cafeteria one time when the Medevac team came in for lunch. They were nice enough to answer DS' (then maybe 9?) questions about the field.

 

ETA: the reason I bring up flight nursing as opposed to other types of nursing is that it is a more "macho" specialty and the group of nurses we talked to were mostly big burly guys.

Edited by Crimson Wife
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He sounds like a good fit for a trade rather than an office job.

 

Contractors of various sorts all work from plans, from framers, to landscape designers. Tile installation might be a really good fit since it requires working from patterns, heavy lifting, and lots of hands on problem solving. Same with upholsterery & finish carpentry.

 

Electricians and plumbers are very well paid for their labor and work with their hands every day. Those would also be good fields to research.

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He sounds like a good fit for a trade rather than an office job.

 

Contractors of various sorts all work from plans, from framers, to landscape designers. Tile installation might be a really good fit since it requires working from patterns, heavy lifting, and lots of hands on problem solving. Same with upholsterery & finish carpentry.

 

Electricians and plumbers are very well paid for their labor and work with their hands every day. Those would also be good fields to research.

 

:iagree:  I was thinking along these lines, too. Skilled labor could fit his needs. And there will *always* be a need for electricians, plumbers, and mechanics. :)

 

For example, custom tile work can be very creative when designing projects (and pay well once you have a specific level of expertise or can get on with a high-end housing construction company), and it requires hands-on / some mechanical skills. And you have to be able to interact fairly well with people.

 

Welders are in high demand right now -- I've seen salary stats of $70,000+. Our city has several artistic welding companies that create custom fencing, gates, etc. And again, must have some people skills to interact with clients.

 

Landscaping is creative, outdoors, physical, requires mechanical design with the hardscape and irrigation, and works with people (both employees and clients).

 

And all trade/skilled labor jobs are definitely going to involve some moving, lifting, and physical use of the body.

 

A friend is an extroverted people-person with a creative streak and a mechanical design ability. He runs a custom picture framing shop, and it requires a lot of customer interactions, moving around, creativity in designing ways to show off the artwork to its best advantage, and mechanical aptitude and physical hands-on with building the frames and cutting the mats, creating "shadow boxes" for framing/displaying more 3-D objects, and designing custom framed mirrors. Custom cabinetry might also be an option.

Edited by Lori D.
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My BIL has a fencing business and does very well. As the owner, he meets with prospective clients to make the sale, but he spends most of his time planning and installing the fences. He did our residential fence, but I think mainly does bigger business jobs now.

 

Before he went into fencing, he was a diesel mechanic (no college, so I think he must have been vo-tech in high school). He is definitely a work-with-his-hands type of guy.

 

This business is physical but allows him to use his aptitude for engineering and design.

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Self employed car mechanic?

My brother was trained as a tank and car mechanic during compulsory military service (not US) and enjoys it. He has a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering after having an associate degree in mechatronics engineering. He isn't a people person and is working in manufacturing.

The car mechanic who fine tune and repairs our Toyota Corolla is self employed with his own shop (family business) and earns enough for his family to take a few weeks off a year to visit elderly relatives in Asia.

When my husband's former and current lab technician colleague couldn't find a lab tech job during his previous layoff, he earned a good wage as a temp car mechanic. My husband was able to pull him into his current job by employee referral.

 

A hard to get in area but might fit him is stage props work. When I was in college and staying in college hostel, we did stage props for annual hostel/dorm plays and nobody gets much chance to sit down except to eat. Sawing wood, painting props, checking stage curtains ...

 

My friend who doesn't like desk bound job is a swimming instructor and lifeguard and has a bachelors in arts. However nothing to build in that job.

I agree with car mechanic. I just read an article today about the shortage of skilled mechanics. According to the article, good ones can easily make over $100k.

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A few things about ds.  He really really really doesn't want a desk job.  As in - it makes him depressed to think that he could have a desk job.  He wants to be creative and is a kid who needs to move to find joy.  He's always been a kid that needed to move in order to think.  He hates science (or claims to hate science - at least he's never found a science that he liked lately).  He tests high in mechanical and people skills.  We were considering industrial design but everything about that field is not positive.  It's an oversaturated job market and to get a decent job doing it, you have to be very very good at it.  Ds has never been an art person.  He likes building 3d type structures but has always used patterns or a picture to do so.  I'm not sure he would be very very good at design.  Nothing in his life to this point has indicated a love of art and drawing.

 

Maybe something like a CNC Prototype Machinist? My late BIL was making about $70K, with great benefits; he got a lot of raises because other companies were always trying to poach him.

 

Here's an example of some of the things a CNC Protype Machinist would do:

 

 Duties: 

  • Take on projects at the direction of the shop manager, work autonomously and as an integral part of the engineering process to machine and fabricate parts and assemblies according to development timelines and constraints.
  • Accurately predict and report machining time for each job and provide feedback to the engineering team on possible design improvements.
  • Be creative in solving unique manufacturing challenges of prototype and novel parts and assemblies including custom tooling and work holding.
  • Be able to work simultaneously on more than one machine or project as required.
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My brother works in the bike industry.  He started working in a bike shop at fourteen (the owner of the shop was his scout leader), and became an excellent bike mechanic.  He has worked for various bike companies throughout the US, and has traveled to Europe several times as the US representative for his company (he was in sales for awhile, as well as PR).  He has given biking tours in Alaska, as well as mountain biking in the PNW - not only has he had to use great people skills, but he has had to help customers with broken bikes, and deal with medical emergencies when someone crashes (sometimes several hours from the nearest road where an ambulance could go).  It's not an industry that many people think of for an occupation, but it's thriving and my brother has made a good career from it.

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I know lots of people like this in careers they enjoy.

 

My cousin is an electrition and now teaches at a trade school.

 

My uncle was a carpenter for many years, now a luthier.

 

My friend's brother got a forstry degree, then learned to do horse logging, he worked in silviculture and now teaches at the forestry school.

 

I know someone who make prothetic limbs.

 

My dh's friend is an airecraft tech.

 

I know a fellow wgo is a gardener who works for the city.

 

wildlife conservation officer,

 

water management

 

occupational therapist

 

firefighter

 

hairdresser

 

farming

 

surveying

Edited by Bluegoat
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Oh, fiberoptic techs were in demand for a while, I don't know if they are now.

 

And I know somtimes specalist buldiers, like those who work on older homes, can be hard to find.  Friends of mine were having a hard time finding a plasterer who could do complicated detail work, for example.

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