# Jobs where you work alone... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650 "2005-02-24T05:00:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![neisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4bbf92/32.png) [@neisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neisha)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/1 "2005-02-24T05:00:46Z")
Besides a lighthouse worker, what jobs are there where someone works solo? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/2 "2005-02-24T05:42:50Z")
I am an Internet researcher. I work alone in my room about ten hours a day, seven days a week. But the 'Net makes me feel as if there are folks all around. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/3 "2005-02-24T06:50:18Z")
Radio DJs who have the evening/overnight shift may never see another person but the morning newsman when he arrives. ---
**Author:** ![eno801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@eno801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eno801)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/4 "2005-02-24T07:09:21Z")
hey pinkfreud what does that entail and how do you get into that sort of job/ sorry for the hijack ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/5 "2005-02-24T07:19:11Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > I am an Internet researcher. I work alone in my room about ten hours a day, seven days a week. But the 'Net makes me feel as if there are folks all around. Yes, I’m curious also. I applied for the position once. Didn’t get it. How do you get in? What kinds of companies are hiring? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/6 "2005-02-24T07:28:14Z")
Trucker / railroad engineer, etc. But you’ve got radio contact, so that might be cheating. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/7 "2005-02-24T12:43:10Z")
Not totally isolated from the world, but… I used to work as a projectionist at a 9 theater complex. I spent my evenings walking the length of the projection booth, threading machines, cleaning machines, changing trailors, building the new films and breaking down the old ones. Never saw anyone else except when I looked out the little windows into the theaters. I really liked that job. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/8 "2005-02-24T13:11:03Z")
Computer programmer. Depending on the company you work for, you might have to attend meetings now and then. But mostly it’s just you and the computer. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/9 "2005-02-25T05:30:42Z")
> [@Large Marge](#): > > Yes, I’m curious also. I applied for the position once. Didn’t get it. How do you get in? What kinds of companies are hiring? I’m afraid I don’t know of anyone who is hiring. Wish I did. I am an “independent contractor” for Google Answers, not an employee. I work long hours, get low pay, receive no health insurance or other benefits. But the work is sometimes very interesting, the other researchers are wonderful people, and the work can be done by someone who is housebound, so I can’t complain. Google Answers has not approved any new researchers for two years. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/10 "2005-02-25T05:49:12Z")
I’m not entirely sure I know what “work alone” means. When I sold newspapers on a streetcorner and when I drove a taxicab, I surely worked alone. When I operated an experimental chemical reactor, I usually worked alone, although there were other people on the company’s premises. As the graveyard shift desk clerk at a downtown hotel during college, I worked with no other staff available. And often enough, during my years of heading up an oil and gas services company, I was all that I had to call upon, reliably. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/11 "2005-02-25T06:06:37Z")
Mail carrier. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/12 "2005-02-25T06:18:11Z")
Loose cannon cop with a chip on your shoulder the size of Mt. McKinley… oh, wait that’s only in the movies. Many positions in biological science and forestry require working alone for long periods of time, usually out in the field with no one else around. Of course, many also work in teams. I prefer working in teams, actually. ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/13 "2005-02-25T07:53:26Z")
I mostly work alone. I care for cats at one of my school (UC Davis)'s research centers. The only time i see anyone is if my supervisor happens to be in when i change into my scrubs. Other than that, i check for notes on special treatments, go into each room, clean up after and feed the cats, go back, change into my street clothes, and leave. ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/14 "2005-02-25T08:53:25Z")
If we’re talking about “alone” as in nobody else physically present, there’s in-home medical transcription. I have contact with coworkers via email and very rarely over the phone, but I’ve never met any of my coworkers in person. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/15 "2005-02-25T12:16:58Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > Loose cannon cop with a chip on your shoulder the size of Mt. McKinley… Wow, his shoulder is the size of Mt. McKinley?! Where does he buy his shirts? ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/16 "2005-02-25T12:24:49Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Computer programmer. Depending on the company you work for, you might have to attend meetings now and then. But mostly it’s just you and the computer. Not in my company. Meetings are actually pretty rare here for me… But lots of more informal contact with other people… a few other developers, supervisor, and talking with the people in other departments who are going to be using the software… or who are using it already and having issues. Just for the record, I love my job. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/17 "2005-02-25T12:32:10Z")
I liked being a crane operator. It was on a large vessel (oil-field related) and I sat alone in my cab, high above the water (and the other ships) for 12hrs/day. Radio contact (and the occasional break) was my only interaction with other humans. (I once got offered a job flying cargo in a smallish airplane. I really, really wanted to take it, but the salary was too low. It would’ve been wonderfully solitary, just me and the night sky.) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/18 "2005-02-25T12:36:51Z")
Hitman. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/19 "2005-02-25T13:50:29Z")
No one’s mentioned writers? ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650/20 "2005-02-25T15:14:44Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > No one’s mentioned writers? Yeah, I was just going to say that, too. I’m a copywriter/editor - I can go for days at a time withtout seeing anyone unless I lever my butt off my chair and get away from the office for a while. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-where-you-work-alone/291650.md?page=2)