# Name a good "backup" or "fallback" job **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2015, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989 "2015-01-27T07:15:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/21 "2015-01-28T06:39:25Z")
I am signed on with two different dog walking/pet sitting agencies. Pay is good and hours flexible. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/22 "2015-01-28T07:04:26Z")
Anything food service. I once knew a fellow (college student) who intended to become a baker on exactly the premise that a baker can find work anywhere. Drug dealing is also quite portable, for those so inclined. A real long shot would be music instructor. See Chapin’s _I Want to Learn a Love Song_. Radio DJ, at a certain level, at a time before everything became taped. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/23 "2015-01-28T07:36:56Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Call center work. I know several people whom I consider essentially unemployable; they always seem to be able to get call center jobs. And there’s a reason for it. Those places will hire anyone who can fog a mirror. Home Depot is also a waystation for people at a crossroads in life. Ask me how I know that. :o ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/24 "2015-01-28T12:35:10Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I am signed on with two different dog walking/pet sitting agencies. Pay is good and hours flexible. I have a friend who started house/pet sitting decades ago. Originally it was for extra cash. Currently she has much of her year booked, purely through word of mouth, and lives at home just a few days each month. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/25 "2015-01-28T13:01:59Z")
Bartending. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/26 "2015-01-28T23:08:47Z")
Drywall. That goddam shit is so miserable, having that as your backup pretty much guarantees you’re going to make your number one job a success. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/27 "2015-01-28T23:23:47Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > For thirty years knowing how to type was a great back up job for me. Unfortunately, not so much anymore… When my wife was jobless for a while last year, her mom kept insisting on things like “you can type\*, you should be able to get a job anywhere.” \*Also: “you can use a computer,” “you have a bachelor’s degree.” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/28 "2015-01-29T00:04:58Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Drywall. > > That goddam shit is so miserable, having that as your backup pretty much guarantees you’re going to make your number one job a success. I was going to say taping and mudding – done well it is miraculous to me! ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/29 "2015-01-29T01:04:01Z")
Executive Secretary. I can type, do good phone, take shorthand, I can write paperwork like nobody’s business, and keep a good calendar, plus manage the minions. Also, I don’t look like a bimbo the wife should be jealous of. I know the shorthand thing seems sooo 1950’s, but it really impresses the heck out people when they see me taking notes. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/30 "2015-01-29T01:11:00Z")
I’m a tenured college professor, so unless I commit a most heinous crime on campus I’m pretty safe. If I did need a fallback, I’d return to graphic design. I worked in graphics and printing for a long time (and I still use the skills I learned in my current job). My second fallback is picking apples and cherries. Six summers of being used as child labor sure did hone my agricultural skills. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/31 "2015-01-30T19:00:54Z")
EMT Relatively easy to learn (only a few months part-time classes) While big cities tend to be full-time fire dept jobs, cross the line into the suburbs & there’s lots of PRN (part-time) hours available, especially because it’s staffed 24 x 7. You can’t count on it, but if you get lucky overnight, you’re paid to sleep. Some places just do transport (scheduled runs of sick/elderly/infirm - a glorified taxi service), some places just do emergency/911, & some places do both. Transport jobs rarely have blood & gore. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989/32 "2015-01-30T21:55:49Z")
I’m an IT guy, with a BS in computer science, a MS in IT, and a MBA. I imagine I could do any number of fall-back jobs within IT if I couldn’t be a business analyst/PM anymore: help desk goon, developer, DBA, etc… but I don’t want to do any of those at all, or just don’t want to do them again. Outside of IT, I could probably be a bang-up survey crew member; I did it in college on-again/off-again as people at the civil engineering firm I worked for went on vacation. I know my trig, and I can handle electronics, so it wouldn’t be that bad. I could also probably teach school; there’s a teacher shortage around here, and I suspect I could get emergency certified to teach something like math, science, business or something computer-related without much trouble. I’d say teach IT or business at community college since I’m technically qualified, but I understand that there are scads of PhDs looking for those jobs these days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-backup-or-fallback-job/710989.md?page=1)