I’ve been thinking more and more about getting into seasonal work. Work in which you work a shitload for a limited time and then get enough money to go on vacation for an extended time - reapeat untill the world-depression is over and I can get an office job again.
I know of quite a few jobs like this in Norway (fish-factories, slaughterhouses), and of course the “ultimate” season-job; King Crab Fishing in Alaska. But what other seasonal jobs do you know of?
I’m not talking about gardening in summer, or other teen-jobs that pay nothing. But more in line with the aforementioned King Crab Fishing.
Anyone?
I don’t need to know about work-permits or anything like that, just jobs where you work like hell for a few weeks/months and then end up with a fab pay-check.
I’ve never work in the North Sea but there are a lot of oil field jobs that are seasonal due to environmental regulations. I’m sure you could look into any outdoor job in the northern latitudes and they would have to be seasonal.
I know a guy who became a “divot ranger” at a golf course one summer. He’d ride around the course on a golf cart and chide golfers for violating course rules and/or acting like jerks. The pay was all right, he said, and he got to play golf for free all summer.
I do RN case management for a program that works a traditional school year, so it’s a 10 month position. I have 3 weeks paid vacation and 7 weeks unpaid through the year. I used to pick up the summer weeks per diem at a hospital but now I just save a little and kick back for the summer.
Considering that a crab season is in the range of two to four weeks, it’s pretty good. I’m assuming an oil rig season lasts significantly longer.
You won’t get rich at it, but delivery services such as UPS and Fedex ramp up staffing at Christmastime so they can get all of those presents shuffled from here to there on time.
Similarly, a lot of retailers take on extra stockers and cashiers in December.
Well, not just king crab, but “fish sliming” (processing) on an Alaskan fishing boat. College roomate paid her way through a couple semesters that way.
A relative worked at one of the pump stations on the Alaskan oil pipeline. Not exactly seasonal, but two weeks on, two weeks off regular rotation. He would only go home to sleep when “on”. Very good money.
This is similar to what my wife and I are doing. We both are working as contractors for the US Air Force supporting Afghanistan. Will be here for just over a year, and when we leave we will have enough to either put 80%+ down on a house, and spend two years going back to school for our degrees, or live for 3 years doing nothing. We are hoping by then we can find jobs at home. If not then we will be coming back over here for another year.
I don’t know what jobs are available for non US residents as most of the jobs here require security clearances. Look for jobs in remote, or hazardous locations. I know there is a company looking for people to go to Antartica. I don’t know what skills you have, but they pay pretty well, and not many people are willing to even apply for the jobs.
It’s for sure a good income for a couple of weeks, but you’d still have to work another job to gather enough money to live job free for a year (depending on how you live).
And don’t forget what happens when you make more money - you spend it. If you are single and good with your cash, you can pull it off, but I can’t tell you how many guys I know who made $100K in a season only to have to go back to something else a few months later because they bought a new truck/home/partied/went on trips, etc. Oh, and don’t forget women. They spend a lot on women. And if they have a family? Forget it, it’s gone.
No problem, let me see if I can find out who it was again. I was interested, but my wife was against it. What kind of qualification do you have? IT? Customer service? Electrician? Here we have contractors fililng all those positions on base. The more qualifications you have the better the pay of course, but the jobs that would pay minimum wage in the states are still making about $60K a year plus food and housing.
The Antartica openings all say they are pending contract award so they may not hire for any of those. Most likley somone will get the contract, and be hiring. Also they list US citizenship as a requirment, but I don’t know if that is a real requirment or not.
Alot of the jobs in Afghanistan and Iraq require US Secret clearances, but a few do not depending on what you are looking to do.
I have an uncle who works as a camera tech for televised golf for a few months each year, and then has the rest of the year off. Not only is it seasonal work, but he gets to travel all over to golf tournaments, which tend to be in pretty pleasant places. He’s not exactly entry-level, though: Most of his co-workers don’t have as sweet a deal as he does, and I understand he really had to prove himself first.
That’s very true, and sounds a bit like me Which is why I’m all in favour of working at a remote location so I have all the more money to burn once I get back to civilization.
But I’m mainly doing it to be able to get back to school. I need to up my buffer for unexpected circumstances and to be able to live life like I want to
Which is why I’m all in favour of working at a remote location so I have all the more money to burn once I get back to civilization.