good career options for a slacker?

[Hida Bukkorosu]

what is a good career field to look into for someone who doesn't really care about promotion or advancement, who just wants to make enough money to cover rent, bills, food, and entertainment (gaming) -- but doesn't ever plan on raising a family or sending kids to college or saving for retirement in old age?

particularily looking for a minimum of time investment, ie having more time to myself is more important to me than making more money... i want to spend as little time at work as possible...

what are some good career options? i'll have a bachelors degree, with a gpa somewhere in the 2.x range. i'm pretty poor in the area of social skills, but i'm intelligent. at least in the kind of intelligence standardized tests measure. i'm willing to do things to the best of my ability when i'm "on the clock", but i'm not willing to put in overtime or spend my own time doing work-related things. i'm also looking for something where getting (unpaid) leave is a pretty simple process.

 

[drothgery]

The only way to make a reasonable amount of money while being a slacker in the long run (excepting the few jobs that pay well because they're mind-numbingly dull) is to find something that you're really good at, so your co-workers (or at least your managers) don't realize you're being a slacker when you're accomplishing above-average work while working 8 to 5. Sorry.

 

[GlassJaw]

I like the way you think.

Here's the short answer: work for the government or a defense contractor. It's not that fun but it's really difficult to get fired. The benefits and pay are decent too.

 

[Harlock]

How well does slack-job need to pay? Some folks make extra cash playing online RPGs and selling equipment and characters. If you can commit to like 8 hours of power-hunting, you may be able to see results in a few months.

 

[Xandercrisp]

I work as a casino card dealer, 40 a week making 45 a year. I am not great at my job, just competent. Several of my fellow dealer make more than me and work only 20-30 hours a week. Requirements, a six week training course, or find a dealer to show you the ropes. Be able to shrug off abuse for things that are not your fault(customers loosing money). Be a smoker. If you work in a casino, you are a smoker. I don't buy my own cigarettes, I don't light them or put them in my mouth, but with all the second-hand smoke, I am a smoker.
You say you have poor social skills, which could be a problem. If you are shy, no problem because you don't need to say much. If you can't keep your foot out of your mouth, that is a problem. And If you get into fights, that is an overwhelming problem.

Dealing has been the easiest job I have had, for the pay. I do consider it a slacker job. It has many downsides, but thats for another thread.

 

[IamTheTest]

I work as a casino card dealer, 40 a week making 45 a year. I am not great at my job, just competent. Several of my fellow dealer make more than me and work only 20-30 hours a week. Requirements, a six week training course, or find a dealer to show you the ropes. Be able to shrug off abuse for things that are not your fault(customers loosing money). Be a smoker. If you work in a casino, you are a smoker. I don't buy my own cigarettes, I don't light them or put them in my mouth, but with all the second-hand smoke, I am a smoker.
You say you have poor social skills, which could be a problem. If you are shy, no problem because you don't need to say much. If you can't keep your foot out of your mouth, that is a problem. And If you get into fights, that is an overwhelming problem.

Dealing has been the easiest job I have had, for the pay. I do consider it a slacker job. It has many downsides, but thats for another thread.

Is there any information online about becoming a dealer? It sounds like something I could excel at.

 

[Xandercrisp]

Well, I found this a while ago, http://www.dicedealer.com/
It could help. It might also be an attempt to get you to part with your money for something you don't need. Buyer Beware. I got my job after a friend told me how well it paid, and I got in when casinos had just been made legal in Washington. Casinos had to offer classes because there were no dealers to speak of in Washington at that time. I now know that I was VERY lucky. The situation has changed, and there are now schools that teach the skill of dealing and making it look easy. The best way to find such a school is to go to the nearest casino, and ask a dealer where they learned. The cheapest way I know of to become a dealer in Washington is to go to a casino, apply as a security guard and learn the games and procedured while you work($10 an hour). Practice in your off time, make friends with a shift boss, and then get hired as a dealer as soon as you can pass a audition. Because you work there you will know when there is an opening, and because you have the backing of a shift, your application will be ont the top of the stack. I know several dealer who got hired that way. The only problem is that If you have a hole in your knowledge you don't find out until you fall into it.

 

[der_kluge]

Substitute teacher.
The pay isn't great, but most do require a college degree. Substitute teaching can really vary from school to school, but if you make yourself available everyday, and are always there when they ask, you'll generally get called more frequently. It helps to know people in the school system as well. My Mom did this quite a bit when I was in school. Often times, substitutes are nothing more than large-scale babysitters.

Some schools, however, require teaching certificates, and use them as a way to intern potential candidates for open-positions. It really depends on the school.

School bus driver is another one. Schools are always needing bus drivers. The pay isn't great, though. I saw an ad that was looking to hire bus drivers, and the salary was something like $13,700 a year. Pretty abysmal. On the plus side, you can volunteer for band trips, and football trips on the side, and make a little extra money that way.

There is always janitor. Janitors often work at night, in the dark, have no direct supervision, and can ok money. The work is steady, and there's always a demand. There's a good chance you'll need to be able to speak Spanish though, given today's demographics in this field. Or, at least you'll be able to learn it, since many of your coworkers will likely be from Mexico.


I have to admit, though, I'm a bit cuious why you wouldn't rather find a job that you enjoy doing, versus finding a job that you'd rather spend very little time at? There's a lot to be said, self-esteem-wise for having work that you enjoy and getting paid for. I don't know why you'd bother getting a college degree if your "goal" is to just be one step above "bum" in life.

 

[Abstraction]

My job, doing pre-press at a printshop, lets me be a slacker for a good portion of each work day (like now), but it takes a while to learn the ropes and have enough experience. In other words, you can get pretty good pay (35k a year and not in a big town, much more in big cities) with a real easy job but only when you get really good at it.

You might want to try a job that takes more nerve than skill or experience. Find a job that needs to be done and nobody wants to do. Something like cleaning up crime scenes and death scenes.

 

[msd]

you could always try crime...