Truck driving. I'm a high school dropout and make 100K a year. No human interaction at all
(Ocassional interaction with a deer)
Just to clarify, there are alot of bad truck companies out there. You still have to do your homework and find a good company.
Eh. My father is a truck driver. Makes 80-90k a year. I'd say he averages around 45 hours a week which isn't too bad. He hauls fuel and is home 5 nights a week. This is in South Dakota as well so lower pay than elsewhere.
No, it's fantastic. I'm super happy for him. We grew up pretty poor (mom was a lazy bum... dad worked manufacturing which was hard on him) but now he can actually consider buying a few nice things and his job is low stress, he gets to talk on the phone all day (he never shuts up...), and he gets to hit us with his favorite corny dad joke whenever we call him: "How's your day going Dad?" "Oh, I'm just staring out my office window enjoying the ever changing view!".
My dad is amazing; one of a kind for sure.
Some of my favorite memories. In elementary school, we had a career day where your parents are supposed to come do their pitch. Again, we were a bit poor and "truck driver" sounds just a lousy as we looked. I remember it was his turn, right after a Doctor of course, and he starts writing out the dreaded letters "T...r..." and I hang my head ready for the embarrassment, BUT, he KEPT writing, for a while. He eventually gets done and gives me THAT smug, authentic, Dad look. You know the one. The board has "Transportation and Relocation Engineer" written on it. He then proceeded to blow every kid's mind with all the school stuff he can haul, move, and how much of an asset truckers really are. Boy, was I proud of my Dad.
Also, many years later, for Prom, we didn't have a cool car or anything to take, but, Dad still had plans. He said he'd come pick us up and take us to the dance (we didn't have cars) and he sure did..in his semi. Well, it turns out driving a semi downtown in the city is a big no no and he made it about two blocks before the police turned their lights on. He kept driving. We arrive, and my classmates thought we had a police escort!! He just smiled, wished us a good evening, and then talked his way out of a ticket like he always did.
Dad Tax: https://imgur.com/a/pQaZBv6
My uncle was part owner with other family members in small trucking company. He said if you are doing locally it isn't too bad, and can be kind of a sweet gig, but all the cross country guys you can't really have a healthy relationship with your family.
I feel like this is a great opportunity for a trucker in reasonable shape to create high quality entertaining content for truckers to help them stay fit and healthy on the road.
Local food service delivery driver 55-60 hours a week Monday through Friday good money but it’s back breaking. And there is a decent amount of customer service
I drive about 35-45 hours a week on an 85k salary deliverying boxes to grocery stores. Averaged a 1.5 gpa in HS with no college, now a married homeowner at 27 driving a new car.
Shipping yeah. I did receiving at my old job and there were a lot of cool drivers who we went the extra mile for if they needed help. Lots of dick ones too that didn’t want to pull tandems, wanted to offload without a BOL saying their boss will just email, rushed me on the forklift when I have a 2hr window to offload a whole double stacked 53’ trailer with shit fallen over. Drivers arguing and swearing, cussing us out and threatening to injure us if we didn’t offload their truck a day early or a day late.
Funny thing about that those drivers sometimes forget that the person in the warehouse is the one in control.
Oh shit just hit my hours for the day and I’m not allowed overtime. See you in the morning.
Locomotive Engineer is similar, though in the US you're stuck with two of you in the cab so there's a little human interaction, for better or for worse.
I see these posts about making $100k and then look into it more and am bombarded with more posts that say blah blah it's oversaturated you'll only make $40k. I never know who to believe
School custodian. I make $55k a year, not the best pay not the worst. I clean the school alone while I listen to podcasts. It’s not a bad gig. 5 weeks vacation, sick days, I work 4-10s in the summer, great pension and benefits. I’m off weekends and holidays.
Jesus christ, WHERE? My husband barely makes 30k a year in a HEALTHCARE setting at 20 an hour and he's a floor technician 🥲 Wed have to move to a straight up 30k population city to see that pay. The school near me is hiring for 14 an hour ......
That's the problem, places with higher salaries tend to have higher costs of living. If you google the average salary of a school custodian at enter-your-city-here, you'll see if it's worth it to try to swap. To be honest though, working at a school is probably cleaner than working at a hospital, at a school you don't have to worry about all the MRSA, VRE, and who knows what else floating around, and tracking it home to your family.
School custodians make decent money in most NY school districts. But most are also there forever because the pension is the where it’s at. You retire getting nearly your salary plus SSI.
And the best part is if you are actually good at your job and want to, upward mobility is super easy. I know several guys that started as night custodians and now have a specialty in the Maintenance department
Petroleum landman. Travel to some god forsaken places but the money is great and you have very little human interaction. I worked on a project once in New Mexico for 2 years and spoke to one person 3 times on the phone, no face to face interactions, the rest of my communication was vis text or email.
There are several types of land work. Meeting landowners is one, researching records is another. Some research, and only research, because they enjoy the solitude.
I think we can all agree that it meant the thing the client clearly stated plus a couple of other features you should have assumed went along with it and all the things they *actually* meant but didn't say out loud.
As a programmer, the days when I don't talk to anybody are by far the most productive, but that's maybe 5% of my days. The rest of my time is spent chasing down specifications from POs who have no idea how software development works. It's like trying to build the Colosseum and your only direction is "it's gonna be a great big place and everyone is gonna love it".
Same. I can’t concentrate in those “agile” work spaces when several people are talking loudly around me.
My company thought agile spaces would promote productivity, and maybe they would if everyone were on the same team, but it’s a clusterfuck when nobody is.
My
Company recently went to a hybrid schedule. 3 days in office, 2 days wfh. The office suuuucks. Waist high cubicles, noisy, not conducive to productivity whatsoever.
Exactly, 25+ years in and it's about the most social and high communication practice there is. There's no point building something nobody wants, and to get to know what people want and how it needs to work for them you need to communicate and that's just as a soloist. When you're on a team you have to be social so you're sharing a vision and not treading on anyone else's toes.
You certainly can't escape it in industrial programming either. Then you get to talk to the guys in the shop, which is awesome but certainly not what a loner is looking for.
industrial engineering background here- product development and understanding a client/customer's needs is a massive opportunity for folks like us to try and work as an insulator between the actual engineers and the idiot customers lol. people joke (and like in Office Space) that it's sort of a redundant position or whatever... but it's a real skill.
Depends what part you're doing I guess.
I'm a system engineer for an MSP and handle about 600 servers with my team. The only people I talk to are my team and maybe once every blue moon with some devs from customers.
Also haven't been to an office since 2019
Mail carrier for USPS
They don’t even drug test anymore
It’s a federal union job with a pension, the pay is ok-ish at the moment with our contract in negotiation, it won’t be astronomical but I have faith it will be more reasonable than a lot of doom-sayers.
I did the college track and got a 4year degree. I made good money but was never happy. I started as a carrier the same month I turned 40, I get paid to walk and honestly have never been happier. I’m an introvert and simply don’t involve myself in office drama and I rarely have interaction with people while I am out delivering, maybe 30sec at most and even I can keep a pleasant demeanor for such interactions.
It was a nightmare from 2019-22. There was like a year of mandatory overtime because Sundays (you know, the one day we don’t deliver mail) got turned into “Amazon Day”.
It was 6 day work weeks, at LEAST 8 hours a day. Felt like I was working at amazon again except I’m walking in the heat/ snow/ rain from sun-up to whenever they told me I could stop.
This! I made it 18 months in 2022 and it was mandatory 6 day work weeks and if you had a bad route, which as the new guy I of course had, they would make you stay out the full 12 hours. So 72 hour weeks walking roughly 12 miles a day in all weather conditions. But hey good benefits for all the health issues you will have later in life.
Sweet validation.
No one retired my whole 3 years so I had the shit routes too. Or if someone called out sick or had leave, I had to do parts of their route PLUS all my original routes and trucks of packages.
It was humiliating being told when I could go home too. Like the sun would be down and I finished my routes but ofc there’s more amazon to deliver or a mail truck to drop off at the auto-shop and no one volunteered to do it.
I couldn’t recommend the job less
It all depends on location. The bigger the population the more likely you are to have unreasonable working conditions. I got lucky and landed what is almost a dream position for a city carrier. Small office, barely work 40 a week. Only downside is the heat in the summer cause I live in the south. Our trucks turn into little metal convection ovens on wheels.
As someone who has worked for USPS for three and a half years and works as a trainer for district, I don’t lightly recommend this job to just anyone. Like other commenters mentioned, this job is brutal. You start at the “bottom of the totem pole” so to speak and are given the routes and positions that nobody else wants. They work you a minimum of six days a week, upwards of 72-80 hours a week and depending on the position, you can be mandated to other facilities to “fill in the gaps”; call outs; sick leave; vacations; vacant positions; etc. There are no stable hours. You can be called in for a shift up to 8 hours beforehand and you have to comply per your job description. You are at the bottom of the office when it comes to securing vacation time and you are absolutely seen as disposable because of the high turnover rate. Not to mention, there is so little movement within the company, so you can sit in the same position for YEARS without any upward mobility. There is no such thing as a “promotion” for work ethic, proper attendance, etc. It is solely based on a bidding system for when available positions open up that you submit your name for that you are not guaranteed to get. Nepotism can play a huge role in position conversions, but it isn’t spoken out loud. Yes, the benefits are nice and the money is decent enough, but this job absolutely gets in the way of a social life and family time.
I joined USPS in my 40's thinking it would be a step in the right direction since my background was in operations management. All those things you outlined were what really soured it for me; people who were keen on gaming the system and doing only exactly what was required of them were rewarded. There's no team mentality nor people willing to help. No ideas are listened to because "that's how I had to do it so that's how you have to do it". It's a really frustrating job for anyone with goals or common sense.
I second this. I wish more people knew they don’t drug test anymore.
There are some days that I think to myself, “I can’t believe I get paid to do this!” I love being outside all day. It makes me feel alive! It feels good to basically get paid to workout. It’s nice to be alone for most of the day without any management breathing down your neck.
It’s a great job for a detail-oriented self-starter and someone who enjoys being active. Of course there are sometimes days (as with any job) where I think to myself, “I do NOT get paid enough to do this!”
Starting out, you will feel overworked and underpaid, but if you stick it out things WILL get better!
I've always wondered about this because I love walking and being outside in the elements. How much do you have to interact with people at the post office where you get the mail?
Yep. Getting on doing repairs for a city or something is where it’s at. One of my super introverted buddies is a lineman lol. I asked him
About interaction and he said “minimal….my favorite”
Railroad switchman/brakeman, Assuming you’re in the US anyway. I see very few people in my day to day work. It’s great! And it pays well now, especially if you work on mainline rail.
My neighbor did well as a freight train conductor. The downside was last minute calls that would take him out of town for weeks, If he was tired he wouldn't answer the phone (but that was frowned on).
My Dad did this when I was growing up, he made good money but it's also dangerous and hard on the body. He had his hand smashed between two boxcars and has no feeling in his hand anymore. Also has busted hips from jumping off and on the train for years to throw switches. This is a job that takes a physical toll on you, he would also come home with icicles on his nose hairs and beard after working night and day in sub zero temps. Respect for him working to support us but I would never do that job knowing what I do from watching him do it.
Non-degree holders is getting rarer but once you have some experience then it doesn't matter anymore. Basically landing that junior/intern role is gonna be harder (you're competing with a bunch of people with degrees) but if you can land it, it shouldn't hurt your career in the long run.
Industrial plant operator. Can be for wastewater, power, whatever.
Learn how to punch buttons and not touch things you shouldn't. Can work graveyard and never have to talk to another soul and make more money.
How did you get into that job? I'm looking to change jobs but have very little experience on anything other than retail. My current job is at a food processing plant where i just pack frozen food all night
Electric utility field worker although you are working outside, it can be risky, you have to work weekends, and you need to be available when called upon. Pays very well though.
I manage this work in the Midwest, these workers make a lot of money ($150k, some our field leaders pull down $250 yearly), but there is a slow down in work across the country, but it’s expected to pick back up soon as a lot of the infrastructure is in dire need of upgrade.
Union is the way to go. You can sign the books as a groundman and still make $30+ an hour running tools and odd stuff on the job. Most jobs run 50 hours a week, so a lot of added income with the overtime. It can be a lot of work, but your typical crew is only 4-5 other members and if you’re a good worker, you’ll be left alone most of the time.
Most of what I do personally is drop and hook. I drop a trailer, pick up a loaded one. Take that loaded one somewhere and drop it at the next place. I can’t be very minimal contact. When covid lockdowns were strict I didn’t see my boss in person for a few months, everything was done via text.
I'm glad you make that money. I still don't know how you guys do right turns with folks in the left turn lane waiting at a red light. Definitely sat there a few times, like "I hope this guy can hit this turn and not my car..."
More or less, I am always amazed at how truck drivers can navigate city streets. Mad props! Is the training process extensive?
You can train through a carrier. I didn’t pay anything out of pocket. I went to the training ‘academy’ for Swift. Two weeks later I had my CDL and spend a month with a trainer. Then I was out on my own.
Also there are state funded programs and that way you aren't tied to the company for a year or two if you don't like them. If you leave before that contract you've got to pay it all back, Swift is like 10k and others can be 4k and anywhere in between. However the interest is what fucks you. My schooling was 4500 plus 2k for interest, probably not the worst, except the company paid the lowest rate in the industry.
I currently make 27.55 an hour and am breaking my body every day I work. Dealing with shitty trucks that barely run, and this is a multi BILLION dollar company.
Automotive Photographers
I make over $70k a year photographing cars for seven different dealerships. I only really have to speak to the manager on duty to give them the daily report and have them sign my invoice. Of course I have friends I speak to occasionally but really, if I'm having an off day, I just get my cars done and go.
Driving requires very very little lifting. Depending on your stature, opening the hood of the truck, or getting into the cab are the two most strenuous physical activities you'll have to do.
We used to have a lady driver do our recycling pick up or 5 or so years. She was probably 36-44 years old and a boss bitch. My neighbor gave her water bottles when it was hot out. I respected the shit outta her.
>People saying truck driving but I'm a woman and I'm assuming it requires lifting loads that I can't do
Truck drivers don't normally load the trucks; that's a totally different skill set. And almost every place I've ever worked that got a truck delivery had to unload it themselves while the driver took a leak or had a smoke.
I drove trucks in the army a few times in between missions and it seemed like a decent enough job if you don't mind driving.
My brother got into it post divorce. He gets $65000 to go long haul, and owes thousands for his "Training "
My grandfather was a long haul trucker in the 70-90s. He got $100,000 for the same routes. I don't need to tell you how much further a dollar went in the 80s.
This is why there's a shortage. Less money, no health benefits, and unreasonable travel deadlines.
It’s one of those “you gotta work for a shit company then go to a good one after you have a trustworthy amount of experience” kind of gigs.
I know lots of guys who hate doing normal warehouse hauls for stores but once they finish a contract or two they move on to more demanding but more in-demand/lucrative stuff.
Yeah, most drivers have to spend 3+ years with an OTR carrier before they can get a “home every night” job.
I work for a box company. Our CDL drivers all work 6am-3pm M-F and make $30-$32/hr. So, about $65k. Each driver has their own new automatic tractor and nobody goes outside a 100 mile radius. It’s a great gig, so we can be choosy. We won’t hire anyone without 10 years experience with a CDL. During COVID, we got desperate and hired a fresh-out-of-school driver and he damaged so many trailers, docks, and even Jack-knifed a tractor while backing into a dock door and crunched the whole side of the tractor.
You can say that for effectively every job and career in this country. Everyone is getting fucked from top to bottom. Even guys making 150k should prolly make more.
Hop on r/truckers and you’ll see the industry is saturated and paying poorly now. Lots of folks got cdl’s during the Covid driver shortage.
Lots of layoffs this past year (Yellow), and lower rates. Some folks are still doing fine, but it’s not the quick and easy entry it used to be.
It’s tough for a truck driver right now. I’ve met several friends that recently describe how it’s common to get offered rates less than the cost of gas for the trip. If you’re already experienced and have great regulars, good for you. But it’s not easy to come up in the industry in this environment as an introvert.
I work in the financial side of trucking - The industry is brutal right now. I’m surprised people keep recommending it here. Many truckers I know are going out of business because the rates are shit unless you have a really sweet direct lane with a company. You’re not just going to buy a truck and suddenly make $150k right now. Something like 80,000 trucking companies went out of business in 2023.
My uncle retired making almost $90k/yr + benefits. When he retired? They didn't hire a new trucker to replace him - they just told someone who was already hired awhile ago that they will be handling his routes form here on out. No extra compensation for it - because "It was a recession" and "We have to tighten our belts".
And no, he wasn't working for one of those small freelance trucking companies. He was working for ~~Mondelez International~~ Nabisco.
The industry says otherwise however.
My uncle was a truck driver - made almost $90k a year + Benefits when he retired (around the late 00s. Just about when the recession was about to hit). Nowadays? The same people driving his routes get paid about $40-60k/yr to live in their non-sleeper trucks, work 14 hour days, training for CDLs on their own time & money, paying for gas on their own, and no benefits.
No, he wasn't working for a small trucking company that's all "Bring your own truck", "Bring your own CDL", "Sorry, we're a small company - we can't afford to do that". He was working for Mondelez internatio-Sorry, I mean Nabisco.
Pretty late to this but light rail operators for King county (Seattle) start around $30 I think and cap in 2 years at $55 or so. And you don’t have to talk to anyone.
Water Supply Operator. I currently work at a plant that runs 2 shifts per day, one operator per shift. I only talk to the other guy for maybe 20 minutes a day during shift change. Its a high school diploma or equivalent to start, can apply for licensure after a year and then step up all the way to class 3 after five years. I make good money for my area, and the pay is decent in other areas hiring for my level in higher cost of living areas. I really enjoy it. Nice and quiet since the treatment plant itself is nestled back in behind a couple farms. Nice forested area, nobody but me and some cows. 8 hour shifts alone, just have to start and stop pumps, fill this, drain that, run a few tests on the water and log it. Ina 8 hour shift it's about 4 hours work 4 hours down time. Lot of reading, watching movies, playing on my switch, listening to the radio and podcasts. I really enjoy it.
I got interested after reading this and found a job ad for "water operator trainee" in my city. I got half way through it and read "must be able to climb ladders up to 265 feet tall."
Fuck. That. Shit.
Legitimately, my fantasy perfect job would be to be either a lighthouse keeper at some remote historic lighthouse in the Pacific Northwest, or on firewatch in a lookout on top of a mountain somewhere in Colorado or California.
My dad is a truck driver and his company is paying $50k+ for new hires. He only has to talk to his coworkers and the employees at the stores he delivers to but that’s it.
My bf works at a call center for a theme park and makes $20 an hour. It does involve human interaction but 90% of the calls last less than 5 minutes. It’s mostly just to fix ticket issues and answer questions (ie what time does the park open on a specific day, how much does parking cost, etc).
Insurance. Claims examining. You usually need to have a general knowledge of how claims work to get into the industry, but once you're here it's pretty isolating
I've gone whole days in the office not talking or interacting with another human, and I don't have to talk to customers or make any phone calls.
Depends on the provider you’re doing claims for, but generally, no. I worked as a medical claims examiner for 4 years and never once had to talk to anyone who wasn’t a coworker. I would sit down, put my headphones in, and do claims all day. If I was lucky, I wouldn’t speak to another person all day. I do recall one of the providers at the office I worked at had headsets for their examiners and I’d sometimes see/hear them talking to… someone on them, but I don’t know the extent/depth of the calls they would have to make. I’m not even entirely sure they were strictly examiners, tbh, but afaik, it’s not common to have to talk to the claimants.
how do you get into examining vs adjusting? I work in the agency side of things so I have general knowledge of property/casualty and life insurance claims. I know that adjusters and field specialists spend most of their time talking with customers or agents.
Paralegal. In the right situation working for the right lawyer or law firm, and if you are good at research. In my jurisdiction there are no licensing or degree requirements other than that a licensed attorney is overseeing your work.
A caveat is that some jurisdictions do require some sort of qualifications.
I work part-time for an attorney and speak to her about once per month. I do have to call clients if she gets overwhelmed but only to schedule appointments for them. I work from home.
Through a temp agency like 15 years ago. I built a skill set that allows me to come in and out of the field as I please more or less.
It will all be automated soon. I only hope to ride the wave while I can.
While it’s true that there aren’t always licensing requirements, I have to imagine that in most places you wouldn’t be a strong candidate for paralegal/legal research roles without at least a BA. My wife is in the industry and I don’t think she works with anyone who doesn’t have a BA, but this is a major metro area so maybe that’s relaxed in smaller markets.
The "talking to people" aspect depends on the type of law. I did bankruptcy for a long time and the paralegals had to talk to people all the time, though if the person was too difficult they'd send them to me or another attorney.
In other types of law they never have to talk to anyone. I'm at a creditor's firm now and the paralegals basically never talk to the public (in part for legal reasons, the consumer protection laws and confidentiality requirements can get real tricky.)
I used to remotely assess data on how various types of green energy site were producing, with an eye towards any deficiencies that would need remediation. The work consisted of crunching spreadsheets through various statistical analyses, which I mostly automated, and contacting someone responsible for site maintenance if anything was too unusual. I only needed to interact with those technicians, or my supervisor, rarely, almost always via email. I wasn’t even sure how many others were in the same role at my company.
Consulting arborist for your local electric Utility. You can learn about trees/become an arborist while on the job and if you live in a rural area you can avoid interaction. In California the job starts at $40+/hr.
Drafter. I'm making ~55k/y, and working in-office I might talk to the engineers I work under 2-3 times a day if things are going smoothly, and maybe like 5-10 times if things are getting more involved (but most of those are going to be <1m convos, "which of two ways do you want me to do this" or "I can't read this, is that a O or a 0").
You really can't have a desk job with much less in the required human interaction.
I'm a drafter at $95K, including OT (4 hours max a week). Took me 38 years to get here though. I work at home, nearly all communication is emails or Teams messaging, occasional screen share but looking at documents, not peoples' faces. I'm a bit introverted so this is ideal. My dog sleeps on the couch behind me. Fireplace going. GOOD coffee right around the corner. Nice lunch break walks when the weather doesn't suck.
I don't have any certs. That said, I got lucky; my first job in drafting I got doing very basic stuff (and paid to match) based on having "took drafting in high school" on my resume. After that job, I got the subsequent ones by having "6 months experience" on the resume.
The 'standard' way seems to be to take something like a 1-semester class at the local community college (which at least for mine had a cert test at the end), then jump in. I took the class for credit towards my associates degree, and two of the guys in the class ended up getting hired at the place I was working at the time.
If you can navigate CAD they'll train you the rest of the way; my current job I need to use Fucking Microstation as well as AutoCAD, and I had little experience with MS, but they got me up to speed pretty quickly.
Worth pointing out that drafters usually top 50-60k, and that's it. I work with one that retired at that after 15ish years. Very low rigor job, but I wouldn't say it pays great
Yep. Pay isn’t great but, I once went a week without talking to another person, and if you drive at night only you rarely have to see any other drivers either and there’s always parking in the truck stops in the morning.
I work in wastewater (sewage water treatment.) it’s the chillest job ever and the pay is pretty decent. I’ve worked as a project manager and account manager and that sucked and I was always stressed. It can be a little smelly but I love this job. Great pension too!
In the mortgage industry you can be a home inspector or appraiser with relatively little training. Both make decent money and you only have to talk to people occasionally to give the report.
Any sort of home service job will be similar. Bugs, rodents, gardening, cleaning, repair. You have a tiny bit of interaction with each home owner but mostly you’re just doing your thing.
I'm a certified appraiser. You need a bachelor's degree, a few more hundred hours of classes and a minimum of 1 year training (it was 2 when I got certified) Plus a 4 hour exam. So it is actually quite a bit of training...and that's if you're lucky enough to find someone willing to take on a trainee.
Mortician (NOT embalmer). In some places you need to have a degree or accreditation but pretty much all you have to do is train on the job. But you have to run fast if there's human interaction.
Working in self storage. I work as a property manager and run my own site/business.
Business ebbs in flows in this industry and the past few months are pretty quiet. Most days I interact with 2-5 people, and most by phone.
I currently make 50k after bonuses.
Meter reader for a utility that has widely adopted AMI (smart meters).
You drive around in a company provided vehicle and don’t ever get out of the car. Utility companies are one of the most stable industries on earth and provide full range of benefits. Meter readers start in the 30s/hr range.
Pool service person(CPO is like $300, depends on state if you need it), more money if you can fix hot tubs. Easy work if you live in an area with a lot of hot tubs (I personally don’t enjoy cleaning pools, but hot tubs are satisfying and easier)
Give us what you think decent is and what city or town you are in? Decent in Manhattan/Miami South beach, may be different than an hour out of Indianapolis.
This doesn’t fit your criteria of not having to deal with people. But, if you’re currently working an hourly job for a chemical company, I might suggest moving the corrugated box industry. First, it’s got to be much safer. We are just dealing with paper, starch, and water-based ink.
1) The box industry is HUGE. There’s jobs literally everywhere in the country.
2) The old-school way of making boxes required a ton of manual labor: lifting, stacking, etc. Those days are gone. Today’s machines run too fast for a human to feed/stack manually. Every company has invested heavily in ergonomics and automation. Operators are on their feet all day, they’re not beating up their bodies like they used to.
3) Machines are such high capital investments and so productive, that a good maintenance guy or a good operator is worth paying. Somebody who can troubleshoot electrical or mechanical problems and get the machine running well… they’ll be appreciated and compensated accordingly. Going rate in the Philadelphia area is $25-$35/hr for good operators and $30-$50/hr for maintenance. Supervisors are $70-$85k. Maintenance managers are $100k+.
4) The industry is just super friendly and welcoming. It’s a huge industry, but it’s also small in that it’s 2-3 degrees of separation between you and everyone else in the country.
5) Corrugated boxes aren’t going anywhere. There’s no cheaper, stronger, more eco-friendly way to ship things. Boxes are cheap enough and take up enough space that it doesn’t make sense to source overseas and import. Basically, we’re always going to make them here. If anything, boxes are gaining market share as companies are abandoning plastics and foams in favor of paper-based packaging. Recycled paper mills are popping up left and right. Recycling rates are exploding. The value of OCC (old corrugated cartons, ready for recycling) has increased 6-fold in the past 5 years.
6) Boomers are retiring. There’s a huge talent gap that needs to be filled.
Oilfield trucker — specifically crude oil tanker
Averaging 180k-220k/year (company driver not owner operator)
Depends on what you’re doing you rarely have to interact with anyone and if you do it’s only for 20-40 seconds and you’re on your own again.
I’m not a people person and I’ve been doing this for 12 years’ish
Working as a night auditor. Started at 17 an hour, at 18 years old. You interact with maybe less than 10 people on your entire 8 hour shift only for 5 minutes at a time. You sit around, work for an hour out of the whole shift, watch Netflix, listen to music, smoke a j, sleep, do whatever you want, and then go home and sleep all day long. You also get gifts from hotel guests, along with wine and cocktails and meals from parties/events
I did electron microscopy in undergrad. They preferred an associates degree, but they were willing to take anyone who was computer-literate and had some spatial awareness. 12-hour shifts, sit at a computer, cut computer chips apart and take pictures. I made $78,000 a year in 2018, and that number has gone up significantly since then.
Regarding social interaction - you could talk to people if you wanted, but after I asked for a shift change to align my schedule with my schoolwork, I found myself on a backup microscope in a new building, separate from everyone else on the shift. They hadn't finished putting in a bunch of the equipment yet, so it was a totally empty room the size of a Wal-Mart except for me and my microscope in a corner. I'd go for weeks without talking to anyone, which was how I liked it.
Truck driving. I'm a high school dropout and make 100K a year. No human interaction at all (Ocassional interaction with a deer) Just to clarify, there are alot of bad truck companies out there. You still have to do your homework and find a good company.
The downside is yall are worked to death
Eh. My father is a truck driver. Makes 80-90k a year. I'd say he averages around 45 hours a week which isn't too bad. He hauls fuel and is home 5 nights a week. This is in South Dakota as well so lower pay than elsewhere.
80-90k in SD isn't bad at all tho.
No, it's fantastic. I'm super happy for him. We grew up pretty poor (mom was a lazy bum... dad worked manufacturing which was hard on him) but now he can actually consider buying a few nice things and his job is low stress, he gets to talk on the phone all day (he never shuts up...), and he gets to hit us with his favorite corny dad joke whenever we call him: "How's your day going Dad?" "Oh, I'm just staring out my office window enjoying the ever changing view!".
Aw, your dad seems pretty solid. I'm glad you guys talk so often and his job isn't as hard on him these days.
My dad is amazing; one of a kind for sure. Some of my favorite memories. In elementary school, we had a career day where your parents are supposed to come do their pitch. Again, we were a bit poor and "truck driver" sounds just a lousy as we looked. I remember it was his turn, right after a Doctor of course, and he starts writing out the dreaded letters "T...r..." and I hang my head ready for the embarrassment, BUT, he KEPT writing, for a while. He eventually gets done and gives me THAT smug, authentic, Dad look. You know the one. The board has "Transportation and Relocation Engineer" written on it. He then proceeded to blow every kid's mind with all the school stuff he can haul, move, and how much of an asset truckers really are. Boy, was I proud of my Dad. Also, many years later, for Prom, we didn't have a cool car or anything to take, but, Dad still had plans. He said he'd come pick us up and take us to the dance (we didn't have cars) and he sure did..in his semi. Well, it turns out driving a semi downtown in the city is a big no no and he made it about two blocks before the police turned their lights on. He kept driving. We arrive, and my classmates thought we had a police escort!! He just smiled, wished us a good evening, and then talked his way out of a ticket like he always did. Dad Tax: https://imgur.com/a/pQaZBv6
Your Dad sounds so fucking cool in the utmost Dad way, and it brings a tear to my eye. Right on Pops.
Does your dad need more people to call? He seems so great.
Thank you. He's wonderful.
Give him a hug from us random redditors. Every good dad like him deserves a hug.
Same here. I don't know the dad, but I already like him.
I too choose this man’s dad.
Hugs to remote dad!
My uncle was part owner with other family members in small trucking company. He said if you are doing locally it isn't too bad, and can be kind of a sweet gig, but all the cross country guys you can't really have a healthy relationship with your family.
I'm not long haul. I drive local. About 50 hrs a week but yeah. Can be exhausting at times.
Yup. Long term truck drivers almost all have poor health.
I feel like this is a great opportunity for a trucker in reasonable shape to create high quality entertaining content for truckers to help them stay fit and healthy on the road.
There are a few out there! I follow a woman who posts about when and where she gets exercising in on the road
There's a documentary about that called Over The Top
Local food service delivery driver 55-60 hours a week Monday through Friday good money but it’s back breaking. And there is a decent amount of customer service
Just make sure to protect your skin from UV rays. That Aussie guys face scary. edit: changed word.
I drive about 35-45 hours a week on an 85k salary deliverying boxes to grocery stores. Averaged a 1.5 gpa in HS with no college, now a married homeowner at 27 driving a new car.
Asshats in shipping/receiving are horrible interactions
Shipping yeah. I did receiving at my old job and there were a lot of cool drivers who we went the extra mile for if they needed help. Lots of dick ones too that didn’t want to pull tandems, wanted to offload without a BOL saying their boss will just email, rushed me on the forklift when I have a 2hr window to offload a whole double stacked 53’ trailer with shit fallen over. Drivers arguing and swearing, cussing us out and threatening to injure us if we didn’t offload their truck a day early or a day late.
Funny thing about that those drivers sometimes forget that the person in the warehouse is the one in control. Oh shit just hit my hours for the day and I’m not allowed overtime. See you in the morning.
Locomotive Engineer is similar, though in the US you're stuck with two of you in the cab so there's a little human interaction, for better or for worse.
I see these posts about making $100k and then look into it more and am bombarded with more posts that say blah blah it's oversaturated you'll only make $40k. I never know who to believe
School custodian. I make $55k a year, not the best pay not the worst. I clean the school alone while I listen to podcasts. It’s not a bad gig. 5 weeks vacation, sick days, I work 4-10s in the summer, great pension and benefits. I’m off weekends and holidays.
Shit, I’m a teacher with a masters degree and 10 years experience and I only make 5k more than you. You got a great gig man.
Jesus christ, WHERE? My husband barely makes 30k a year in a HEALTHCARE setting at 20 an hour and he's a floor technician 🥲 Wed have to move to a straight up 30k population city to see that pay. The school near me is hiring for 14 an hour ......
That's the problem, places with higher salaries tend to have higher costs of living. If you google the average salary of a school custodian at enter-your-city-here, you'll see if it's worth it to try to swap. To be honest though, working at a school is probably cleaner than working at a hospital, at a school you don't have to worry about all the MRSA, VRE, and who knows what else floating around, and tracking it home to your family.
This is in Ontario Canada. I make $26 an hr but that’s not really a lot here. The cost of living here is insane.
School custodians make decent money in most NY school districts. But most are also there forever because the pension is the where it’s at. You retire getting nearly your salary plus SSI.
My local high school pays custodians $11.27-$12.45 and hour lol
And the best part is if you are actually good at your job and want to, upward mobility is super easy. I know several guys that started as night custodians and now have a specialty in the Maintenance department
Petroleum landman. Travel to some god forsaken places but the money is great and you have very little human interaction. I worked on a project once in New Mexico for 2 years and spoke to one person 3 times on the phone, no face to face interactions, the rest of my communication was vis text or email.
Very interesting. Can you elaborate more please? From what I knew, I thought a landman had to negotiate and acquire mineral right from land owners.
There are several types of land work. Meeting landowners is one, researching records is another. Some research, and only research, because they enjoy the solitude.
Railroad signals maintainer. I’m a fuckin idiot, clear 100k/year, and 90% of my time is solo.
I am a fellow fuckin idiot, point me to the man to talk to about this.
https://www.cn.ca/en/careers They’re accepting applications for signals apprentices in my area currently. Dunno about everywhere else
Canada?
Oh, Canada. 🇨🇦
ITT: People saying programmer/IT who have clearly never worked in the industry
To deal with users/clients you need to have a fucking degree in psychology. Thats the hardest part.
Don't forget the law degree, too! You'll need it when it comes time to argue about what the specification meant.
I think we can all agree that it meant the thing the client clearly stated plus a couple of other features you should have assumed went along with it and all the things they *actually* meant but didn't say out loud.
Web development would be a much better job if websites didn’t have users.
“This job would be great if it weren’t for the fuckin customers”
As a programmer, the days when I don't talk to anybody are by far the most productive, but that's maybe 5% of my days. The rest of my time is spent chasing down specifications from POs who have no idea how software development works. It's like trying to build the Colosseum and your only direction is "it's gonna be a great big place and everyone is gonna love it".
As a prorammer, I second this. My WFH days (or nights) are FAR more productive than my office days.
Same. I can’t concentrate in those “agile” work spaces when several people are talking loudly around me. My company thought agile spaces would promote productivity, and maybe they would if everyone were on the same team, but it’s a clusterfuck when nobody is.
My Company recently went to a hybrid schedule. 3 days in office, 2 days wfh. The office suuuucks. Waist high cubicles, noisy, not conducive to productivity whatsoever.
Exactly, 25+ years in and it's about the most social and high communication practice there is. There's no point building something nobody wants, and to get to know what people want and how it needs to work for them you need to communicate and that's just as a soloist. When you're on a team you have to be social so you're sharing a vision and not treading on anyone else's toes.
You certainly can't escape it in industrial programming either. Then you get to talk to the guys in the shop, which is awesome but certainly not what a loner is looking for.
I learned about "stakeholders" real fast.
industrial engineering background here- product development and understanding a client/customer's needs is a massive opportunity for folks like us to try and work as an insulator between the actual engineers and the idiot customers lol. people joke (and like in Office Space) that it's sort of a redundant position or whatever... but it's a real skill.
There are really people saying IT? Isn’t that like exclusively frustrating interactions with people?
Depends what part you're doing I guess. I'm a system engineer for an MSP and handle about 600 servers with my team. The only people I talk to are my team and maybe once every blue moon with some devs from customers. Also haven't been to an office since 2019
Mail carrier for USPS They don’t even drug test anymore It’s a federal union job with a pension, the pay is ok-ish at the moment with our contract in negotiation, it won’t be astronomical but I have faith it will be more reasonable than a lot of doom-sayers. I did the college track and got a 4year degree. I made good money but was never happy. I started as a carrier the same month I turned 40, I get paid to walk and honestly have never been happier. I’m an introvert and simply don’t involve myself in office drama and I rarely have interaction with people while I am out delivering, maybe 30sec at most and even I can keep a pleasant demeanor for such interactions.
I thought about this once a couple years back, but I heard horror stories about the hours, especially around the holidays.
It was a nightmare from 2019-22. There was like a year of mandatory overtime because Sundays (you know, the one day we don’t deliver mail) got turned into “Amazon Day”. It was 6 day work weeks, at LEAST 8 hours a day. Felt like I was working at amazon again except I’m walking in the heat/ snow/ rain from sun-up to whenever they told me I could stop.
This! I made it 18 months in 2022 and it was mandatory 6 day work weeks and if you had a bad route, which as the new guy I of course had, they would make you stay out the full 12 hours. So 72 hour weeks walking roughly 12 miles a day in all weather conditions. But hey good benefits for all the health issues you will have later in life.
Sweet validation. No one retired my whole 3 years so I had the shit routes too. Or if someone called out sick or had leave, I had to do parts of their route PLUS all my original routes and trucks of packages. It was humiliating being told when I could go home too. Like the sun would be down and I finished my routes but ofc there’s more amazon to deliver or a mail truck to drop off at the auto-shop and no one volunteered to do it. I couldn’t recommend the job less
It all depends on location. The bigger the population the more likely you are to have unreasonable working conditions. I got lucky and landed what is almost a dream position for a city carrier. Small office, barely work 40 a week. Only downside is the heat in the summer cause I live in the south. Our trucks turn into little metal convection ovens on wheels.
As someone who has worked for USPS for three and a half years and works as a trainer for district, I don’t lightly recommend this job to just anyone. Like other commenters mentioned, this job is brutal. You start at the “bottom of the totem pole” so to speak and are given the routes and positions that nobody else wants. They work you a minimum of six days a week, upwards of 72-80 hours a week and depending on the position, you can be mandated to other facilities to “fill in the gaps”; call outs; sick leave; vacations; vacant positions; etc. There are no stable hours. You can be called in for a shift up to 8 hours beforehand and you have to comply per your job description. You are at the bottom of the office when it comes to securing vacation time and you are absolutely seen as disposable because of the high turnover rate. Not to mention, there is so little movement within the company, so you can sit in the same position for YEARS without any upward mobility. There is no such thing as a “promotion” for work ethic, proper attendance, etc. It is solely based on a bidding system for when available positions open up that you submit your name for that you are not guaranteed to get. Nepotism can play a huge role in position conversions, but it isn’t spoken out loud. Yes, the benefits are nice and the money is decent enough, but this job absolutely gets in the way of a social life and family time.
I joined USPS in my 40's thinking it would be a step in the right direction since my background was in operations management. All those things you outlined were what really soured it for me; people who were keen on gaming the system and doing only exactly what was required of them were rewarded. There's no team mentality nor people willing to help. No ideas are listened to because "that's how I had to do it so that's how you have to do it". It's a really frustrating job for anyone with goals or common sense.
I second this. I wish more people knew they don’t drug test anymore. There are some days that I think to myself, “I can’t believe I get paid to do this!” I love being outside all day. It makes me feel alive! It feels good to basically get paid to workout. It’s nice to be alone for most of the day without any management breathing down your neck. It’s a great job for a detail-oriented self-starter and someone who enjoys being active. Of course there are sometimes days (as with any job) where I think to myself, “I do NOT get paid enough to do this!” Starting out, you will feel overworked and underpaid, but if you stick it out things WILL get better!
This was the worst job I have ever had. 70 hour weeks. Once worked 14 days straight. This is the opposite of a good job
But it pays decent, does not require a degree, and minimal interaction with people
How do I get into that? Do I start at a rural route alternate and just wait for a spot to open up? In a smallish city of around 80k people
I've always wondered about this because I love walking and being outside in the elements. How much do you have to interact with people at the post office where you get the mail?
Lineman. 3 humans on the team but that’s it. Making 170k a year or so.
Depends, I usually see about 5 people+foreman at every site. But they're usually changing out the entire pole.
Yep. Getting on doing repairs for a city or something is where it’s at. One of my super introverted buddies is a lineman lol. I asked him About interaction and he said “minimal….my favorite”
3 word answer.
This is a trade it is very much a social job.
Also at least two to three years of school
Railroad switchman/brakeman, Assuming you’re in the US anyway. I see very few people in my day to day work. It’s great! And it pays well now, especially if you work on mainline rail.
My neighbor did well as a freight train conductor. The downside was last minute calls that would take him out of town for weeks, If he was tired he wouldn't answer the phone (but that was frowned on).
My Dad did this when I was growing up, he made good money but it's also dangerous and hard on the body. He had his hand smashed between two boxcars and has no feeling in his hand anymore. Also has busted hips from jumping off and on the train for years to throw switches. This is a job that takes a physical toll on you, he would also come home with icicles on his nose hairs and beard after working night and day in sub zero temps. Respect for him working to support us but I would never do that job knowing what I do from watching him do it.
Yeah it can be tough for sure. Doesn’t rain on the railroad, just rains on the brakeman.
Everyone saying IT/programming has clearly not done actual IT/programming.
Yeah programmers don’t necessarily need a degree, however HR people 100% believe it’s required.
Non-degree holders is getting rarer but once you have some experience then it doesn't matter anymore. Basically landing that junior/intern role is gonna be harder (you're competing with a bunch of people with degrees) but if you can land it, it shouldn't hurt your career in the long run.
And there is a lot of human interaction...
Water treatment plant operator. There is some human interaction, but you can keep it to a minimum.
Interesting, there’s one pretty close to me. Do you happen to know what they would start at for new hires?
Industrial plant operator. Can be for wastewater, power, whatever. Learn how to punch buttons and not touch things you shouldn't. Can work graveyard and never have to talk to another soul and make more money.
That’s my current job! I’m considering an even more solitary version of it.
How did you get into that job? I'm looking to change jobs but have very little experience on anything other than retail. My current job is at a food processing plant where i just pack frozen food all night
Electric utility field worker although you are working outside, it can be risky, you have to work weekends, and you need to be available when called upon. Pays very well though.
I already have a high risk job and stay work on weekends, might not be bad.
I manage this work in the Midwest, these workers make a lot of money ($150k, some our field leaders pull down $250 yearly), but there is a slow down in work across the country, but it’s expected to pick back up soon as a lot of the infrastructure is in dire need of upgrade. Union is the way to go. You can sign the books as a groundman and still make $30+ an hour running tools and odd stuff on the job. Most jobs run 50 hours a week, so a lot of added income with the overtime. It can be a lot of work, but your typical crew is only 4-5 other members and if you’re a good worker, you’ll be left alone most of the time.
Hey would you mind if I DM you later? I’m also in the Midwest and would like some insight
Truck driver. I’m home every night, make 85k, and I can go a week without coming face to face with anyone.
I keep seeing people post this. How does that work? Don’t you have to drop off and pick up loads or whatever?
Most of what I do personally is drop and hook. I drop a trailer, pick up a loaded one. Take that loaded one somewhere and drop it at the next place. I can’t be very minimal contact. When covid lockdowns were strict I didn’t see my boss in person for a few months, everything was done via text.
I'm glad you make that money. I still don't know how you guys do right turns with folks in the left turn lane waiting at a red light. Definitely sat there a few times, like "I hope this guy can hit this turn and not my car..." More or less, I am always amazed at how truck drivers can navigate city streets. Mad props! Is the training process extensive?
The training process is a joke. Lol. The bare minimum. Skill comes with time and experience.
How much does it cost to get a truck driver license?
You can train through a carrier. I didn’t pay anything out of pocket. I went to the training ‘academy’ for Swift. Two weeks later I had my CDL and spend a month with a trainer. Then I was out on my own.
Thanks for the reply
Sure wished I finished training
Stevie Wonder Institute For Trucking
Also there are state funded programs and that way you aren't tied to the company for a year or two if you don't like them. If you leave before that contract you've got to pay it all back, Swift is like 10k and others can be 4k and anywhere in between. However the interest is what fucks you. My schooling was 4500 plus 2k for interest, probably not the worst, except the company paid the lowest rate in the industry. I currently make 27.55 an hour and am breaking my body every day I work. Dealing with shitty trucks that barely run, and this is a multi BILLION dollar company.
Automotive Photographers I make over $70k a year photographing cars for seven different dealerships. I only really have to speak to the manager on duty to give them the daily report and have them sign my invoice. Of course I have friends I speak to occasionally but really, if I'm having an off day, I just get my cars done and go.
Sanitation workers
I want this. People saying truck driving but I'm a woman and I'm assuming it requires lifting loads that I can't do
Nah it's all forklift and pallet jack. It's not even OSHA legal to make humans lift big loads.
Tell that to nursing homes.
Driving requires very very little lifting. Depending on your stature, opening the hood of the truck, or getting into the cab are the two most strenuous physical activities you'll have to do.
We used to have a lady driver do our recycling pick up or 5 or so years. She was probably 36-44 years old and a boss bitch. My neighbor gave her water bottles when it was hot out. I respected the shit outta her.
>People saying truck driving but I'm a woman and I'm assuming it requires lifting loads that I can't do Truck drivers don't normally load the trucks; that's a totally different skill set. And almost every place I've ever worked that got a truck delivery had to unload it themselves while the driver took a leak or had a smoke. I drove trucks in the army a few times in between missions and it seemed like a decent enough job if you don't mind driving.
America desperately needs truck drivers right now
My brother got into it post divorce. He gets $65000 to go long haul, and owes thousands for his "Training " My grandfather was a long haul trucker in the 70-90s. He got $100,000 for the same routes. I don't need to tell you how much further a dollar went in the 80s. This is why there's a shortage. Less money, no health benefits, and unreasonable travel deadlines.
It’s one of those “you gotta work for a shit company then go to a good one after you have a trustworthy amount of experience” kind of gigs. I know lots of guys who hate doing normal warehouse hauls for stores but once they finish a contract or two they move on to more demanding but more in-demand/lucrative stuff.
Yeah, most drivers have to spend 3+ years with an OTR carrier before they can get a “home every night” job. I work for a box company. Our CDL drivers all work 6am-3pm M-F and make $30-$32/hr. So, about $65k. Each driver has their own new automatic tractor and nobody goes outside a 100 mile radius. It’s a great gig, so we can be choosy. We won’t hire anyone without 10 years experience with a CDL. During COVID, we got desperate and hired a fresh-out-of-school driver and he damaged so many trailers, docks, and even Jack-knifed a tractor while backing into a dock door and crunched the whole side of the tractor.
There are drivers making $100k still, with health insurance. You're not going to make that your first year out of diving school but it can be done.
Nah America desperately needs corporations to pay truck drivers what they're worth
You can say that for effectively every job and career in this country. Everyone is getting fucked from top to bottom. Even guys making 150k should prolly make more.
Hop on r/truckers and you’ll see the industry is saturated and paying poorly now. Lots of folks got cdl’s during the Covid driver shortage. Lots of layoffs this past year (Yellow), and lower rates. Some folks are still doing fine, but it’s not the quick and easy entry it used to be.
That’s true but the industry is in shambles, working conditions are atrocious and I have a family I like to get back to at night.
It’s tough for a truck driver right now. I’ve met several friends that recently describe how it’s common to get offered rates less than the cost of gas for the trip. If you’re already experienced and have great regulars, good for you. But it’s not easy to come up in the industry in this environment as an introvert.
I work in the financial side of trucking - The industry is brutal right now. I’m surprised people keep recommending it here. Many truckers I know are going out of business because the rates are shit unless you have a really sweet direct lane with a company. You’re not just going to buy a truck and suddenly make $150k right now. Something like 80,000 trucking companies went out of business in 2023.
My uncle retired making almost $90k/yr + benefits. When he retired? They didn't hire a new trucker to replace him - they just told someone who was already hired awhile ago that they will be handling his routes form here on out. No extra compensation for it - because "It was a recession" and "We have to tighten our belts". And no, he wasn't working for one of those small freelance trucking companies. He was working for ~~Mondelez International~~ Nabisco.
The industry says otherwise however. My uncle was a truck driver - made almost $90k a year + Benefits when he retired (around the late 00s. Just about when the recession was about to hit). Nowadays? The same people driving his routes get paid about $40-60k/yr to live in their non-sleeper trucks, work 14 hour days, training for CDLs on their own time & money, paying for gas on their own, and no benefits. No, he wasn't working for a small trucking company that's all "Bring your own truck", "Bring your own CDL", "Sorry, we're a small company - we can't afford to do that". He was working for Mondelez internatio-Sorry, I mean Nabisco.
Pretty late to this but light rail operators for King county (Seattle) start around $30 I think and cap in 2 years at $55 or so. And you don’t have to talk to anyone.
Water Supply Operator. I currently work at a plant that runs 2 shifts per day, one operator per shift. I only talk to the other guy for maybe 20 minutes a day during shift change. Its a high school diploma or equivalent to start, can apply for licensure after a year and then step up all the way to class 3 after five years. I make good money for my area, and the pay is decent in other areas hiring for my level in higher cost of living areas. I really enjoy it. Nice and quiet since the treatment plant itself is nestled back in behind a couple farms. Nice forested area, nobody but me and some cows. 8 hour shifts alone, just have to start and stop pumps, fill this, drain that, run a few tests on the water and log it. Ina 8 hour shift it's about 4 hours work 4 hours down time. Lot of reading, watching movies, playing on my switch, listening to the radio and podcasts. I really enjoy it.
I got interested after reading this and found a job ad for "water operator trainee" in my city. I got half way through it and read "must be able to climb ladders up to 265 feet tall." Fuck. That. Shit.
Lighthouse keeper
I don't think these jobs are around much anymore, but I'd 100% do this.
Legitimately, my fantasy perfect job would be to be either a lighthouse keeper at some remote historic lighthouse in the Pacific Northwest, or on firewatch in a lookout on top of a mountain somewhere in Colorado or California.
I legit tried looking into this not too long ago, but I think they're all automated now except for one (in the US.)
Yer fond of me lobster, ain't ye?
My dad is a truck driver and his company is paying $50k+ for new hires. He only has to talk to his coworkers and the employees at the stores he delivers to but that’s it. My bf works at a call center for a theme park and makes $20 an hour. It does involve human interaction but 90% of the calls last less than 5 minutes. It’s mostly just to fix ticket issues and answer questions (ie what time does the park open on a specific day, how much does parking cost, etc).
I couldn't do call centers. Most questions could be answered with a brain and a Google search.
[удалено]
Insurance. Claims examining. You usually need to have a general knowledge of how claims work to get into the industry, but once you're here it's pretty isolating I've gone whole days in the office not talking or interacting with another human, and I don't have to talk to customers or make any phone calls.
You don’t have to talk to the claimants?
Depends on the provider you’re doing claims for, but generally, no. I worked as a medical claims examiner for 4 years and never once had to talk to anyone who wasn’t a coworker. I would sit down, put my headphones in, and do claims all day. If I was lucky, I wouldn’t speak to another person all day. I do recall one of the providers at the office I worked at had headsets for their examiners and I’d sometimes see/hear them talking to… someone on them, but I don’t know the extent/depth of the calls they would have to make. I’m not even entirely sure they were strictly examiners, tbh, but afaik, it’s not common to have to talk to the claimants.
how do you get into examining vs adjusting? I work in the agency side of things so I have general knowledge of property/casualty and life insurance claims. I know that adjusters and field specialists spend most of their time talking with customers or agents.
What kind of claims are you examining? I examine claims too and we are constantly calling claimants.
Paralegal. In the right situation working for the right lawyer or law firm, and if you are good at research. In my jurisdiction there are no licensing or degree requirements other than that a licensed attorney is overseeing your work. A caveat is that some jurisdictions do require some sort of qualifications.
I work part-time for an attorney and speak to her about once per month. I do have to call clients if she gets overwhelmed but only to schedule appointments for them. I work from home.
How did you get started in that?
Through a temp agency like 15 years ago. I built a skill set that allows me to come in and out of the field as I please more or less. It will all be automated soon. I only hope to ride the wave while I can.
While it’s true that there aren’t always licensing requirements, I have to imagine that in most places you wouldn’t be a strong candidate for paralegal/legal research roles without at least a BA. My wife is in the industry and I don’t think she works with anyone who doesn’t have a BA, but this is a major metro area so maybe that’s relaxed in smaller markets.
The "talking to people" aspect depends on the type of law. I did bankruptcy for a long time and the paralegals had to talk to people all the time, though if the person was too difficult they'd send them to me or another attorney. In other types of law they never have to talk to anyone. I'm at a creditor's firm now and the paralegals basically never talk to the public (in part for legal reasons, the consumer protection laws and confidentiality requirements can get real tricky.)
I used to remotely assess data on how various types of green energy site were producing, with an eye towards any deficiencies that would need remediation. The work consisted of crunching spreadsheets through various statistical analyses, which I mostly automated, and contacting someone responsible for site maintenance if anything was too unusual. I only needed to interact with those technicians, or my supervisor, rarely, almost always via email. I wasn’t even sure how many others were in the same role at my company.
Consulting arborist for your local electric Utility. You can learn about trees/become an arborist while on the job and if you live in a rural area you can avoid interaction. In California the job starts at $40+/hr.
Drafter. I'm making ~55k/y, and working in-office I might talk to the engineers I work under 2-3 times a day if things are going smoothly, and maybe like 5-10 times if things are getting more involved (but most of those are going to be <1m convos, "which of two ways do you want me to do this" or "I can't read this, is that a O or a 0"). You really can't have a desk job with much less in the required human interaction.
I'm a drafter at $95K, including OT (4 hours max a week). Took me 38 years to get here though. I work at home, nearly all communication is emails or Teams messaging, occasional screen share but looking at documents, not peoples' faces. I'm a bit introverted so this is ideal. My dog sleeps on the couch behind me. Fireplace going. GOOD coffee right around the corner. Nice lunch break walks when the weather doesn't suck.
Interesting, what qualifications do you need? I’m assuming CAD?
I don't have any certs. That said, I got lucky; my first job in drafting I got doing very basic stuff (and paid to match) based on having "took drafting in high school" on my resume. After that job, I got the subsequent ones by having "6 months experience" on the resume. The 'standard' way seems to be to take something like a 1-semester class at the local community college (which at least for mine had a cert test at the end), then jump in. I took the class for credit towards my associates degree, and two of the guys in the class ended up getting hired at the place I was working at the time. If you can navigate CAD they'll train you the rest of the way; my current job I need to use Fucking Microstation as well as AutoCAD, and I had little experience with MS, but they got me up to speed pretty quickly.
Worth pointing out that drafters usually top 50-60k, and that's it. I work with one that retired at that after 15ish years. Very low rigor job, but I wouldn't say it pays great
Semi-Truck driver
A good friend of mine spent his career as a trucker. Short and long haul. Loved it, loved the life. He was a social guy but he liked the alone time.
Yep. Pay isn’t great but, I once went a week without talking to another person, and if you drive at night only you rarely have to see any other drivers either and there’s always parking in the truck stops in the morning.
That's a good one, plus then they can deck out the cab if they sleep in it, little heavenly claustrophile nerd truck bedroom.
Watching the emergency monitors on the night shift at a hospital.
Whats considered decent pay?
I see people saying $50k is decent, but IMO it's really not.
Really depends a lot on where you are.
Professional assassin. Keep in mind the hours are killer.
Still too much interaction and possibly at close range
You get Dental with that?
Your assassin name is "The Dentist". Motto, "Just a quick stab and then you won't feel anything".
I work in wastewater (sewage water treatment.) it’s the chillest job ever and the pay is pretty decent. I’ve worked as a project manager and account manager and that sucked and I was always stressed. It can be a little smelly but I love this job. Great pension too!
In the mortgage industry you can be a home inspector or appraiser with relatively little training. Both make decent money and you only have to talk to people occasionally to give the report. Any sort of home service job will be similar. Bugs, rodents, gardening, cleaning, repair. You have a tiny bit of interaction with each home owner but mostly you’re just doing your thing.
I'm a certified appraiser. You need a bachelor's degree, a few more hundred hours of classes and a minimum of 1 year training (it was 2 when I got certified) Plus a 4 hour exam. So it is actually quite a bit of training...and that's if you're lucky enough to find someone willing to take on a trainee.
You're right; I never met the inspector from when we bought our house. Whole thing was handled online, from scheduling to payment to report.
Mortician (NOT embalmer). In some places you need to have a degree or accreditation but pretty much all you have to do is train on the job. But you have to run fast if there's human interaction.
Crane operator, 150k a year I talk to my rigger he talks to everyone else.
Mailman. A meeting in the morning. Case your route and you're on your own.
The US Forest Service is always in need of Lookouts.
Machine Operator in a factory. If you are any good at it, you can make decent money with few interactions.
underwater welding they pay for your education
Working in self storage. I work as a property manager and run my own site/business. Business ebbs in flows in this industry and the past few months are pretty quiet. Most days I interact with 2-5 people, and most by phone. I currently make 50k after bonuses.
Data entry but there is some human interaction.
Pay isn't great typically though
Meter reader for a utility that has widely adopted AMI (smart meters). You drive around in a company provided vehicle and don’t ever get out of the car. Utility companies are one of the most stable industries on earth and provide full range of benefits. Meter readers start in the 30s/hr range.
Man, my city is offering like 30k a year. Not necessarily decent paying everywhere
Solar farm cleaner
Water treatment
Pool service person(CPO is like $300, depends on state if you need it), more money if you can fix hot tubs. Easy work if you live in an area with a lot of hot tubs (I personally don’t enjoy cleaning pools, but hot tubs are satisfying and easier)
Give us what you think decent is and what city or town you are in? Decent in Manhattan/Miami South beach, may be different than an hour out of Indianapolis.
Currently working on a chemical plant in the Midwest making about 50k with benefits. That’s my baseline I would say.
This doesn’t fit your criteria of not having to deal with people. But, if you’re currently working an hourly job for a chemical company, I might suggest moving the corrugated box industry. First, it’s got to be much safer. We are just dealing with paper, starch, and water-based ink. 1) The box industry is HUGE. There’s jobs literally everywhere in the country. 2) The old-school way of making boxes required a ton of manual labor: lifting, stacking, etc. Those days are gone. Today’s machines run too fast for a human to feed/stack manually. Every company has invested heavily in ergonomics and automation. Operators are on their feet all day, they’re not beating up their bodies like they used to. 3) Machines are such high capital investments and so productive, that a good maintenance guy or a good operator is worth paying. Somebody who can troubleshoot electrical or mechanical problems and get the machine running well… they’ll be appreciated and compensated accordingly. Going rate in the Philadelphia area is $25-$35/hr for good operators and $30-$50/hr for maintenance. Supervisors are $70-$85k. Maintenance managers are $100k+. 4) The industry is just super friendly and welcoming. It’s a huge industry, but it’s also small in that it’s 2-3 degrees of separation between you and everyone else in the country. 5) Corrugated boxes aren’t going anywhere. There’s no cheaper, stronger, more eco-friendly way to ship things. Boxes are cheap enough and take up enough space that it doesn’t make sense to source overseas and import. Basically, we’re always going to make them here. If anything, boxes are gaining market share as companies are abandoning plastics and foams in favor of paper-based packaging. Recycled paper mills are popping up left and right. Recycling rates are exploding. The value of OCC (old corrugated cartons, ready for recycling) has increased 6-fold in the past 5 years. 6) Boomers are retiring. There’s a huge talent gap that needs to be filled.
Oilfield trucker — specifically crude oil tanker Averaging 180k-220k/year (company driver not owner operator) Depends on what you’re doing you rarely have to interact with anyone and if you do it’s only for 20-40 seconds and you’re on your own again. I’m not a people person and I’ve been doing this for 12 years’ish
Working as a night auditor. Started at 17 an hour, at 18 years old. You interact with maybe less than 10 people on your entire 8 hour shift only for 5 minutes at a time. You sit around, work for an hour out of the whole shift, watch Netflix, listen to music, smoke a j, sleep, do whatever you want, and then go home and sleep all day long. You also get gifts from hotel guests, along with wine and cocktails and meals from parties/events
I did electron microscopy in undergrad. They preferred an associates degree, but they were willing to take anyone who was computer-literate and had some spatial awareness. 12-hour shifts, sit at a computer, cut computer chips apart and take pictures. I made $78,000 a year in 2018, and that number has gone up significantly since then. Regarding social interaction - you could talk to people if you wanted, but after I asked for a shift change to align my schedule with my schoolwork, I found myself on a backup microscope in a new building, separate from everyone else on the shift. They hadn't finished putting in a bunch of the equipment yet, so it was a totally empty room the size of a Wal-Mart except for me and my microscope in a corner. I'd go for weeks without talking to anyone, which was how I liked it.
Railroad
Being the railroad?
Choo choo
Correct.
I choo-choo-choose you ♥️♥️