Choosing a career that requires traveling is not something to take lightly.
After all, your career is what provides you with your income, your livelihood and, in short, it’s how you make money. So for something as important as that, you want to make sure you pick one that not will only pay you well but you also want to make sure that it’s a career path that you genuinely will enjoy.
There are all kinds of jobs in the world to choose from but finding the one you enjoy is the hard part. There are jobs that require you to sit at a desk for eight or more hours per day and then there are jobs that require you to stand or be walking for the majority of your shift. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, you want a job that has a fairly decent balance of both sitting and standing but based on the data, individuals working in the food industry as a waitress or waiter spent 96.3% of their shift standing while software developers spent 90% of their shifts sitting.
So determining whether you want to sit or stand is definitely a factor to consider when choosing the career path you want to take but it’s also a factor that not too many people think about either. Now, to make you think even harder, what if you wanted to take a career that requires travel? There are some careers that only require you to travel a few times per month or throughout the year but then there are jobs where traveling is part of the job requirement.
In choosing a career that requires traveling, regardless of how often, there are some major factors you need to take into consideration before packing your bags.
Factor 1: The Industry You Want to Work In
As mentioned earlier, there are several positions that allow you to travel so you first need to figure out which industry you want to work in. If you choose the medical field, you have several options. If you’re a doctor, you have the ability to search for physician jobs by state if you don’t want to travel internationally but you also have the option to take on various positions out of the country as well.
Whether you want to travel nationally or internationally, you have the power and freedom to choose either or do both, but whichever route you choose, really think about what it is you want to do. The industry you choose will be your livelihood and probably your main source of income and you don’t want to be living your life traveling to do a job that you quickly begin to hate…. you know what they say… “find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Factor 2: Pay Expectancy
Your rate of pay is big factor to consider, again, because it’s your source of income. There are some travel positions that pay exceptionally well like pilots, cruise ship captains, and flight attendants… but then there are positions where you have to be in it for the love of the job and not the rate of pay.
Lots of humanitarian work that require you to travel to rural and impoverished parts of the world typically do not pay very well but the feeling you get from helping people in need is priceless. So it’s very important that when considering a particular job, before accepting the position, you make sure you have a clear understanding of the pay and whether or not benefits are included and base your decision on your financial needs.
Factor 3: Skills Required
As a professional, there are certain skills you must possess in order to be successful. In fact, there are certain work skills that are required in the 21st century, regardless of what industry you work in. Yes, there are universal skills required in all industries but there are certain skills you must have that actually are very specific to where you are.
When your job requires you to travel in the US, you can be successful with some of the universal skills like good communication and problem-solving but if you’re traveling internationally, especially to rural, impoverished areas, you may need some additional skills… survival skills at that! Some of these skills include but are not limited to:
- Adaptability
- Being able to purify water
- Building a shelter
- Resourcefulness
- Knowing how to dress a wound
Again, it all depends on your industry and where you’re traveling to but the moment you find out your travel location, whether it’s national or international, you’re going to want to brush up on some of your skills so that you have the best chance at success… because you never know what might be asked of you and it’s always better to be over-prepared than be under-prepared.
