Types of Careers Where You Travel
Business, industry and the work force are responding to technology changes through telecommuting arrangements, remote working styles, virtual positions and positions that require frequent travel by virtue of the occupation itself or globalization that technology provides. Countless job opportunities exist for people seeking job mobility or the chance to experience working in different cities and locales.
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Travel Nurses
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The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that registered nurses are among the most sought-after workers as of 2009 because of increasing health care needs and nursing shortages throughout the United States. For this reason, a niche industry carved from traditional nursing emerged. Travel nurses report to duties all over the country, usually for much higher salaries than they would make at a hometown hospital or health care facility. The reason the pay is often substantially higher is to compensate for the inconvenience of moving from one city to another on a regular basis for several years.
Airline Employees
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The obvious occupations for frequent travel are specifically within the airline industry -- not the overall travel industry, where there are agents and reservationist whose jobs do not require travel. As a condition of employment, flight attendants and pilots must travel frequently. The travel demand is so frequent that many airline workers share apartments to minimize their living expenses since they are in the skies the vast majority of their work hours. Pilots may have less travel time because there are limitations to the number of hours they can fly each month. Some sources report pilots are limited to flying 100 hours each month, which equals the number of hours for a regular part-time job -- an average of 25 hours per week.
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Management Consultants
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Successful consultants and consulting firms have domestic and international clients. Therefore, management and business consultants are expected to be road warriors, often traveling up to 90 percent of their time. Hundreds of jobs listed on the IBM career site indicate the amount of travel is 100 percent, meaning the consultant is home only on weekends. Leaving home on Sunday night and returning on Friday afternoon becomes a normal schedule for many consultants. In addition, there are consultants who spend longer than a week's time with their clients. Consultants on long-term projects may live in short-term housing to accommodate their clients' needs for several weeks or months at a time.
Teachers
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Bilingual education is one of the goals of many countries in Asia and South America. For this reason, there is an accelerated push for native English-speaking teachers to travel to locales to provide English instruction to both adults and children. Businesses often contract with English tutors or foreign language instruction companies to teach English in specialized areas of industry and business. Travel for native English-speaking instructors can range from Colombia to South Korea to West Africa. There are virtually unlimited opportunities for English-speaking teachers who are interested in global opportunities.
Writers and Photojournalists
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Travel writing and photojournalism are coveted occupations because of the exotic locales that fans of CNN, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel find fascinating. The job market is relatively tight for these jobs, mainly because of the element of intrigue and experiences they offer. However, if you are lucky enough to snag a job in the media industry that takes you all over the world, you can expect to travel almost anywhere. Locales from nearly abandoned rain forests to cities dealing with disaster or civil unrest are among the list of places travel writers and photojournalist can expect to assigned.
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References
- Transitions Abroad: International Careers: The Guide to Long-Term Jobs Abroad
- Business Travellogue: Business Traveler Interview: Mary Jo Manzanares
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition: Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing
- TravelNursing.com: About Travel Nursing
- DegreeDirectory.org: Which Careers Require the Most Traveling?
