Governor General. I heard the pay is good, good perks and good pension for life after only five years work.
All you do is cut ribbons and sign a few things, you have people to do absolutely everything else.
How does one become a Governor General? Do they ascend the rungs of politics in the UK before being given this position? Are the ex judges? Are they even Australian?
During covid since there wasn't anything to do as I lived in a sharehouse we kept every bottle of beer drank over a long period
You needed 1000 bottles for 100 dollars
Anyone who actually does this without wasting more in fuel more power to you because fuck that
I tried opening my business, in my field of specialty. I don’t recommend it in Australia. Seems like in here we are not big fans of small business owners. Regulations, high rents, high outgoings, competition with multinationals are a few of the hurdles, not worth it.
Recent quote for 85sqm retail store front was close to 200k. Inflation got that one too unfortunately. 6 years ago it cost roughly 80k to do the fit out.
Wow. It costs so much to outsource fitout. I thought I would do it myself. But landlord only wants professionals to do it. Btw most of it is shelving, setting up the counter and painting which are diy friendly and non dangerous work.
Yeah that quote was about 4months ago for a whole outsource. Also, it was for 3 smaller rooms to be set up inside the existing space and then mostly just slatwalling. When we did it first time we DIYed painting, carpet layout etc but the 3 rooms was still the most expensive part and was most of the 80k.
Add to it 6 plus years of buying more shelving, signage and counters etc as the business grows.
And when you do decide to move locations you have to spend a ton of money to ensure the space is exactly as you started it, which eats into fit out money at the next place.
It's not fun and can eat into profit margins for years afterwards.
I cant remember the specific forms but my first potential client was defence and verbally won a bit of work then they sent me a huge bunch of paperwork that was essentially impossible to tick off without hiring an HR manager to come up with a policy and sign off a bunch of legal paperwork. I had a quote for 10-15k but would still fall non compliant. Made no sense I was a one man show with a non employee friend I would contract.
Oh yeah, defense clients aren't worth your time unless you have a big pool of them. You're almost always better registering everyone as a contractor and getting them to take them on as contractors. That way they handle the compliance. Just spinning up the infrastructure and making it secure is a huge headache as you can't use any non Aussie hosted cloud services.
I would suggest that non-government work would be the right place to start. Once you are dealing with national security, I would also want a few boxes ticked.
Thats pretty much what anybody with a bit of capital does: Buying houses & renting them out. There is a few of us crazy enough to start a business with our capital, and we normally fail unfortunately.
I’ve seen countries where the govt incentivizes owning a small business. For example long term lease of land from the gov’t at really low rates, like 1$ per sqm. Or prioritizes your business in some ways if you do manufacturing.
In our country the only winners are the REA, landlords and the banks.
Or they compete, for example one subject area maybe related to state government, but the council sticks its nose in it. So now you have two bodies competing on how to redtape you better.
I agree, I've had small businesses in Australia, currently have one in Taiwan. Australia is very hard work compared to here. Regulations and fees for every single thing are a killer.
East and South East Asia are so prop business that will run the world economy in the coming decades (if not already doing it in many ways). Mark my words.
Second this. I tried mortgage broking, omg the red tape, hurdles and non stop fees were ridiculous. Not to mention all of the regulations you had to adhere to
My advice would be to have a lot of cash to start with, stay within your circle of competence, and be ready to lose a lot of money.
Building materials. High quality proper ones.
For example: Even if your products are from respected German manufacturers, and have all the standards in Europe, you may need to redo all of them again in Aus. The cost of doing this exercise for a multinational is peanuts, for a small business owner is significant.
And the funny part is that the rules are kept grey, so you are not actually sure if you do need the all standards to be able to sell and nobody even lawyers on 600$ p.h. will give you a straight answer.
This is so wrong. Lol. Australia being a new nation allows small business owners to actually thrive.
To add, a more of communities have the support small businesses route.
Speaking from experience, I've made a living from 21 years old (currently 25) on small business as well as my partner who is 24.
We are running tell businesses and both are taking off.
Number wise my company brings up 600k/ revenue and 300k ish for my partner.
I have a transport and logistics business my partner has a food manufacturing business!
My business works on vehicles and contracts/partnership with other businesses and my partner has a food manufacturing business sells to public/restaurants, fundraisers etc.
How I personally started was work as a bartender/waiter when I was 18/19 doing 9-10 hour shifts, saved up my money & invested it.
I’m a freelance composer and orchestral conductor. I fly from concert to concert around the world. I’m with different people every week. I write music at home and on the road and hear it played by orchestras. Occasionally a week or two or three come up with zero work and so I just hang with the wife, cook, go to museums and hikes. My wife often travels with me which is nice. I choose when and if I work. I make pretty solid money. The only complaint is: when things go wrong it can be extremely stressful and nerve racking (because hundreds of musicians need me to not make mistakes). I am very grateful for this situation in life. If you can pursue what you love (and make it work financially) it’s a really interesting and fulfilling life.
When I was at uni I did random shift work in a big 4 call centre.
Still cubicle farm shit, but I'd do only shifts with loading up to 100% (200% on Good Friday & Xmas) and could do stuff like Fri 8pm- midnight then go out afterwards.
Never had to travel in peak hour or in the same direction as the traffic.
Wasn't the worst, had entire days off and on weekdays so I'd have businesses & the beach to myself.
Gotta say, it's really nice having weekdays free, even if it means working Sat/Sun instead (at 100% loading).
No queues, get the best parking at Westfields, everything is so much easier.
Not necessarily. I'm a gardener, and I'm in fb groups with a lot of lawn mowing/gardening contractors . Loads of sole traders. Jim's can't be everywhere all at once.
Forgetting the best out of the lot fireman. Quite hard to get in but once your in it's four on four off including two nights. Firemen get to sleep on night shifts while not called out. The worst part of the job is the road accident rescue stuff. You don't really deal with the general public like other emergency services. Not once in my dad's 37years did he actually save anyone but it was a really good career.
They also get extra holidays outside the standard 4 weeks. We grew up with my Dad basically being home all the time while still earning good money. There's also plenty of career progression and super contributions are high because they want people to retire early.
Basically he got to have a lot of time with family which was amazing for us. Even when at work there's a heap of sitting around and down time. So you can hit the gym or do a hobby for example. There isn't really any paper work or stuff to do while not attending calls you kinda just hang out and wait. He enjoyed fly fishing so he would often tie flies in work time while there was nothing to do.
Maybe you're right. Hopefully they'll weigh in. But they said the want to escape the 9-5 grind, I'm not sure working 12 hour overnight shift work as a nurse counts
They could work as a world famous chef, get a job at NASA, some doctors are on call 24 hours a day. What time do bakers start? 3am?That'll get you away from the 9-5
I'm asking because I don't want to be constrained by corporate structure, or have my worth and potential dictated by others. Not because I want to work less.
I hate corporate but I hate the stress of not knowing where the next pay cheque is coming from even more. I think it would be achievable by starting with a casual job like cafe work, then adding another one like woolies packing, then another one like mowing lawns. Then keep replacing one of them with a better one. Maybe you can earn a bit or get a bit more freedom doing Amazon deliveries instead of the cafe job, but you keep the other two, and keep going with that. Unless you have any brilliant ideas, AND connections to help you make it happen, it's pretty hard to get your own thing off the ground.
Some people love stable predictable corporate work and all the politics and that go with it, others would rather be dead or homeless. I'm in the latter.
No one is buying a house or even having a liveable wage working a cafe job, or stacking shelves at woolies. Mowing lawns however, I pay my guy more than I get per hour, so maybe that's an option.
I spoke with a career advisor today, and he reckons contract work or consulting would be far better fit for me. I enjoy non-permanent high risk, high reward working arrangements over stability.
Thanks for your advice anyhow.
If you've got the skills for consulting, you've got plenty of options. You'll still have to put up with corporate bs, but at least it's temporary and you can jump to the next one.
Cool, FF_BJJ was right.
Think about the variables: do you want to work with people or things? Work alone or as part of a team? Working with something functional or creative? Physical/manual work or not? Indoors vs outdoors?
Well I’m a chef, earlier in my career I worked insane hours, anywhere from 40 to 100 hours a week for the first 6 years. Realised the way I was living my life wasn’t making me happy at all and in service of other people making bank off me. Quickly pivoted to being a part time or casual chef, I typically work 20 to 30 hours a week and I’m so much happier. I’ve never been a person that spends a lot and I can actually save a bit too.
However thankfully I’m in an industry with the opportunity to work like that. For years I would work from 3pm to 11pm 3 days a week, sometimes a little more or less
Reads/watch articles by Freakonomics author about drug trafficking, it generally pays below minimum wage, especially when you take into account jail time…
May I ask how the transition was? I'm 24 and work as an architect and hate sitting in an office all day and have been thinking of getting an apprenticeship
Not too bad; though the things I thought would bother me didn’t, and I was sorta blindsided by the things that did.
I was prepared for the pay cut - going from a wage well north of $100k to minimum wage plus overtime wasn’t nearly as big a wrench as I expected - though I was 35 and had a bit of money behind me.
It was more going from an environment where I knew a heap, and a lot was expected of me, to one where I knew fuck-all and everyone expected me to be kinda dumb. Sounds obvious, but it felt weird.
Also - going from a majority female environment to an almost entirely male one didn’t even occur to me as something I’d have to adjust to - but it was.
If you do decide to make the jump, I wish you all the best. I really like trades work, and I wish we had a more open-minded attitude towards it in school, rather than viewing it as a consolation career for dumb kids.
What was your previous field? Without being weird, you mentioned female/male fields in a way that makes it sound like you might be female too. I’d imagine transitioning into a trade at that age, it may be easier to land a job as a female, due to the gap between genders in those industries.
Nah - I’m a bloke; but there’s a definite vibe shift - primarily as regards communication styles and leadership.
A lot of that’s just the different realities of the job; but some of its down to the way we’re socialised as genders.
I’m not saying one is worse than the other - because there’s good and bad with both.
It’s hard to explain; but it’s definitely something I noticed.
My previous field was in the public sector. I did a few different roles, but mostly policy development and a smattering of project management.
FWIW - there’s shitloads of 30+ apprentices, and they’re overwhelmingly male. As a 24 year old, you’re a desirable age - old enough to have your shit together, but without the inconveniences of age like injuries or kids 😁
You're going to need to narrow it down because there is endless jobs that aren't 9 to 5.
For a start, do you want to work indoors or outdoors? Do you want to travel or work in one place?
I'm a gardener. I specifically stay away from mowing and do all other garden care. Mowing guys usually stay away from the time consuming weeding jobs so I pick up what they don't want to do.
Has been extremely up and down. I started with almost nothing in the bank, a few hand tools and a little hatchback and now have a good (old) ute and plenty of tools. I could only do this because my partner *just* makes enough to get us by.
I'm two years in and now I'm finally making good money. Physically I work a max of 30 hours a week. Emails/phone calls/following up with clients is probably another two hours a week.
Both.
It depends on the situation- sometimes weeds are growing in between flowers/veggies and you don't want to spray. Some clients are strictly against spraying. Other situations it's best to spray, like blackberry or large weedy patches with not much else.
I test soil pH using a kit from Bunnings- it's dead easy to use but it ads to the professionalism of the service. I prune everything from fruit trees to roses and lots of hedging. That takes practice but is very satisfying once you get the hang of it.
I do have a cert 3 in Horticulture and would highly suggest obtaining some sort of qualification if you want to get into it- it really does out you ahead of the curb.
I suggest plants, buy plants/mulch/fertilizer for clients and apply them as needed.
Lots of talking to clients about their gardens. Some people really love their space and are just as passionate as me. Many clients have been gardening all their life so have a wealth of knowledge, and I'm just there to do the things they can't physically do anymore.
Other clients really don't have a clue so I have to just get the basics across to them.
Like, yes, Carol I know you love a tropical themed garden but we live in a cold climate and they would die off within the month. "No, Gerald, those two plants aren't the same... Yes it's confusing because they both have red flowers" lol
This is a great reply, thank you :)
Where do you find clients initially?
Clearly once you have a customer base of sorts it will be easier but how did you start out?
A Facebook post on the local community page! That first year, I could trace back every single client to that one post.
Since then I have created more posts and sponsored posts on my social media pages. Gave clients 3 or 4 business cards and asked them to hand them out to friends.
Word of mouth is the best way to get clients, and luckily I live in a rural community so good news travels fast.
I have spent a total of $25 in ads 😅
It's been a slow, hard process but yes, once you are out there and doing a good job your work speaks for itself. Clients are happy, talk about you and want you to do well.
You can do gig work (Uber, Amazon delivery, online tutoring etc), but personally, I wouldn't recommend it as it can be unforgiving and unstable.
You can look into living off grid. But that in itself is a laborious endeavour.
As others have said, you can start a business, keeping in mind the upfront costs of starting one (compliance etc). From experience though, my friends who are business owners don't choose their own hours. They work much longer than just 9-5.
There are downsides to all routes, including the 9-5.
Overall, as someone that works a steady 9-5, I completely understand why it's the most common life path. Even though it seems confining on the surface, perks like regular work hours and paid leave give you the freedom to plan out other life events around work and greater freedom to deal with the crap that life can throw at you (illness, family emergency etc).
I work at a small dairy! Work from 4am-6am, 3pm - 5pm if you're milking, or my hours (I rear the calves and keep the dairy clean and organised) are 6.30am-10.30am, 4pm- 5.45pm approx. I love the split shifts, caring for my babies and I get lots of fresh air and sunshine. Pays about $30AUD per hour.
Haha, it costs most DJs money to do their job 🤣 I say this as a DJ of 24 years. It's very irregular. I guess if you combined all three of those jobs.....the world could see your oyster.
Not all workplaces in the same industry are grindy 9-5. Some workplaces can be flexible enough where they only care about output so you can still have an hour lunch break or be a little flexible about coming in late or leaving early so long as the work is covered.
Aside from that though, freelancing, consultancy, totally different industry where it's project/outcome based (though this can go both ways, good and bad). Some remote work/WFH type arrangements only care that you deliver what is asked for by the time it's expected. How you get there and what hours you work to do so is less important to those work arrangements.
Look at things this way, when you're your own boss, you get to set the terms of how you work.
Thanks for your suggestions, you've hit the nail on the head with the last statement. I'm more interested in setting my own terms, and not being constrained by others who dictate or limit my potential.
I've been interested in getting into consultancy, or contract work. An environment where I could come in with a set agenda, smash it out and move on to the next project. I'm not the type of person to sit in a office, get involved in the politics and waste time talking shit about Carrols divorce. I just want to get in, do what i'm paid to do, and move on.
Knowing absolutely nothing about you, no.
There are generally consulting roles in every industry. Just need to see what best fits your experience and skill set and see how you go.
I did aged care and much preferred afternoon shift. As a male i found it stressful picking out outfits and doing ladies hair of a morning. In the afternoon you only have to take the hair out and select their pyjamas. Plus, the pay is slightly higher for a slower tempo of work. Afternoons are way more chill than morning shifts.
If there were any, everybody would do it.
>But what about streamers
None us are the one in 100 thousand that will find any success with that. Our lot is the wagey cagey.
I did disability work with kids. As a male, I got tons of work with boys and young men, and had flexible hours at good pay. With an ABN, you can work for yourself
A serious answer. Working with clients in aged care or disability. Personal care worker on the lower paid end, up to community registered nurse on the upper end. With some work experience behind your back you can work as much or as little as you want.
Friend of mine is a graduate registered nurse and she does 1 shift a week at a nursing home because she chooses to due to kids.
Lot of joke answers here but genuinely, if you like dogs, dog walking. My parents moved to an apartment when I was a teenager and got a dog walker to come each day to take our Jack Russell out around lunch time while we were all out. This was like >10 years ago but I think she was paid somewhere in the ball park of 25-30 dollars a day to walk him. She would take groups of like 4-6 dogs at a time and probably did 2 or 3 groups a day. Find me a better lifestyle to pay job, walking around a park in the sunshine for a few hours a day for probably >100K a year.
Yeah I guess a caveat is that you need to be good with dogs and I guess good at judging dogs character. Any really troubled dogs I imagine you would either not take or charge more and take them solo with a muzzle. Our walker was a bit of a crazy dog lady, she would work out the dogs personalities and take out groups with similar personalities.
I live the "Workaway" life. Volunteering at hostels or farms and travel the world. I don't get much at all so no savings, but I get to see the world! 97 countries and counting! Sometimes teach english if I'm in a place long enough. Sometimes house sit. Been doing it since 2009.
Contractors / Freelancers / Sole Traders having been doing it forever. I’ve never had a 9-5 job and wonder a few times a year if it’s time.
In other words, there’s no escaping the grind that I know of.
On the one hand, you get to go for a walk in the middle of a workweek or do some other things you may dream about, but on the other you have no concept of a regular day off and you take one when you can (or need). It’s not great for routines or keeping up with friends who mostly have 9-5 jobs. You’ll meet new people constantly so you’d better be interested in humans.
Sometimes I wonder about work perks like sick leave, compulsory super, medical cover, security, weekends, etc. but on the other hand the freedom to move around or be working on a holiday when there’s no traffic is pretty sweet.
If you're looking for lazy as fuck part-time work, security is always an option, but it might take some doing to get into the easy gigs. Avoid pubs and clubs like the plague, same with public transport, if you do hospitals say you have an injury that stops you doing restraint training. Other than that, if you do the bare minimum, you're already better than most guards and that'll help you get trusted enough to get good sites.
Your goal is to find semiregular work, sitting overnight in empty lots or gatehouses where you only see a few people an hour at most. If you don't mind driving doing patrol work part time is chill as fuck too.
daaayyumm!! so many 9-5s got hurt reading this question. 9-5 bois please stop being sarcastic, OP just asking a question because not everyone wants to be a b\*\*\*ch for the next 30 years.
and to answer OP's question, it depends on what skill you have and how can you sell it. I don't see any other option than selling a service or a product meaning starting your own business.
Live with your parents until you inherit their property. When? Depends how old they were when you were conceived.
Plenty of new parents are old thesedays. So they won't have to wait as long to get on the housing ladder.
However, one would have to remain an overgrown adult and take very little risks in their lives. Big Pharma wetting themselves with demand for stimulants and weight loss drugs over the next few decades.
Tobacconist Arsonist. It's a job that is in high demand at the moment and you tend to only work nights.
Pays well too I’ve heard 
Governor General. I heard the pay is good, good perks and good pension for life after only five years work. All you do is cut ribbons and sign a few things, you have people to do absolutely everything else.
How does one become a Governor General? Do they ascend the rungs of politics in the UK before being given this position? Are the ex judges? Are they even Australian?
Plastic bottle recycling It's a bit repetitive & the competition can be quite fighty!
I started a business. It's really cool because I get to choose which 100 hours per week I work.
I also started my own business too! How did you manage to get it down to 100??? Jokes aside, I love having a job & hobby that are the same thing.
I demanded life balance so scaled it bak to 100 slowly over a year 🫣 It's very rewarding, but very relentless.
Only 100 hours a week. Rookie numbers I work 100 hours a day.
100 days a week?
Rookie numbers, I work 100 hours an hour!
During covid since there wasn't anything to do as I lived in a sharehouse we kept every bottle of beer drank over a long period You needed 1000 bottles for 100 dollars Anyone who actually does this without wasting more in fuel more power to you because fuck that
There is a way, ask Kramer
The way is to go to pubs and take the empties We did this Not to recycle though Props for a play
I keep a stillage cage or garden bag and cash in 2-4k bottles at once
haha you'd have to fight the old lady that runs up and down wynnum road every day right ? I think I'd rather enlist
I always wondered how much money in cans would be lying around Coogee beach after Australia Day
I tried opening my business, in my field of specialty. I don’t recommend it in Australia. Seems like in here we are not big fans of small business owners. Regulations, high rents, high outgoings, competition with multinationals are a few of the hurdles, not worth it.
I tried starting a little IT business but needed to spend $15k on compliance which was more than I'd foreseeably earn in the first year.
And that’s IT, which is known to have smaller upfront costs compared to manufacturing/retail.
Oh yeah.. that's considered cheap! Fitout in the tiniest little retail store or restaurant is like 40k
Recent quote for 85sqm retail store front was close to 200k. Inflation got that one too unfortunately. 6 years ago it cost roughly 80k to do the fit out.
Wow. It costs so much to outsource fitout. I thought I would do it myself. But landlord only wants professionals to do it. Btw most of it is shelving, setting up the counter and painting which are diy friendly and non dangerous work.
Yeah that quote was about 4months ago for a whole outsource. Also, it was for 3 smaller rooms to be set up inside the existing space and then mostly just slatwalling. When we did it first time we DIYed painting, carpet layout etc but the 3 rooms was still the most expensive part and was most of the 80k. Add to it 6 plus years of buying more shelving, signage and counters etc as the business grows. And when you do decide to move locations you have to spend a ton of money to ensure the space is exactly as you started it, which eats into fit out money at the next place. It's not fun and can eat into profit margins for years afterwards.
What sort of compliance stuff are we talking about?
I cant remember the specific forms but my first potential client was defence and verbally won a bit of work then they sent me a huge bunch of paperwork that was essentially impossible to tick off without hiring an HR manager to come up with a policy and sign off a bunch of legal paperwork. I had a quote for 10-15k but would still fall non compliant. Made no sense I was a one man show with a non employee friend I would contract.
Oh yeah, defense clients aren't worth your time unless you have a big pool of them. You're almost always better registering everyone as a contractor and getting them to take them on as contractors. That way they handle the compliance. Just spinning up the infrastructure and making it secure is a huge headache as you can't use any non Aussie hosted cloud services.
This is the sort of stuff that scares me off doing something like this.
I would suggest that non-government work would be the right place to start. Once you are dealing with national security, I would also want a few boxes ticked.
Australia is so obsessed with regulation we’ve hand-cuffed ourselves against allowing small businesses to thrive
Unless it's housing, fuck putting money into businesses or developing the country. Make some money and buy property woo
Thats pretty much what anybody with a bit of capital does: Buying houses & renting them out. There is a few of us crazy enough to start a business with our capital, and we normally fail unfortunately. I’ve seen countries where the govt incentivizes owning a small business. For example long term lease of land from the gov’t at really low rates, like 1$ per sqm. Or prioritizes your business in some ways if you do manufacturing. In our country the only winners are the REA, landlords and the banks.
And then when you try to find out whats actually needed government departments in charge of that have no idea
Or they compete, for example one subject area maybe related to state government, but the council sticks its nose in it. So now you have two bodies competing on how to redtape you better.
I agree, I've had small businesses in Australia, currently have one in Taiwan. Australia is very hard work compared to here. Regulations and fees for every single thing are a killer.
East and South East Asia are so prop business that will run the world economy in the coming decades (if not already doing it in many ways). Mark my words.
Second this. I tried mortgage broking, omg the red tape, hurdles and non stop fees were ridiculous. Not to mention all of the regulations you had to adhere to
Sounds rough, what's some advice that would you give to someone starting their own business? Also, what was your business?
My advice would be to have a lot of cash to start with, stay within your circle of competence, and be ready to lose a lot of money. Building materials. High quality proper ones. For example: Even if your products are from respected German manufacturers, and have all the standards in Europe, you may need to redo all of them again in Aus. The cost of doing this exercise for a multinational is peanuts, for a small business owner is significant. And the funny part is that the rules are kept grey, so you are not actually sure if you do need the all standards to be able to sell and nobody even lawyers on 600$ p.h. will give you a straight answer.
The best advice would be to not start it in Australia unless you're big enough to compete with colesworth
Australia is better than many European countries for opening a small business.
This is so wrong. Lol. Australia being a new nation allows small business owners to actually thrive. To add, a more of communities have the support small businesses route. Speaking from experience, I've made a living from 21 years old (currently 25) on small business as well as my partner who is 24. We are running tell businesses and both are taking off. Number wise my company brings up 600k/ revenue and 300k ish for my partner.
What is tell businesses?
I have a transport and logistics business my partner has a food manufacturing business! My business works on vehicles and contracts/partnership with other businesses and my partner has a food manufacturing business sells to public/restaurants, fundraisers etc. How I personally started was work as a bartender/waiter when I was 18/19 doing 9-10 hour shifts, saved up my money & invested it.
I can't see how that would be different anywhere else in the world.
Our regulations are similar to those in Europe and most developed nations, except USA.
Travel more
Yes, become a small business owner then you can be 24/7
This post gave me trauma flashbacks
I’m a freelance composer and orchestral conductor. I fly from concert to concert around the world. I’m with different people every week. I write music at home and on the road and hear it played by orchestras. Occasionally a week or two or three come up with zero work and so I just hang with the wife, cook, go to museums and hikes. My wife often travels with me which is nice. I choose when and if I work. I make pretty solid money. The only complaint is: when things go wrong it can be extremely stressful and nerve racking (because hundreds of musicians need me to not make mistakes). I am very grateful for this situation in life. If you can pursue what you love (and make it work financially) it’s a really interesting and fulfilling life.
What goes wrong?
When the orchestra realizes the conductor has no idea what he’s doing and in reality is just flapping his arms around with a stern look on his face.
When I was at uni I did random shift work in a big 4 call centre. Still cubicle farm shit, but I'd do only shifts with loading up to 100% (200% on Good Friday & Xmas) and could do stuff like Fri 8pm- midnight then go out afterwards. Never had to travel in peak hour or in the same direction as the traffic. Wasn't the worst, had entire days off and on weekdays so I'd have businesses & the beach to myself.
That was YOU
Gotta say, it's really nice having weekdays free, even if it means working Sat/Sun instead (at 100% loading). No queues, get the best parking at Westfields, everything is so much easier.
Onlyfans
Most OF porn stars only earn less than $200 a week. I looked it up on google a while ago. Shit money to be in porn really.
Yeah they really get fucked over in that Industry
Yeah, I think for the majority the downsides will outweigh the upsides
Lawn mowing
Surely Jim's Mowing cannibilizes small lawn mowing companies?
Not necessarily. I'm a gardener, and I'm in fb groups with a lot of lawn mowing/gardening contractors . Loads of sole traders. Jim's can't be everywhere all at once.
Almost literally, the guys known for being incredibly cut-throat.
Jim's Razors!
ER doctor. Regular work? yes. Regular schedule? no
*Fuck that!* You guys earn every one of the (admittedly many) dollars you get paid.
Policing, nursing, mining, security, aviation, military, paramedicine, personal training, journalism, cleaning
Forgetting the best out of the lot fireman. Quite hard to get in but once your in it's four on four off including two nights. Firemen get to sleep on night shifts while not called out. The worst part of the job is the road accident rescue stuff. You don't really deal with the general public like other emergency services. Not once in my dad's 37years did he actually save anyone but it was a really good career. They also get extra holidays outside the standard 4 weeks. We grew up with my Dad basically being home all the time while still earning good money. There's also plenty of career progression and super contributions are high because they want people to retire early.
Yeah good example. Competitive as. What did your dad like about it?
Basically he got to have a lot of time with family which was amazing for us. Even when at work there's a heap of sitting around and down time. So you can hit the gym or do a hobby for example. There isn't really any paper work or stuff to do while not attending calls you kinda just hang out and wait. He enjoyed fly fishing so he would often tie flies in work time while there was nothing to do.
Don't forget the PFAS, friend of mine was a firie for a decade and now has cancer in all of the places
I think they're asking because they want to work less, not more
There’s no implication of that whatsoever
Maybe you're right. Hopefully they'll weigh in. But they said the want to escape the 9-5 grind, I'm not sure working 12 hour overnight shift work as a nurse counts
It’s definitely not a 9-5. Other option is to win lotto.
The great Australian dream
They could work as a world famous chef, get a job at NASA, some doctors are on call 24 hours a day. What time do bakers start? 3am?That'll get you away from the 9-5
I'm asking because I don't want to be constrained by corporate structure, or have my worth and potential dictated by others. Not because I want to work less.
I hate corporate but I hate the stress of not knowing where the next pay cheque is coming from even more. I think it would be achievable by starting with a casual job like cafe work, then adding another one like woolies packing, then another one like mowing lawns. Then keep replacing one of them with a better one. Maybe you can earn a bit or get a bit more freedom doing Amazon deliveries instead of the cafe job, but you keep the other two, and keep going with that. Unless you have any brilliant ideas, AND connections to help you make it happen, it's pretty hard to get your own thing off the ground.
Some people love stable predictable corporate work and all the politics and that go with it, others would rather be dead or homeless. I'm in the latter. No one is buying a house or even having a liveable wage working a cafe job, or stacking shelves at woolies. Mowing lawns however, I pay my guy more than I get per hour, so maybe that's an option. I spoke with a career advisor today, and he reckons contract work or consulting would be far better fit for me. I enjoy non-permanent high risk, high reward working arrangements over stability. Thanks for your advice anyhow.
If you've got the skills for consulting, you've got plenty of options. You'll still have to put up with corporate bs, but at least it's temporary and you can jump to the next one.
Cool, FF_BJJ was right. Think about the variables: do you want to work with people or things? Work alone or as part of a team? Working with something functional or creative? Physical/manual work or not? Indoors vs outdoors?
Well I’m a chef, earlier in my career I worked insane hours, anywhere from 40 to 100 hours a week for the first 6 years. Realised the way I was living my life wasn’t making me happy at all and in service of other people making bank off me. Quickly pivoted to being a part time or casual chef, I typically work 20 to 30 hours a week and I’m so much happier. I’ve never been a person that spends a lot and I can actually save a bit too. However thankfully I’m in an industry with the opportunity to work like that. For years I would work from 3pm to 11pm 3 days a week, sometimes a little more or less
Narcotics trafficking
Reads/watch articles by Freakonomics author about drug trafficking, it generally pays below minimum wage, especially when you take into account jail time…
Okay... fine...drug importer
Standards of pay is insignificant when U can be constantly high
I went from white collar to trades. Best career decision I’ve ever made.
May I ask how the transition was? I'm 24 and work as an architect and hate sitting in an office all day and have been thinking of getting an apprenticeship
Not too bad; though the things I thought would bother me didn’t, and I was sorta blindsided by the things that did. I was prepared for the pay cut - going from a wage well north of $100k to minimum wage plus overtime wasn’t nearly as big a wrench as I expected - though I was 35 and had a bit of money behind me. It was more going from an environment where I knew a heap, and a lot was expected of me, to one where I knew fuck-all and everyone expected me to be kinda dumb. Sounds obvious, but it felt weird. Also - going from a majority female environment to an almost entirely male one didn’t even occur to me as something I’d have to adjust to - but it was. If you do decide to make the jump, I wish you all the best. I really like trades work, and I wish we had a more open-minded attitude towards it in school, rather than viewing it as a consolation career for dumb kids.
What was your previous field? Without being weird, you mentioned female/male fields in a way that makes it sound like you might be female too. I’d imagine transitioning into a trade at that age, it may be easier to land a job as a female, due to the gap between genders in those industries.
Nah - I’m a bloke; but there’s a definite vibe shift - primarily as regards communication styles and leadership. A lot of that’s just the different realities of the job; but some of its down to the way we’re socialised as genders. I’m not saying one is worse than the other - because there’s good and bad with both. It’s hard to explain; but it’s definitely something I noticed. My previous field was in the public sector. I did a few different roles, but mostly policy development and a smattering of project management. FWIW - there’s shitloads of 30+ apprentices, and they’re overwhelmingly male. As a 24 year old, you’re a desirable age - old enough to have your shit together, but without the inconveniences of age like injuries or kids 😁
I've considered this on more than a few occasions.
make knockoff warhammer 40k 3d designs and sell them if you are good
Fifo just a spoiler; it's also shit.
Train driver. 24/7 rotating roster.
Uber.
You're going to need to narrow it down because there is endless jobs that aren't 9 to 5. For a start, do you want to work indoors or outdoors? Do you want to travel or work in one place?
I'm a gardener. I specifically stay away from mowing and do all other garden care. Mowing guys usually stay away from the time consuming weeding jobs so I pick up what they don't want to do. Has been extremely up and down. I started with almost nothing in the bank, a few hand tools and a little hatchback and now have a good (old) ute and plenty of tools. I could only do this because my partner *just* makes enough to get us by. I'm two years in and now I'm finally making good money. Physically I work a max of 30 hours a week. Emails/phone calls/following up with clients is probably another two hours a week.
Are you spraying the weeds or pulling them individually by hand? What else does this line of work entail? Genuinely curious, thanks
Both. It depends on the situation- sometimes weeds are growing in between flowers/veggies and you don't want to spray. Some clients are strictly against spraying. Other situations it's best to spray, like blackberry or large weedy patches with not much else. I test soil pH using a kit from Bunnings- it's dead easy to use but it ads to the professionalism of the service. I prune everything from fruit trees to roses and lots of hedging. That takes practice but is very satisfying once you get the hang of it. I do have a cert 3 in Horticulture and would highly suggest obtaining some sort of qualification if you want to get into it- it really does out you ahead of the curb. I suggest plants, buy plants/mulch/fertilizer for clients and apply them as needed. Lots of talking to clients about their gardens. Some people really love their space and are just as passionate as me. Many clients have been gardening all their life so have a wealth of knowledge, and I'm just there to do the things they can't physically do anymore. Other clients really don't have a clue so I have to just get the basics across to them. Like, yes, Carol I know you love a tropical themed garden but we live in a cold climate and they would die off within the month. "No, Gerald, those two plants aren't the same... Yes it's confusing because they both have red flowers" lol
This is a great reply, thank you :) Where do you find clients initially? Clearly once you have a customer base of sorts it will be easier but how did you start out?
A Facebook post on the local community page! That first year, I could trace back every single client to that one post. Since then I have created more posts and sponsored posts on my social media pages. Gave clients 3 or 4 business cards and asked them to hand them out to friends. Word of mouth is the best way to get clients, and luckily I live in a rural community so good news travels fast. I have spent a total of $25 in ads 😅 It's been a slow, hard process but yes, once you are out there and doing a good job your work speaks for itself. Clients are happy, talk about you and want you to do well.
You can do gig work (Uber, Amazon delivery, online tutoring etc), but personally, I wouldn't recommend it as it can be unforgiving and unstable. You can look into living off grid. But that in itself is a laborious endeavour. As others have said, you can start a business, keeping in mind the upfront costs of starting one (compliance etc). From experience though, my friends who are business owners don't choose their own hours. They work much longer than just 9-5. There are downsides to all routes, including the 9-5. Overall, as someone that works a steady 9-5, I completely understand why it's the most common life path. Even though it seems confining on the surface, perks like regular work hours and paid leave give you the freedom to plan out other life events around work and greater freedom to deal with the crap that life can throw at you (illness, family emergency etc).
I work for a US company, all my colleagues are in the US. So I escaped the 9-5 by working 7-3 😅
I work at a small dairy! Work from 4am-6am, 3pm - 5pm if you're milking, or my hours (I rear the calves and keep the dairy clean and organised) are 6.30am-10.30am, 4pm- 5.45pm approx. I love the split shifts, caring for my babies and I get lots of fresh air and sunshine. Pays about $30AUD per hour.
OnlyFans, DJ, influencer. The world is your oyster
Haha, it costs most DJs money to do their job 🤣 I say this as a DJ of 24 years. It's very irregular. I guess if you combined all three of those jobs.....the world could see your oyster.
Not all workplaces in the same industry are grindy 9-5. Some workplaces can be flexible enough where they only care about output so you can still have an hour lunch break or be a little flexible about coming in late or leaving early so long as the work is covered. Aside from that though, freelancing, consultancy, totally different industry where it's project/outcome based (though this can go both ways, good and bad). Some remote work/WFH type arrangements only care that you deliver what is asked for by the time it's expected. How you get there and what hours you work to do so is less important to those work arrangements. Look at things this way, when you're your own boss, you get to set the terms of how you work.
Thanks for your suggestions, you've hit the nail on the head with the last statement. I'm more interested in setting my own terms, and not being constrained by others who dictate or limit my potential. I've been interested in getting into consultancy, or contract work. An environment where I could come in with a set agenda, smash it out and move on to the next project. I'm not the type of person to sit in a office, get involved in the politics and waste time talking shit about Carrols divorce. I just want to get in, do what i'm paid to do, and move on.
Any idea of good consulting positions you can do that are easy tobtransition into?
Knowing absolutely nothing about you, no. There are generally consulting roles in every industry. Just need to see what best fits your experience and skill set and see how you go.
I did aged care and much preferred afternoon shift. As a male i found it stressful picking out outfits and doing ladies hair of a morning. In the afternoon you only have to take the hair out and select their pyjamas. Plus, the pay is slightly higher for a slower tempo of work. Afternoons are way more chill than morning shifts.
Dog walking/sitting
Deep sea fishing pays really, really well. 
Onlyfans
If there were any, everybody would do it. >But what about streamers None us are the one in 100 thousand that will find any success with that. Our lot is the wagey cagey.
I did disability work with kids. As a male, I got tons of work with boys and young men, and had flexible hours at good pay. With an ABN, you can work for yourself
Disability care. A lot of people needing carers for literally every hour of the day.
Shift work. 3 days on 4 days off
The railways
Scrap metal get a tow truck and collect old cars and take them to sims
A serious answer. Working with clients in aged care or disability. Personal care worker on the lower paid end, up to community registered nurse on the upper end. With some work experience behind your back you can work as much or as little as you want. Friend of mine is a graduate registered nurse and she does 1 shift a week at a nursing home because she chooses to due to kids.
Independent locksmith, I've considered it. Start charging $400 to unlock someone's door which takes you 2 mins tops and work whenever you want.
Emergency services work shifts, for instance Fire & Rescue NSW works 2 x 24hr shifts.... 24hrs on, 24 hrs off, 24hrs on, then 5 days off.
Death
What skills do u have?
OnlyFans door is always open. Especially if you are prepared to be photographed with a doorknob in your butt.
I do four on four off two days and two nights. Actually get a proper break off from work
Aviation jobs pay fairly well. The whole industry is trying to restart after Covid shutdowns and doesn’t have it of entry requirements.
Tiddy bar
Just about every job or career has out of standard business hours opportunities.
Lot of joke answers here but genuinely, if you like dogs, dog walking. My parents moved to an apartment when I was a teenager and got a dog walker to come each day to take our Jack Russell out around lunch time while we were all out. This was like >10 years ago but I think she was paid somewhere in the ball park of 25-30 dollars a day to walk him. She would take groups of like 4-6 dogs at a time and probably did 2 or 3 groups a day. Find me a better lifestyle to pay job, walking around a park in the sunshine for a few hours a day for probably >100K a year.
Sounds fun, but what about the dogs with behavioural issues?
Yeah I guess a caveat is that you need to be good with dogs and I guess good at judging dogs character. Any really troubled dogs I imagine you would either not take or charge more and take them solo with a muzzle. Our walker was a bit of a crazy dog lady, she would work out the dogs personalities and take out groups with similar personalities.
Working in one of the emergency services operations centres. 24/7 365 usually 12 hour shifts. Can be stressful but rarely boring
I live the "Workaway" life. Volunteering at hostels or farms and travel the world. I don't get much at all so no savings, but I get to see the world! 97 countries and counting! Sometimes teach english if I'm in a place long enough. Sometimes house sit. Been doing it since 2009.
8-4 ?
The 5 -9 job
Death?
Both my brother and father worked 2x days and 2x nights and then 6 days off.
If you want your own business theirs no such thing as less hours
Contractors / Freelancers / Sole Traders having been doing it forever. I’ve never had a 9-5 job and wonder a few times a year if it’s time. In other words, there’s no escaping the grind that I know of. On the one hand, you get to go for a walk in the middle of a workweek or do some other things you may dream about, but on the other you have no concept of a regular day off and you take one when you can (or need). It’s not great for routines or keeping up with friends who mostly have 9-5 jobs. You’ll meet new people constantly so you’d better be interested in humans. Sometimes I wonder about work perks like sick leave, compulsory super, medical cover, security, weekends, etc. but on the other hand the freedom to move around or be working on a holiday when there’s no traffic is pretty sweet.
Enjoy being poor
Find somewhere that runs night shift so you can run 1-9
Only fans is very popular. Seriously.
If you're looking for lazy as fuck part-time work, security is always an option, but it might take some doing to get into the easy gigs. Avoid pubs and clubs like the plague, same with public transport, if you do hospitals say you have an injury that stops you doing restraint training. Other than that, if you do the bare minimum, you're already better than most guards and that'll help you get trusted enough to get good sites. Your goal is to find semiregular work, sitting overnight in empty lots or gatehouses where you only see a few people an hour at most. If you don't mind driving doing patrol work part time is chill as fuck too.
go jack/jillaroo somewhere. it will be the best thing you ever do
Drug dealing has interesting hours and can be very rewarding but like all jobs it has downsides too.
You could look at becoming a medic in the military. World class training, and when you finish you can work anywhere in the world.
Poker player won't be 9-5
Hes bluffing OP don’t listen
daaayyumm!! so many 9-5s got hurt reading this question. 9-5 bois please stop being sarcastic, OP just asking a question because not everyone wants to be a b\*\*\*ch for the next 30 years. and to answer OP's question, it depends on what skill you have and how can you sell it. I don't see any other option than selling a service or a product meaning starting your own business.
Poverty
Death.
the aussie favourite - dole bludging or some sort of NDIS money
Teaching is 9-5 (well 8-4) but it’s not a daily grind type job, you’re doing something different every day. It is many things but it sure isn’t boring
Don't forget the countless hours of weekend work with lesson plans, feedback, marking etc. At least the holidays are plentiful.
Live with your parents until you inherit their property. When? Depends how old they were when you were conceived. Plenty of new parents are old thesedays. So they won't have to wait as long to get on the housing ladder. However, one would have to remain an overgrown adult and take very little risks in their lives. Big Pharma wetting themselves with demand for stimulants and weight loss drugs over the next few decades.