Best Careers for Travel?

[burbuja0512]

Hi All,

I haven't been posting too much since I've started my MBA, partly because I have a lot of schoolwork, but mostly because my job has changed slightly since graduating from COSC and starting on my master's program.

In a nutshell, due to some of my past work experience and the global MBA I chose (along with my willingness to learn a couple more languages,) I was able to move into an international business position that involves quite a bit more travel than I have done in the past. In the past year, I've been to at least 12 different countries on three continents (I should probably start keeping track of them lol..) and next year, I'll go to many of the same places along with quite a few new ones. Yeah!!! Hopefully this provides a little inspiration to those of you here who are still in the process of working on your degree - YES it does help your career!!

Anyhow, a couple of days ago, a daughter of one of my friends contacted me and said that she's been following my travels on Facebook and now that she's about to graduate high school, wants my advice on which degree program she should choose so that she can have a career that involves a lot of travel.

It would be easy to say international business, but I don't think that would be a good fit for her. She's shy and not the type that I could see pushing her way into what is still a very male dominated field. Yes, there are tons of women in business, but when I'm on the international flights and at global events with my peers, I'm one of very few women there. I generally don't recommend business administration to anyone unless they have a lot of drive, connections, or are a mid-career adult.

So, my question is, what other jobs are out there that would require travel? I've done a google search and seen a few suggestions, but nothing that really jumps out as being a job that's guaranteed to involve at least a trip or two a year. My initial thought was engineering... I meet plenty of people on airplanes and if they're not in sales or management, they are frequently engineers traveling abroad to check up on a project or to train overseas workers. Through my personal experience living outside of the US, I also know that you can travel abroad and be an English teacher, but this is generally something that you do for a year or so while you experience living in another country but before you start a family... so, while it is lots of fun, it's not really a good long-term option.

Any other ideas/advice/thoughts?

Thanks!

[rebel100]

No idea on your question....but welcome back!

[burbuja0512]

No idea on your question....but welcome back!

Hey there Rebel! Nice to see you I am in one of those rare moments where I don't have to travel AND am on a school break. No classes until Jan 7 and no travel until Jan 20! Wooooo hoooo.... enjoying the relaxation and hope to hang out here a bit during my down time. Work is pretty slow right now and will be until everyone's back from the holidays. Love it!!

[sanantone]

Military, Department of State, U.S. Marshal, and Clandestine Service of the CIA.

[bluebooger]

Navy .

[Yanji]

My last job required lots of travel, working as a consultant for a bank. I was very lucky to get the position with an English degree though which is why I'll be attending a full-time MBA at a top 15 school next year so that I can improve my standing a bit. I was based in HK and travelled about 200k miles per year (8 times around the equator, enough to qualify for UA 1K or AA ExecPlat twice over) to the UK, France, Germany, China, US, Canada, Turkey, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and even Burma. However, my position was very unique and it is inconceivable that you could just school your way into that position. However, I've met plenty of people in my travels so I can shed some light on some of the careers I've seen.

• Sales - This one's a bit of a mixed bag. Some of the pharmaceutical salesmen I've met do not even get to fly. They're driving around to tiny towns in Kansas or Oklahoma selling drugs to veterinarians and staying in miserable Hampton Inns and the like. However, some salespeople get to go to really interesting places and have networking opportunities with high-profile clients. You rarely have to pay for your own dinner either, which is a nice little perk.
  
• Consulting - Not really something you can get into with only a BA and no experience but when I fly in Business Class (most international flights) I see lots of consultants and managers. When I fly in Economy (short flights) I see lots of salespeople. It sort of says it all, really.
  
• Engineers - These guys usually don't travel very often, but many engineers in North America make factory visits to China, Korea and Taiwan and some visit partner offices in those countries and Japan as well. The junior guys don't get to travel very much but if you put in your time and work for a decent company, you'll get to have some fun in Asia and enjoy a normal home life at the same time. There are flights literally made for engineers, such as ANA's San Jose-Tokyo Narita and JAL's San Francisco-Tokyo Haneda.
  
• Pilot/Flight Attendant - I have the most direct experience with this one. I have a Commercial Pilot Licence and I have flown for a few months for an air taxi company. I quit and left all that aviation stuff behind me because while it is tremendously fun to fly (and easy to get into for women because of employment equity) the starting pay is insultingly low, particularly in the US. I paid $50000 of my own money to get my private and commercial licences, and the average pilot at the company I started at earned $30000 per year. Even with a BA I only earned $15000 in my 5 months there. That was in Canada at one of the more respectable small operators. In the US, the average pay is even lower across the board. Combined with the toxic nature of the airline industry, this is seriously a career with a dark side. I suggest anybody who asks me about the aviation industry to stay far, far away unless they want to become an aerospace engineer or a mechanic. Or a bankruptcy lawyer. :roflol:
  
• Accountants - CPA/CAs at the Big Four travel more than you'd think. There's lots of opportunities for regional travel and plenty of international opportunities, especially in corporate havens. UK and Australian-trained accountants tend to dominate in HK but North Americans have Bermuda and the Caymans. It's pretty easy to convert a US CPA from most states to a Canadian CA. (Bermuda is part of the Atlantic Canada licensing region)
  
• Translator - Pretty self-explanatory I think. Merely speaking two languages doesn't usually cut it though. An actual degree in translation or language is often required.
  
• Buyer - The opposite of salespeople, but buyers and other procurement-related people travel all the time. The great thing about this is that every industry has its own hotspots for suppliers and trade fairs so you could literally go everywhere with this kind of job. Trade fairs can be exhausting but you get to meet people from all over the world and you'll likely never have to visit the middle of nowhere.
  
• Journalism - There's a lot more equality here than most other careers I mentioned and the variety of professional and travel opportunities is truly mind-boggling. It's not just correspondents and reporters who travel either, and there's always plenty of freelance opportunity. One issue with journalism is that it will effectively bar you from entering certain countries for leisure visits because of your profession. I was denied a China visa once for writing a news company as my employer on my visa form (you might as well right Central Intelligence Agency, it's the same thing to them) and later kept on a tight "leash" for a while even after I started a new job.
  

Overall, pretty much every job which requires lots of travel other than flight attendant is male dominated. You can probably thank the little biological process known as childbirth more than the "old boys club" for this. There's probably capacity for 250 people in the domestic United Club at San Francisco airport... I usually see maybe 5-10 women when I'm there, a few more in the international side (and usually travelling with their husband).

Lastly, I would not recommend teaching English abroad. Teaching English abroad is seen by many as a "scum job" for people who have no life, a third-rate degree, no job prospects and possibly looking to score easy women. If you think that is an exaggeration, think again. That kind of experience won't serve you any purpose unless you want to return home and become a proper ESL teacher. I mean, if your friend's daughter really wants to live in a particular country where there are few "proper" jobs for foreigners, (say... Taiwan) teaching English could be a means to an end. But any expectations about prestige, quality of work/co-workers or pay need to be thrown far out the window. The only exception to this would be actually teaching English (not EFL) in either a public school or international school in Hong Kong or another country which has a formal scheme for hiring native English speakers to teach in their schools. This usually requires a degree in English though plus a PGCE/PGDE (which, in HK, the gov't will pay for) and you can't really travel while you're a public school teacher.

Another sure way to travel? The United States Navy. I know the Navy is possibly the worst branch of service for women but they have fleets everywhere. Anyway, would you rather be in Guam or Okinawa with the 7th Fleet or in Iraq with the Army?

[sanantone]

USAID, UN, working for an NGO (this can be from medicine, to peacekeeping, to human rights, to agriculture, to just about anything), missionary, linguist, anthropologist, archaeologist, geneticist, geologist, zoologist/biologist, oceanographer, epidemiologist (maybe CDC), or any other scientific job that requires going to the source. Women are a large minority in the life sciences, archaeology, anthropology, and linguistics. I would assume that there are a lot of women working for NGOs too.

[burbuja0512]

Thanks so much for all the ideas! I just had a long talk with my friend's daughter and shared quite a bit with her and discussed her interests. She's still not quite ready to decide yet, but I think she's making some very smart decisions regarding next steps.

Thanks again!!! I love the forum... I hope I'm not so busy that I disappear again once school starts back up!

[ryoder]

When I got into the computer software industry I had two choices: work on the main product as a developer, building the latest and great technology or traveling around installing the product and upgrading it at customer sites. I chose to stay put and focus on building the product rather than installing it, configuring it, and selling upgrades for it. Its a matter of personal preference. The kids who chose the travel job were just as green as the rest of us and often went to a customer site to install something they had never used before. Sometimes the customer would throw them out of the building and instruct security to not let them in. That didn't happen all the time of course. Sometimes when they traveled, Al Queida operatives destroyed the building they were supposed to meet in and they escaped with their lives. Sounds like a bunch of bull but its the truth.
In my current position, travel is something that is done by business need and is usually either between offices for most of us or its to the customer site for sales people.

[OE800_85]

What about teaching?

This isn't so much travel as it is living abroad. If you have decent credentials, and/or choose an in-demand subject, there's really no limit to the places you could go. Teaching couples are the most desired, if she found another teacher with this love to work and travel the world with it would be quite exciting. International schools usually offer fairly competitive salaries with a lot less pressure. Students in these schools are much more behaved and focused on the course material (I often feel sorry for teachers in western countries who spend a lot of their time parenting) so it can be more rewarding. Also the benefits are quite good, many teachers can receive a tax-free salary and be paid for housing, food, and so forth. If you have kids sometimes they will allow them to attend for free.
As for location, you'd most likely start in Asia, as that's where the demand is. However, with a bit of experience, you could easily branch out into literally any part of the world.