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What jobs / careers require or involve travel? (merged 2014+)

What jobs / careers require or involve travel? (merged 2014+)

Old Jul 2, 2014, 8:30 pm
  #61  
 
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Appreciate the feedback so far. I would never choose a job based on traveling a lot (thinking it would be fun) -- but I would AVOID a job if people like you guys with experience say that traveling for work is a big hassle, which is the vibe I'm getting. Thanks for the responses!
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 8:59 pm
  #62  
 
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1) I'm in consulting.
2) I enjoy it a lot. I've always liked to travel. But it does get a bit old specially if you go tithe same place every week for long stints. Also, I travel Sunday-Thursday/Friday so it is probably more than most.
3) it depends on how heavy travel is. It might be a real from a regular 9-5 job or it could be a complete lifestyle that needs you and your SO onboard to make it work. I'd say it's great for recent grads, since usually you don't have all the family commitments.
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 9:03 pm
  #63  
 
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Originally Posted by zeus2120
Appreciate the feedback so far. I would never choose a job based on traveling a lot (thinking it would be fun) -- but I would AVOID a job if people like you guys with experience say that traveling for work is a big hassle, which is the vibe I'm getting. Thanks for the responses!
That's not my read on these comments at all. Work travel can get old, but I've enjoyed a few years of it and have gotten to see the world on the company dime. Sales/consultants will typically bring you in and out and can often be restricted to a geographic territory. Marketing/management can take you to more interesting places.

I rack up so many hotel points that I'll often book an overseas flight a day or so earlier than I need to be there and use points for an extra night. Flight's covered either way.
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 9:05 pm
  #64  
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I'm a bit different. I own my own business and just decide on where I want to go... then look up work related things to do there and voila a tax deductable trip!
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 10:24 pm
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1. As it was said before such careers are mostly customer facing and support roles - sales, consulting, customer requirements analysis and engineering support (internal or external).

Smaller but still big chunk is middle-to-high (but not executive) level management in global companies - managers who have groups spread all across the world and need to visit them several times per year (my manager had 20 international trips last year, for example).

There are niche categories as well - like fashion photographers, geologists, motivational speakers, mining/petroleum survey specialists, self employed health-care professionals working on assignments, etc.

3. It is personal choice, however one distinction needs to be made between travel within North America and and travelling rest of the world. Also, a career where travel is big part might be a serious hurdle for relationships and/or family.

4. As it is in anecdote - 'don't mix tourism with immigration'. Do not select career just because it is travel related. You might get disappointed very quickly.
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 11:10 pm
  #66  
 
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1) I work in technical software sales. Within this field it is common for staff to travel as needed to meet prospects and customers face-to-face. Modern teleconf & telepresence tools reduce the number of f2f meetings we must have but does not eliminate them.

2) I enjoy work travel for the opportunity to meet my customers face-to-face. I like the "Aha!" moment when I show them how we can fix one of their problems. Much of the information that leads up to this is difficult to glean via phone, web, etc. Plus, with certain customers solving tough technical problems requires onsite access to their environment.

3) I like traveling for my job as explained in #2, but it's not for everyone. You make sacrifices. For example, you see less of your family, your friends, etc. because you are away from home.

4) Frequent job travel puts a strain on your life, your body, your family, your relationships, your hobbies, etc. There are moments of glamor, but for most of us who travel for a living they are few and far between. Make sure you go into a travel job because you love the job. If you just want to "see the world" I recommend you find a well-paying job you enjoy and use the income from it to fund leisure trips.
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 11:28 pm
  #67  
 
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1) Airline management. I've run stations remotely that required me to travel intercontinentally every week or so. Presently commuting between the UAE and Uganda for the two offices I manage.

2) Not any more. You reach a stage where business travel is a necessary evil rather than something you look forward to.

3) Do it when you are young and the experiences will give you great benefits in both life and career.

4) Learn your limits early and learn to stick within them. Physical/mental exhaustion and burnout is a real issue for road warriors. Don't push yourself beyond what you know you can handle because it will hurt you far more in the long term.
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Old Jul 3, 2014, 4:10 am
  #68  
 
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1.) client facing role in finance industry

2.) Yes and no. Enjoy more when it is a multi day stay in one location. Hate when it is same day trip waking up early and flying home late, or a long trip but different country each day.

3.) Wouldn't and shouldn't be a consideration as you're young and probably dont have kids. Make no mistake that travel is an inconvenience not a perk, and make sure that you are getting adequate compensation for it. Always strikes me as odd when some people I run into consider it a benefit. I definitely liked the idea of it more before I started than I do now, and I'm only 31 and no kids

4.)
I do 2-3 months a year away, but in the form of a small number of longer trips (typically 1-3 weeks). That may or may not appeal vs a higher number of shorter trips depending on your personal situation and preferences. It's also nice to sometimes take a vacation on the back of a biz trip.
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Old Jul 3, 2014, 6:58 am
  #69  
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Originally Posted by zeus2120
1.) What career field are you in that requires extensive air travel and hotel stays?
I operate a consulting practice that helps companies set their prices. I go to work on-site with my Clients for weeks at a time.

Originally Posted by zeus2120
2.) Do you enjoy the work travel?
Yes, a great deal.

Originally Posted by zeus2120
3.) Would you recommend working a career that requires travel or would you avoid it at all costs?
It is more important to follow a career that you find inspiring and are good at than anything else. Whether or not travel is involved should be considered much less important.

Originally Posted by zeus2120
4.) Any other insight, info, advice, or thoughts?
Business class on the plane is essential - if a trip is worth making it is worth paying the business class fare. On the ground safety and convenience is more important in your hotel than luxury.
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Old Jul 3, 2014, 7:13 am
  #70  
 
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Originally Posted by zeus2120
1.) What career field are you in that requires extensive air travel and hotel stays?

Project Management for an industrial Construction company. Some projects are drive in/out. some are fly in/out

2.) Do you enjoy the work travel?

I enjoy it more than I don't. Extended trips wear me down the most.

3.) Would you recommend working a career that requires travel or would you avoid it at all costs?

For me travel is great, I'm married to an independent women and we don't have any kids. If I'm home for a month or 2 a year, we're happy.

4.) Any other insight, info, advice, or thoughts?

Thanks!
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Old Jul 3, 2014, 9:34 am
  #71  
 
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I work databases, IT, software development, and the like for a large University in the United states. I travel once a year work related. It is always for a conference or training that the database vendor puts out for all the universities that use their product.

Traveling once a year for work is once a year too much if you ask me. I can't imagine how some of you do it every month, or even sometimes weekly. Gets old real quick.

First of all the pros and cons of once a year work related travel. The pro is you pay all your travel expenses on your personal credit card so you collect all the points yourself, and obviously any airline miles or hotel points. The con is work that only requires rare travel the employee has to pay the travel costs upfront, then submit recepts for reimbursement. You gotta pay attention to your cash flow, and always of course gotta rely on the reimbursement department getting your money back to you in a timely manner so you can pay your credit card bill. They have all these rules too, they won't reimburse without a recept, so imagine you try to be smart with university money and take the city bus from airport to hotel if it is convenient. No recept obviously, but they won't take your word that it is a buck 50. But yet will happily reimburse you a 30 dollar cab fare with a recept. Those are the things you deal with.

Worst thing ever about work travel? It cuts into your personal time. If you are a person with a wife/girlfriend and kids, it will take a toll, if you are someone that always likes to do things in your personal time that are scheduled, such as sporting events, then work travel takes its toll.

An example a few weeks ago I was in San Diego for the annual conference. I had to go. Not like I can take the week off. However what if I had purchased plane tickets, hotel room, and a game ticket for USA vs Ghana in Natal Brazil? I would be SOL since that game took place the first day of the conference. Moot point because I couldn't get a ticket in the first place several months ago, and flight prices and hotels were out of my budget but that is a figurative example.

Since my leasure travel is centered around US Soccer and college volleyball games, I like to have a job with no travel so I can be able to take specific days off to travel to games. I'm not complaining though, it is an entry level IT job, needed my experience. The benefits are great, specifically lots of vacation time. However in about another 9 months or so my student loans will be all paid off, and I will start looking at taking another job within the organization to take a step up in pay, will definitely be looking for one with no travel which in my line of work is not too hard to find. I am already able to take 5-6 leasure trips a year to games, that number will be even more once I can get a pay raise and have all my student loans paid off. Looking forward to some of the US Soccer games in Europe too. It would be incredible to see them play England at Wembley, or Germany at Allianz Arena in Munich.

I would hate to have to miss a Gold Cup, Copa America, or even Russia 2018 because the annual conference which is always scheduled in June is always during the same time as a major international soccer tournament.


Yet I absolutely love travel for leasure. Last year flew to Hawaii for a college volleyball tournament, then right after flew to Columbus Ohio for the US vs Mexico game. Flew From Honolulu to Columbus with a connection in DFW. Redeye into DFW, shower at the Admirals club, then I was ready to go in Columbus. Partied it up at the night before party at 4th street bar and grill by the OSU campus. Jumped 6 timezones, yet I was good to go, yet I jump two timezones for work related travel to their office in Cincinnatti, and I need lots of coffee in the afternoon because I am drained.

Work travel is definitely not my cup of tea, when I travel I want the freedom to choose where to go, and what to do when I get there. I have flights to some womens college volleyball games booked this fall to Seattle, Salt Lake city, and Kansas City, thinking about booking a flight to Boston as well in the fall because my team has a tournament at UNH in Durham New Hampshire. Can't wait for that, also can't wait to bid on priceline. I am sure I could score some great deals in downtown Seattle, and downtown Boston and take Amtrak to Durham in the morning. Hotel prices in downtown Boston are outrageous. but would be epic to score a Westin or Hyatt for half rack rate.

Whew, I ramble on sometimes but I just like chewing the fat with my flyertalk friends. ^
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Old Jul 3, 2014, 9:49 am
  #72  
 
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Originally Posted by zeus2120
So I kind of used the search button to find a thread related to this so forgive me if it's repetitive. I'm a recent college graduate looking into various industries and career options and I wanted to gain some insight from some Flyertalk members. Here are a few questions that I'd be intrigued to know about.

1.) What career field are you in that requires extensive air travel and hotel stays?

2.) Do you enjoy the work travel?

3.) Would you recommend working a career that requires travel or would you avoid it at all costs?

4.) Any other insight, info, advice, or thoughts?

Thanks!
Find a career that you really like and then look at travel in that career. If you have a job that you hate, then all the luxury hotels in the world won't make it up to you.

Do I enjoy the work travel? I enjoy seeing my customers in person. I am an independent consultant and am at the point in my career where I can be really picky about customers I accept. Thus I only work for people I like. Travel is the necessary evil between me and my nice customers.

It sounds really glamorous at first. You imagine yourself clinking champagne glasses with the Eiffel Tower in the background while some attentive waiter hovers discreetly in the distance.

Reality: You curse the guy who put thick plush carpeting in the football-field-sized hotel atrium lobby as it makes it that much harder to pull your laptop bag and rollaboard to the elevators. Same thick plush carpeting in the hotel corridor on your floor, while you trudge down the corridor to the farthest room only to find your key card doesn't work. Schlepp yourself and laptop bag and rollaboard back down (via thick plush carpeting that you curse with every step) to the front desk only to hear from teenager with earbuds and weird piercings who is the lone employee on duty:

"Oh, we got a batch of bad cards. I guess you got one of them. I'll make you a new one."
"Can you guarantee this card will work?"
"Try it and if it doesn't just come back."
"My plane was late and it's midnight now and I have a meeting tomorrow at 8:00 am. I am tired. I really don't want to have to come back again for another key card."
"You can't blame me if your plane was late."
"Why don't you make me two cards so if one doesn't work I have a spare?"
"Policy is to make one card if only one guest is in the room."
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Old Jul 3, 2014, 9:56 am
  #73  
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1) Consulting

2) I enjoy it but it does become a necessary evil

3) I would recommend it but do it while you're young. I'm finishing a 3 year stint at a consulting firm and going back to B school this fall and am fairly certain I won't be returning to consulting after. It's impossible to have a life when you travel M-Th every week - which makes it ideal to do when you're young and a recent grad especially if you are single (all things I was when I started)

4) Don't get a job traveling all the time because you think it's glamorous. It's not - there are things that make it better and fun (and FT is great at helping you find those things) not to mention the great vacations you can take on points / miles after you rack them up but at the end of the day it's a job and there's nothing glamorous about flying to LA for the week when your upgrade doesn't clear and you spend 20 hours on the ground before taking a redeye home (an occurrence that has happened to me more than once)
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Old Jul 3, 2014, 10:01 am
  #74  
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1.) International Education.

2.) It depends--on assignments longer than five days my wife and daughter go with me, so for those trips, yes. For the shorter ones I would much rather be with them.

3.) When I first started I loved the planes, hotels, and new places. I've been doing this for twenty years and now have more of a love/hate relationship with travel.

4.) research the best program for you and stick with it. It will pay off in time.
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Old Jul 3, 2014, 1:02 pm
  #75  
 
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I don't fly for my job (instructor/support staff in higher ed.), but my job does get me enough time off for all of the leisure flying I want to do!
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