Jobs that involve lots of travel -- what do you do?
Dec 20, 2006, 11:24 am
#31
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Programs: Emirates Skywards Gold, American Airlines Gold, SPG Gold, Amex Gold, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 125
I work in the Fast Moving Consumer Good industry based in Dubai. I am American. Most of the companies here are regional offices and we all do significant travel throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa. Also there is significant travel to the head office in Europe.
I have been doing this for about 3 years straight out of university (26 years old now). There are lots of opportunities over here and work visas are not a hassle at all. I would suggest one of these regional offices in cities like Dubai or a Singapore where it is relatively easy to work straight out of university if you are gun hoe on getting out of the USA. I travel about 3 times a month.
Good Luck
Billman
I have been doing this for about 3 years straight out of university (26 years old now). There are lots of opportunities over here and work visas are not a hassle at all. I would suggest one of these regional offices in cities like Dubai or a Singapore where it is relatively easy to work straight out of university if you are gun hoe on getting out of the USA. I travel about 3 times a month.
Good Luck
Billman
Dec 20, 2006, 11:45 am
#32
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: HH Dia, Choice Dia, PC Plat
Posts: 104
I work in mining so I end up going to a lot of remote locations. Its not uncommon for me to log more miles in my rental car during a week than flight miles to get there.
Dec 20, 2006, 12:25 pm
#33
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: South Bend, IN
Programs: AA EXP 3 MM; Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium Elite
Posts: 18,562
Our customers are airlines and our meetings usually take place either at airlines headquarters or at airlines maintenance facilities. Both facilities tend to be located at or near airports, which means our meetings are not in city centers. Many of our guys stay at airport hotels, but some of our sales managers prefer (as I do) city hotels, even if it means a longer drive to the meeting site.
Most of our western employees stationed in Asia have drivers, so we are often picked-up and shuttled around by those drivers, which means less interaction with taxi drivers (good and bad). Dinners are often with customers or with our team and are often quite nice.
Last week I was in Korea and had a free day at the end of the trip. I spent the day working out of our field office at one of our customer's Incheon Airport maintenance facility. There was a 777 parked on the ramp (missing an engine) undergoing a C check and I got to walk around, under and inside it. Pretty cool stuff.
Most of our western employees stationed in Asia have drivers, so we are often picked-up and shuttled around by those drivers, which means less interaction with taxi drivers (good and bad). Dinners are often with customers or with our team and are often quite nice.
Last week I was in Korea and had a free day at the end of the trip. I spent the day working out of our field office at one of our customer's Incheon Airport maintenance facility. There was a 777 parked on the ramp (missing an engine) undergoing a C check and I got to walk around, under and inside it. Pretty cool stuff.
Dec 20, 2006, 6:39 pm
#34
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Houston
Programs: Too much flying; Lots of hotels
Posts: 555
I am an engineer and work as a risk management consultant in the oil industry.
Since oil is usually found in the garden spots of the world, this often means frequent international travel (~50%) to places like Nigeria, Angola, Eq. Guinea, Russia, Middle East, etc. Lately I have been lucky (and I am serious) to be on a project based in remote parts of Malaysia; this does however result in typical trip durations of >30 hours.
Since I am a consultant, I do tend to have more interaction - usually a good thing, but sometimes not - with locals than do the employees of my clients.
Since oil is usually found in the garden spots of the world, this often means frequent international travel (~50%) to places like Nigeria, Angola, Eq. Guinea, Russia, Middle East, etc. Lately I have been lucky (and I am serious) to be on a project based in remote parts of Malaysia; this does however result in typical trip durations of >30 hours.
Since I am a consultant, I do tend to have more interaction - usually a good thing, but sometimes not - with locals than do the employees of my clients.
Dec 20, 2006, 7:35 pm
#35
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: VA - US
Programs: Anything and everything I can sign up for. At least the ones I can get some benefit from.
Posts: 141
Medical equipment specialist for a Fortune 500 company specializing in the private physician office market. I take anywhere from 12-20 flights per year, all in CONUS. Throw in a couple of car trips fpr good measure.
Just enough to get me out of the house, but not too often. With four kids in school, it's nice to get away for a few days
Safe travels
Tim
Just enough to get me out of the house, but not too often. With four kids in school, it's nice to get away for a few days
Safe travels
Tim
Dec 20, 2006, 9:59 pm
#37
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Another aeroplane, another sunny place, I know I'm lucky but I just want to go home.
Programs: Paris Metro, BART monthly pass holder; Amtrak rider; Safeway, Costco club member :D
Posts: 662
Can you tell us that exactly fascinate you about the job involving traveling, so we can better answer your question?
Is it the idea of being in a different places all the time? Well you are going to that city to work so you probably won't have too much free time to visit around. ( Unless you are airline crew member, you are free of duty once you get to that city.)
Is it the idea of flying? Well you will have to put up the pain of going through irregular operations, delays, decrease of airline service, jet lag, sleep deprivation, drying out skin, wrinkles...
Is it the idea of living in a hotel? Well most of time is nice, but every now and then you will run into situations where they lost you reservation and the hotel is full, or clogged drain, dirty bed sheet, mid-night arrival but no where to find food, noisy neighbors; but on the plus side of it is that you don't have to make your bed after you get up!
Is it the idea of not being home? Well it is exciting when single but when you have family, you don't want to go any where any more, you just want to be home with loved ones.
And if you have traveling partners, you cross you fingers that you will get along great, because you like it or not you are stuck with each other for a few days there!
Not to discourage you but these are the ugly side of traveling for a living...
Dec 22, 2006, 8:59 pm
#38
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Trenton NJ
Programs: UA Gold MM, Honors Diamond, Marriott Gold, Hertz President’s Circle
Posts: 3,668
Although I don't travel much for work now, I spent something like six years on the road. At that time, the travel varied from a trip a month domestically to a trip a month internationally to a trip a week domestically. This actually covers three positions....
I'm a chemical engineer. My travel started when the company for whom I worked assigned me to be responsible for contract manufacturing operations. I was living in Baltimore and traveling to West Helena, AR (MEM or LIT airports). For the first campaign, it was out on Monday and back on Friday for six months. I got to know Best Western quite well. The second campaign, six months after the first one was completed, was back and forth every two weeks. By that time, I was responsible for another operation in Tyrone, PA (near Altoona). That was close enough to Baltimore to drive.
Two years into that, the contract manufacturer in Arkansas made me an offer to come work for them which I took. I did some domestic travel visiting potential customer research labs to determine how we were going to make their materials. In addition, I had a lab in Manchester UK doing research for us and a pilot plant operation in Miskolc, Hungary to oversee. Unfortunately, the downturn in the chemical industry in 2001 resulted in my being laid off a month after 9/11.
I wound up with a job based in Chattanooga, TN in a corporate engineering office. Research labs were located outside Chicago but my main project was in Kohtla-Jarve, Estonia (about an hour and a half east of Tallinn). I traveled there for two weeks every month until both my projects were up and running. I had been planning more trips back when the capital budget was cut and I was laid off.
Now most of my travel with my current employer is for training classes or visits to HQ in Raleigh. Most of the travel I've been doing while with this employer has actually been on my own. I did get tired of being on the road a lot, but after a while I began to miss it.
One of the things about my field is that it's not one where a lot of problems can be solved by teleconferencing. You have to go and see as well as put hands on the problem. Travel is pretty integral to this.
I'm a chemical engineer. My travel started when the company for whom I worked assigned me to be responsible for contract manufacturing operations. I was living in Baltimore and traveling to West Helena, AR (MEM or LIT airports). For the first campaign, it was out on Monday and back on Friday for six months. I got to know Best Western quite well. The second campaign, six months after the first one was completed, was back and forth every two weeks. By that time, I was responsible for another operation in Tyrone, PA (near Altoona). That was close enough to Baltimore to drive.
Two years into that, the contract manufacturer in Arkansas made me an offer to come work for them which I took. I did some domestic travel visiting potential customer research labs to determine how we were going to make their materials. In addition, I had a lab in Manchester UK doing research for us and a pilot plant operation in Miskolc, Hungary to oversee. Unfortunately, the downturn in the chemical industry in 2001 resulted in my being laid off a month after 9/11.
I wound up with a job based in Chattanooga, TN in a corporate engineering office. Research labs were located outside Chicago but my main project was in Kohtla-Jarve, Estonia (about an hour and a half east of Tallinn). I traveled there for two weeks every month until both my projects were up and running. I had been planning more trips back when the capital budget was cut and I was laid off.
Now most of my travel with my current employer is for training classes or visits to HQ in Raleigh. Most of the travel I've been doing while with this employer has actually been on my own. I did get tired of being on the road a lot, but after a while I began to miss it.
One of the things about my field is that it's not one where a lot of problems can be solved by teleconferencing. You have to go and see as well as put hands on the problem. Travel is pretty integral to this.
Dec 22, 2006, 10:02 pm
#39
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: MKE
Programs: DL 2 MM
Posts: 905
Software engineer/consultant -- like a couple of people mentioned above, I'm the technical guy that tags along with the salesperson, does product demos, etc.
Travel can be 2 trips a week, each week, for a month, or I could be at home for 3 weeks straight (work out of my house for a large company).
Personally I like it, as for a given trip my number of nights on the road probably averages 1.2 or 1.3, so decent status on a couple of airlines, no top-tier with any hotels (see profile). I don't think I could handle the consultant deal when you are on the road Mon-Thurs week after week, going to the same place.
Sales demos take me basically everywhere in the US and an average of two international trips per year.
TD
Travel can be 2 trips a week, each week, for a month, or I could be at home for 3 weeks straight (work out of my house for a large company).
Personally I like it, as for a given trip my number of nights on the road probably averages 1.2 or 1.3, so decent status on a couple of airlines, no top-tier with any hotels (see profile). I don't think I could handle the consultant deal when you are on the road Mon-Thurs week after week, going to the same place.
Sales demos take me basically everywhere in the US and an average of two international trips per year.
TD
Dec 22, 2006, 10:21 pm
#40
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Now in SLC
Programs: DL GM 1MM, MR LT Titanium
Posts: 4,117
Trainer for an engineering software company. Typically two full-week trips per month, all across the country (though primarily east of the Rockies). The longer trips are nice because you get to really experience a city, though as others said, it's something you definitely have to make the effort to do.
Dec 22, 2006, 10:50 pm
#42
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 1
I'm a clinical research associate, I travel all over the USA visiting research sites. I've been doing this job for one year, I flew about 60K miles this year. I like it so far. It can be hard, I usually hit three sites per trip, one day per site. Flying all over the country to both big and small cities it's hard to build miles with a single carrier and partners, at least in a year.
Dec 23, 2006, 1:30 am
#43
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: LAX-TPE-LAX
Programs: No more status...just doing my best in burning my points/miles.
Posts: 2,003
Formerly a sales manager for a global 500 company. I responsible for the sales and marketing efforts for 12 US States and Western Canada.
Typical week would be the first 6 months of every year would be:
Fly out on Sunday and return Tuesday night
and/or Fly out Thurs early morning and return Friday afternoon
The following 3 months:
Tradeshow season. Attend 28 tradeshows in 9 States and 3 time zones (Mountain, Pacific, and Hawaii).
This was the crud of the job. In these three months I'll see my home MAYBE a total of a week in 3 months.
The following 3 months:
Corporate meetings in places like London, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Dubai, Seattle, Vietnam, Thailand, and Los Angeles. These typically lasted 3-4 days in length each and occured about 2-3 times per month.
Was able to last about 3 years until I gave up. Now travel is for mostly leisure.
How I got there? Marketing Degree, 3 years of grunt sales, then promoted to the Sales Manager.
Travel policy:
Y only, unless flight was over 8 hours.
Cost:
My sanity, lower back, 4 gf's, and a bad case of insomnia.
My reward:
Decent savings account, assorted affinity cards in different pretty colors, and piles upon piles of air miles/hotel points.
As another poster mentioned...please do think about what type of lifestyle you'd like to choose. It isn't for everyone and missing part of a lot of people's lives really does take a toll on you.
Typical week would be the first 6 months of every year would be:
Fly out on Sunday and return Tuesday night
and/or Fly out Thurs early morning and return Friday afternoon
The following 3 months:
Tradeshow season. Attend 28 tradeshows in 9 States and 3 time zones (Mountain, Pacific, and Hawaii).
This was the crud of the job. In these three months I'll see my home MAYBE a total of a week in 3 months.
The following 3 months:
Corporate meetings in places like London, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Dubai, Seattle, Vietnam, Thailand, and Los Angeles. These typically lasted 3-4 days in length each and occured about 2-3 times per month.
Was able to last about 3 years until I gave up. Now travel is for mostly leisure.
How I got there? Marketing Degree, 3 years of grunt sales, then promoted to the Sales Manager.
Travel policy:
Y only, unless flight was over 8 hours.
Cost:
My sanity, lower back, 4 gf's, and a bad case of insomnia.
My reward:
Decent savings account, assorted affinity cards in different pretty colors, and piles upon piles of air miles/hotel points.
As another poster mentioned...please do think about what type of lifestyle you'd like to choose. It isn't for everyone and missing part of a lot of people's lives really does take a toll on you.
Dec 23, 2006, 2:07 am
#44
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: DEN
Posts: 2,040
I'm a Sales Consultant for a software company, like a few others here have already posted (the tech person that travels with a sales rep).
A twist is that I haven't only traveled for my company but I have moved 3 times, I lived in my hometown in MA, then CA, then Australia, now CO.
On a side note some folks say how they like the travel, or some like limited travel etc... I'm addicted, when I don't travel for a week or more I freak out. I don't know how to explain it but I feel a need to travel.
A twist is that I haven't only traveled for my company but I have moved 3 times, I lived in my hometown in MA, then CA, then Australia, now CO.
On a side note some folks say how they like the travel, or some like limited travel etc... I'm addicted, when I don't travel for a week or more I freak out. I don't know how to explain it but I feel a need to travel.
Dec 23, 2006, 4:34 am
#45
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Boston, Jo'burg, HK
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Lifetime Diamond, CX Gold, Mrs. Pickles travels for free
Posts: 13,161
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...50C0A96E958260
This is me. Not literally (I'm not Richard Rawlinson), but quite close. I worked under him and now I'm his equivalent at the same company.
This is me. Not literally (I'm not Richard Rawlinson), but quite close. I worked under him and now I'm his equivalent at the same company.