job skills to take anywhere

[StarDreamers.us]

Talked to some friends about what they look for when they are hiring new folks. Two answers I did not expect at the top of their list: DRUG FREE and POLICE RECORD free. They said if a person can meet the two main items and they are willing to work and learn about the job they may do OK.

 

Safe Travels!

[drifting]

Dog grooming. Minimal equipment and you can freelance in the park.

Washing rv's.

Computer geek.

Mail order business (if you have room in your rv.)

Website building.

Dog sitting.

Seamstress/tailoring

Woodwork/cabinetry

 

 

If you do anything that gets you a paycheck, be careful that the paycheck does not qualify you as a resident in a state where you do not want to establish residency. Also be careful that you are not doing anything for which the state requires a special license or which the state regulates.

[wa_desert_rat]

Learn how to remove spyware and viruses from Windows computers and you can charge $30 an hour for doing it.

 

Driving combines during wheat harvest, pea harvest or bean harvest as well as farm truck driver (some areas you do not need a CDL to drive a farm truck depending upon the circumstances).

 

Usually can boondock on the farms for free, too.

 

WDR

[rjenkins]

I know lots of medical people who take temp assignments through a medical staffing agency. I'm a physical therapist assistant so I have thought about doing this. But it would also be a possibility for nurses, other therapists, even MD's. The down-side is it ties you down to one spot for 2 or 3 months at a time, and you might have to take work in facilities that are somewhat less then desirable (nursing homes really need reliable help.. but nursing homes are definitely an acquired taste.. personally, I find them too depressing) The upside would be the money.. the contracts are usually generous and often include stipends for housing and other benefits. One or two of these contracts a year would be enough to fund your travels for the remainder of the year, easily.

 

RJ

[Rich Stiner]

I have contemplated resigning my job and working on the road. We have a steady income from my wife's retirement that will keep the bills paid and let us move around, but I wouldn't want to operate on a hand-to-mouth budget. I make a very comfortable living, and giving that up would be a hit.

 

However... my skill sets are in high demand (I have to turn down a lot of side-work offers), and I suspect the RV community would keep me busy with an income. I have the tools/skills to troubleshoot electrical and plumbing systems, link into the vehicle OBDII port and conduct various levels of troubleshooting, install modern electronics, consult on/install the different camera systems available, network computer and portable devices, even program remote controls. My job title is "Technology Specialist", which only means they couldn't figure out a better job title in the ever-changing business world. To contract a company to do what I do frequently costs $100 per hour or more. I could charge significantly less per hour (I wouldn't have the overhead of a brick -and-mortar business), and still make a comfortable living.

 

So... would there be a demand for somebody who knows how to troubleshoot and improve upon electrical systems in the motor homes, fifth wheels, and travel trailers? I say improve upon, because the road-vehicle industry is far more relaxed about wiring standards than the marine and aerospace industry. How about labeled wires - got those?

[Kirk W]

I have contemplated resigning my job and working on the road. ...........................

 

So... would there be a demand for somebody who knows how to troubleshoot and improve upon electrical systems in the motor homes, fifth wheels, and travel trailers? I say improve upon, because the road-vehicle industry is far more relaxed about wiring standards than the marine and aerospace industry. How about labeled wires - got those?

There are people who earn a living as they travel as RV techs doing repairs for people but it usually means staying put for months at a time, or longer. You would need to stay long enough to establish yourself and gain a reputation.

 

On an RV having labeled wires, no RV that I have ever seen had the wiring labled and most do not even have a consistent wire color code. I'm not sure just what your skill set is, but it sounds rather similar to what I had before I retired, but after 15 years retired my skills have slipped at least somewhat. While I do enjoy some trouble shooting form time to time, I've never attempted to earn anything doing so since we hit the road.

 

[wa_desert_rat]

When we were cruising in the tropics on our 32' sailboat I was in demand just to fix things amongst other boaters in the harbor. I suspect RV parks might be similar. People who can fix things are always in demand.

 

I worked for a while on the electronics systems for a very large yacht owned by a prominent businessman in the oil industry. There were two "stewardesses" aboard whose primary function - as near as I could tell - was to make the business guests on the yacht happy; if you get my drift..

 

They were nice girls, though... and one day I was motoring through the anchorage in our dinghy with our 4-year-old daughter and the skipper of this yacht waved me over and asked me to take a look at something. The two stewardesses took Kristy in hand and when we left, an hour or so later, she had a cute little purse stuffed with candy and had clearly been given some lessons in makeup.

 

Kristy thought it was the best morning, ever.

 

Mom wasn't all that pleased, though. LOL

 

Fixing things on an ad hoc basis can sometimes be interesting.

 

WDR

[Rich Stiner]

Not staying anywhere any longer than 5 years, my resume is... er... diverse. My current position is best described as "Chief Troubleshooter" for a large company in the Ag business. My badge says "Technology Specialist", but that's only because job titles are just made up in an era when technology advances faster than we can invent words for it. While being electrically/electronically/mechanically inclined - I excel at camera systems. I've been in the solid-state vision industry since it swapped from video tubes in 1985.

 

At one point, I had this impressive-sounding job title of "Experimental Missile Electrician" job at Boeing. It beat the hell out of having the mind-numbing job of making the same part that many have made before, and many will make after me. Everything I did on that job was a one-off, and I learned a lot about doing a proper job of wiring in an aviation environment. As an example - there was a two-day class on how to make NASA-certified solder joints. They take "anal" to a whole new level... but that suits me just fine.

 

I not only fix stuff, but I do root-cause analysis to find out why it failed in the first place, then try to find the most economical way to prevent (or extend the delay of) future failures. My employer really likes that part.

 

Electrical - one needs to understand wire sizing, vibration/movement compensation, strain relief, corrosion control, tidiness of the install, documentation of any changes, and sensible wire labeling. Reliability, ease of service, and attractiveness are all key to making a wiring job "Feng Shui".

 

One of my other hats is pump systems design. Basically, I'm a spec-sheetaholic. This all fit right in with learning how to modify my diesel pickup. That's an expensive hobby - like owning a boat (Break Out Another Thousand).