What jobs completely let you work your own hours?

[tfinch2]

I can, unless I have a meeting. I'm in software.

 

[Zenmervolt]

To some degree consulting is that way. There are limitations (meetings, etc) and certain portions of the project lifecycle demand a more rigid schedule than others, but as an SAP consultant I usually work four tens instead of working 5 days a week. In general I only work on a Friday if I have a meeting scheduled.

ZV

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
To some degree consulting is that way. There are limitations (meetings, etc) and certain portions of the project lifecycle demand a more rigid schedule than others, but as an SAP consultant I usually work four tens instead of working 5 days a week. In general I only work on a Friday if I have a meeting scheduled.

ZV

How do travel days work for consultants? Say you are working onsite for a company M-Thu and you can fly home on the weekends. Do you get "paid" for Friday or is that just a day you lose for personal travel? And if you are hourly do you get paid for the time you are sitting in an airport or on a plane?

 

[blackdogdeek]

doctor w/ own practice

 

[Kyteland]

A lot of places will accommodate you with more flexible hours if you ask, but it's going to cost you in terms of salary. You won't get paid nearly as much as an equivalent person working regular hours in the office.

 

[fishjie]

as a programmer i've come in to work at 11 or noon and left at 7 or 8

its quite flexible. only time i *have* to come in early is for meetings.

 

[GasX]

Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
They are sufficiently in demand that you can pretty much write your own schedule. Not day to day, but there is immense flexibility.

5 day work week? no problem
4 10 hour days? no problem
3 12 hour days? no problem
1 12 hour shift and 1 24 hour shift? no problem

you get the idea...

 

[Special K]

We can pretty much set our own hours and/or work from home here, unless we need to be physically present for a meeting. Many meetings we can just dial in to, however. This is in CPU design.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
They are sufficiently in demand that you can pretty much write your own schedule. Not day to day, but there is immense flexibility.

5 day work week? no problem
4 10 hour days? no problem
3 12 hour days? no problem
1 12 hour shift and 1 24 hour shift? no problem

you get the idea...

With the bonus of getting stuck on call permanently depending on the hospital. Plus it's a 4 year BSN + another 2-3 years of specialized schooling after you've put in a couple years of work on an ICU floor.

 

[brikis98]

Thanks for all the replies so far. Some good info here, so please keep it coming. Also, I updated the first post with the following info:

I am currently a software engineer and work a ~10-6 job, although no one really cares when I come and go (unless I have a meeting). I am allowed to work from home when I need to, although it's a bad idea to overdo it.

I know this is already more flexible than most jobs, but yes, I'm looking for something even more flexible.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
To some degree consulting is that way. There are limitations (meetings, etc) and certain portions of the project lifecycle demand a more rigid schedule than others, but as an SAP consultant I usually work four tens instead of working 5 days a week. In general I only work on a Friday if I have a meeting scheduled.

ZV

How do travel days work for consultants? Say you are working onsite for a company M-Thu and you can fly home on the weekends. Do you get "paid" for Friday or is that just a day you lose for personal travel? And if you are hourly do you get paid for the time you are sitting in an airport or on a plane?

As long as you can charge it to a project, you get paid (even on weekends). This is how they do it at my job. In most consultation, you are rated based on utilization. You could sit at the airport and call it overhead, but your utilization will go down for every hour you charge to overhead. You could charge that directly to the project, but that would then mean you have less time to work on the project. Ofcourse, most companies have travel built into the project so you do not run into this problem, but unplanned for travel happens alot and you have no choice but to charge it to overhead.

You have to realize that as a consulant, it is understood that you will work on your own clock lots of times.

As a cosultant, i can make my own hours and choose to work from home, but coming in at 11 when everyone comes in at 8:30 is not the most effecient thing to do. They also give me the option of working from home, but management is really the only one that decideds to exercise that option. I would do it, but I am new so I do not want to even try working from home.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: hellokeith

Originally posted by: panipoori
hitman

I was going to say drug dealer, but Hitman FTW!

The proper term is "Delivery currier for small pieces of lead".

 

[rocadelpunk]

you get summers off with teaching and plenty of vaca.

 

[Nitemare]

bum/panhandler

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: Mwilding
Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
They are sufficiently in demand that you can pretty much write your own schedule. Not day to day, but there is immense flexibility.

5 day work week? no problem
4 10 hour days? no problem
3 12 hour days? no problem
1 12 hour shift and 1 24 hour shift? no problem

you get the idea...

With the bonus of getting stuck on call permanently depending on the hospital. Plus it's a 4 year BSN + another 2-3 years of specialized schooling after you've put in a couple years of work on an ICU floor.

check this listing out

It's requires a lot of training, but it pays VERY well. There is also the little known Anesthesiologist Assistant that performs the same job. Only 5 schools train them and they only practice in 18 states. It is a 2 year master's program.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
They are sufficiently in demand that you can pretty much write your own schedule. Not day to day, but there is immense flexibility.

5 day work week? no problem
4 10 hour days? no problem
3 12 hour days? no problem
1 12 hour shift and 1 24 hour shift? no problem

you get the idea...

i think he is looking more along the lines of, 2 4 hour days, one week. then one week off, then maybe 1 6 hour day.

 

[Ns1]

oh yeah of course, medical staffing

my relatives own a staffing company. they got guys who completely set their own schedule on a DAILY basis (meaning you have no control over hours but it's generally a 12 hour shift). So they got guys that work like dogs for 6 months and then take 6 months off. 40-60 bucks/hr + OT

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot

Originally posted by: Mwilding
Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
They are sufficiently in demand that you can pretty much write your own schedule. Not day to day, but there is immense flexibility.

5 day work week? no problem
4 10 hour days? no problem
3 12 hour days? no problem
1 12 hour shift and 1 24 hour shift? no problem

you get the idea...

i think he is looking more along the lines of, 2 4 hour days, one week. then one week off, then maybe 1 6 hour day.

Yeah - set your own hours is code for lazy fucker

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
To some degree consulting is that way. There are limitations (meetings, etc) and certain portions of the project lifecycle demand a more rigid schedule than others, but as an SAP consultant I usually work four tens instead of working 5 days a week. In general I only work on a Friday if I have a meeting scheduled.

ZV

How do travel days work for consultants? Say you are working onsite for a company M-Thu and you can fly home on the weekends. Do you get "paid" for Friday or is that just a day you lose for personal travel? And if you are hourly do you get paid for the time you are sitting in an airport or on a plane?

Depends a lot on the company. Here's how it works for me:

- The consulting company I work for pays me a flat salary on a monthly basis.
- The client is billed hourly, there is pressure to work at least 40 hours billable. In practice we generally end up working around 45 hours and billing the client for 40.
- Hours at the airport/in flight are not billable hours unless we are working during that time.
- Client pays for our travel expenses (airfare, hotel, rental car, gas for rental car) and for our meals while on-site and while traveling, but we keep our own frequent flier miles and other perks from the travel. For example, if I continue at my current rate, I would earn a little over 270,000 airline miles per year; that's 6 free 1st class round-trip flights, with 20,000 miles left over. Essentially, through frequent-flier miles, I end up getting all my personal travel for free and in first class. A similar thing happens with my Mariott rewards points.

For consultants who are paid hourly, generally travel hours are not billable hours, but they may or may not be hours for which the consulting company pays the consultant.

ZV