
Ask HN: If given freedom to choose, what full-time job would you choose and why? - bsldld
If given freedom to choose, what would you like to work on as a job and why? In what field&#x2F;domain would you like to work and what present skill-sets of yours would you use on that job?
======
imposterr
Fine woodworker. Allows me to get my "build something" kick while at the same
time the sanity that comes from being able to build something and declare it
"done" which is something that never happens with software. There's always
another bug or another feature or another optimization. With something like a
chair you build it and that's it.

------
muzani
Am I the only one who would love to be a full time programmer given the
choice? I actually enjoy engineering, and software is engineering on drugs,
with rapid feedback and not as much math. There's not a lot of other
industries where you can make a dozen prototypes a day. It's the closest thing
today to a full time inventor/mad scientist.

But if I have to pick something else, probably a chef. I love slicing and
dicing. I love doing one part to mastery, e.g. finding a better way to cook
steak, toast burger buns, make better mayonnaise. I did quit the tech industry
once to do a cafe and we had a blast researching recipes. I got quite
frustrated that my partner wasn't looking to cook better, only more
profitably. One of my favorite documentaries of all time is Jiro Dreams of
Sushi, and I apply a lot of those techniques to my current work.

~~~
lol636363
I love programming but hate to do it in corporations full of red tapes

------
buzzert
I want to be mayor of a small-medium size town.

I’m extremely introverted, but for some reason I have no problem talking to
people in a problem-solving context (like at work). I enjoy it, in fact. In a
social setting though, I’m off in a corner.

I also just like the idea of diplomacy and making meaningful contributions to
a community. Besides that, the superficial things seem like a lot of fun too
(ribbon cutting ceremonies, parades, etc).

~~~
idoh
These days there is the mayor and then the city manager
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_manager](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_manager)).
As an introvert and possibly engineering-minded person (broad generalization
based on being on HN) maybe city manager is more your speed?

------
Jtsummers
I'd teach, probably high school math and computer science. But I'm not doing
it now because it'd mean a substantial pay cut (> 50%), and I'm no longer
single (married, planning to have kids soon) so the financial requirements for
me are higher than they were a few years ago. In 10 years or so I should have
the house paid off, and other savings that will make the pay cut more
palatable (I'll also be closer to retirement age, when my pension and other
retirement options from past work will kick in that would make up most of the
difference).

------
euix
I don't frame it ideally as "work". I'd move to somewhere warm with good food
and sit on a beach and just sell put options out of a big margin account to
generate income.

I would then spend the rest of my time attending to hobbies like playing magic
cards, hanging out with family and anything else my mind conjures up.

------
iammiles
I was a seasonal park ranger one summer during my undergrad years. I earnestly
believe that was the most fulfilling work I have ever done, and will probably
ever do.

My time was largely used to fix things around the park, perform landscaping,
and working on new / existing trails. It was great to be outside, work with my
hands, and being mentally engaged having to come up with solutions to problems
with sometimes limited resources.

But the actual treat was seeing the work being enjoyed by visitors and knowing
that for years to come untold amounts of people from all walks of life will be
able to do the same.

~~~
omosubi
That sounds amazing - it's no wonder that the national park service is one of
the most sought after employers in the country

I've often thought the us should have a large group of kids out of high school
or college from all over the country do service work in local, state and
national parks around the country. They'd first spend 4-6 months training
similar to the army to build discipline and then go maintain trails/fix
buildings/remove invasive species/rehab are back to a roughly natural
state/etc. There are so many people willing and interested to help improve
natural areas and it's a shame our government doesn't recognize that.

~~~
jennyp
I did this! Through an organization called the Student Conservation
Association [https://www.thesca.org/](https://www.thesca.org/)

~~~
omosubi
Wow that's so cool! How did it work? What projects did you work on?

------
jojo2000
I would work as a scientist for a better planet, working on advanced topics
that may not achieve anything or may change things forever. I'd work on OSS in
my spare time to give back to the community.

I'm a physicist and have worked on rocket science before, but the pay was a
pity and the boss was shitty.

SaaS is the only way to make an ample living in my country, the only jobs
where competence makes a change instead of which university you graduated...

------
awillen
Dog trainer. Especially if I could do it for free to help challenging dogs at
shelters become more adoptable.

I've done a lot of training with my own dogs that would definitely allow me to
handle the basics of training, but I'd want to train under someone much more
experienced so as to be able to work with highly aggressive dogs and others
with extreme challenges that make them unadoptable in their current state.

~~~
tom_b
I think much training for dog aggressiveness is more about helping people to
understand drives and managing "triggers" than training them out of the animal
. . . it seems underappreciated by many normal dog owners.

My last dog had super high-prey drive and was also a fear biter.

Both drives were incredible. You could play train her to do almost anything in
a very short period of time with classic behavior shaping. It was unfortunate
that her fear drive was higher. But this mostly meant proper space management
and patience were required along with _never_ assuming that a situation was
"ok" by default.

We worked with a number of animal behavioral specialists (including university
veterinary behavioral practices), all of whom concluded it was just her
default personality. Much of our success in keeping her with our family was
building environments that minimized her fear drive impulses.

Still a great dog in many situations. She passed after a pretty healthy 15 1/2
years and I'm currently on a break from pets.

------
forgotmypw17
Given the choice, I would choose to not have a job.

If you're asking what I enjoy working on, it's art.

My top medium is hypertext, but I enjoy many others

------
toomuchtodo
Whatever it takes to avert catastrophic climate change.

------
pknerd
Would like to be a person who can work on a job which is cross of software
development+business+analysis. Kind of like investigation work.

I liked web optimization work in past and loved it. In this job I was given a
problem. I then collected data about the problem, then found the solution of
it and code it. I later then collected data again to check the difference. I
really loved it.

If anyone have such kind of opportunity then let me know. Money isn't the
issue here.

------
Halian
Owner of a local game store that also sells classic video games. Tabletop
games (especially MTG, for which I'm a judge) and video games are huge
passions of mine.

------
anw
If I could also go back a few years, I would probably change my focus from
Comp Sci to either Biology or Chemistry. I have always coded since a young
age, so it’s likely that I would continue to still be doing it as a hobby.

I just feel that most of the high paying jobs don’t have as much of a helpful,
important impact on the world, whereas those hard science fields have more
opportunity to impact humanity in a positive manner, even if not as well paid.

------
ukoms
[blade|black]smith :) I love making tools from metal by hands, yet I seriously
doubt I could earn my livings out of this craft right now :/

------
zehnfischer
I would choose a job that changes overtime, either by my own motivation or
because different times require different skill sets. I think most jobs, even
complex ones like teaching, become repetitive after all. So I would look for
the job that offers the greatest diversity in terms of tasks fitting to my
skills & interest. Still looking what exactly that it.

------
Shared404
I saw recently in an HN comment a job someone looked at where they would do
maintenance on remote computers for the park service, requiring trekking and
such to reach the computers.

I would love to do this. It covers most of the things I enjoy doing anyways.

------
_bxg1
Game developer. It's a highly-competitive field riddled with crunch culture,
lowballed salaries, and employment-instability, but if it weren't for all of
that I think it would be the most fulfilling thing I could be doing.

~~~
muzani
That's precisely the reason why the conditions are terrible. Lots of people
would love to work in it.

------
duxup
Artist... not sure what, maybe a potter.

I like the idea of going to work and making things every day.

------
cyberdrunk
One-man video game studio? Combines enough disciplines - art, coding, math (if
you do a 3d game), creative design - to hopefully make the job varied enough
to not get old even after years of full-time work.

------
davidajackson
I started teaching jazz piano lessons recently for fun. It's good because it
forces you to keep going over fundamentals, and it's a good break from coding.

------
russh
I'd create and teach hobbyist electronics workshops aimed at beginners. I've
done a few for our local Makerspace and found it educational and satisfying.

------
giantg2
Sign a huge sports contract that will payout a small portion ($3M+) even if I
get cut or hurt. Probably get hurt or cut by the first season and just retire.

------
throw_this_one
I guess President could be interesting. I think I’d be exhausted after a week
or two though, debating how to shape the future of the world.

------
non-entity
Is this assuming we only have out current skillset or that we obtain the
skills / credentials to work on whatever?

~~~
bsldld
Your are free to develop new skills. That is also part of the freedom :)

------
quickthrower2
A highly paid, but acceptably crap surfer.

------
dave_sid
I’d like to be Elvis please

------
executive
Pro surfer

------
billconan
artist

musician

zookeeper

