skyjumpenfool 2 #1 March 15, 2008 Nothings Perfect! But, for a sky diver, there are certain professions that allow us to get the job done and enjoy our sport to it's fullest. We spend our lives balancing personal life, family, friends, and work all while trying to reserve some time and money for this (rather expensive) sport. Being a high school teacher, I get summers off. I get a couple weeks off at Christmas, and another week for spring break. This allows me a lot of time for jumping. Aside from the typical drop zone jobs, I want to here from those of you who have the perfect "Sky Diver Profession". What is the perfect sky diver Job/Profession?Birdshit & Fools Productions "Son, only two things fall from the sky." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimmytavino 16 #2 March 15, 2008 ...absolutely always thought that a TEACHER was a great job to have, if you also skydived... for just the reasons you've mentioned... thanks for rubbing it in...Sadly I am not a teacher... I am self employed however and that means a few things... First of all,,, " i work for an idiot "Second.... i don't mean, to run a "not for profit " business, but the last few years,,, it seems like that's what i'm doing...BUT third 4th and 5th..... it means that my schedule can be as flexible as I need it to be... Want to take a friday afternoon OFF????? sure thing,,, I can be at the DZ at 2 o'clock if I want...used to go on wednesdays too... Of course i have to Get ALL the weeks work finished before grabbing my gear... "No work. No play" has to be a part of the deal... So if that means working til 7 or 8 pm on tuesday or thurs, I'll do that... When the work hours can be more extensive than with a 9 to 5 job, the self employed person can take advantage of that ( or at least should ) by starting early and ending late when necessary... Fortunately i don't have to ASK for time off or for vacation days, yet i take them sparingly.... and mostly when they coincide with jumping events, i'd like to attend..or important family get togethers... once in a while i'll try for a 3 or 4 day weekend ... Living in an area that gets cold in winter, does allow me some "off-season" from jumping during which i do try to ramp up my work efforts..... So self employment of all kinds is a good 'profession' to have...if you like to skydive. jmy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflyimpaired 0 #3 March 15, 2008 Lottery winner! "Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NickDG 23 #4 March 15, 2008 Dirt bag Instructor always worked for me. Besides eating Romen Noodles ever night, living in a drafty and leaking old trailer, and getting laid a lot, the real payoff comes every April 15th. That's when I get to write "professional skydiver, on my 1040 form - while the rest of you lie to yourselves . . . NickD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #5 March 15, 2008 ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ladydyver 0 #6 March 15, 2008 Me and doc make our own schedules.....we jump at a weekend DZ so we have weekends off during the summer but work most of them during the winter - and of course if we want to go to a boogie we take that time off as well. So there may be periods of time where are schedule is heavily loaded at work....but usually it is because we are taking off to go have some fun later on DPH # 2 "I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~ I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybytch 259 #7 March 15, 2008 Dirt bag Instructor/college student. Financial aid buys lotsa ramen, leaving more money for other things. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blunderguff 0 #8 March 16, 2008 Quote Nothings Perfect! But, for a sky diver, there are certain professions that allow us to get the job done and enjoy our sport to it's fullest. We spend our lives balancing personal life, family, friends, and work all while trying to reserve some time and money for this (rather expensive) sport. Being a high school teacher, I get summers off. I get a couple weeks off at Christmas, and another week for spring break. This allows me a lot of time for jumping. Aside from the typical drop zone jobs, I want to here from those of you who have the perfect "Sky Diver Profession". What is the perfect sky diver Job/Profession? well, my job is not perfect but it involved a lots of vacation. Im working offshore(oilplatform) and my working schedule goes like this during the whole year: 2weeks ON 4weeks OFF Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ozzy13 0 #9 March 16, 2008 Being your own BOSS This way you can make money while jumping lol Never give the gates up and always trust your rears! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #10 March 16, 2008 Quote Dirt bag Instructor/college student. Financial aid buys lotsa ramen, leaving more money for other things. That's what I did for a couple of years. I made about 13k a year and all in all even though I was broke I was really happy. It was a great life. Off brand booze, no eating out, drinking the "free" beer at the DZ and over 500 jumps a year. It was great."Real life" is really good too. I can finally afford life and afford to travel with skydiving a little bit.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eidolon 0 #11 March 16, 2008 This feels like the perfect place for my first post on these forums... I live in Birmingham, AL, and have yet to even do much research about DZs in the area... but the fact of the matter is that I have been in school now for almost 8 years... graduated with an art degree and went right back to school to get my Bachelor's of Science in Nursing. So, I'm going to be an RN in 2 short months... and I believe that this is going to be an excellent job for a skydiver. I'll work a relatively fixed schedule... may be nightshift.. but that simply equals more money. I might even be working most weekends (still, more $), but I doubt this will even interfere all that much if local DZs will take me midweek. After two years working in the ICU of our only Level I trauma center in the state, I'm thinking I'll be viable enoug to travel almost anywhere (going to be an MICU or emergency department nurse, most likely). So, travel nursing should be the passport for touring different skies in the US. Nursing's not for everyone... but it's a good job for anyone who enjoys chaos control, physiology, psychology, medicine, etc... it's a wide-open profession and offers a fair amount of freedom. Plus, it doesn't take very long at all to get an Associates Degree... from there you can start working and do online classes to get your BSN. Anyways :) I imagine that many of you are settled and have no interest in a drastic career change such as this... still, consider it highly recommended. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ladydyver 0 #12 March 17, 2008 Quote This feels like the perfect place for my first post on these forums... I live in Birmingham, AL, and have yet to even do much research about DZs in the area... but the fact of the matter is that I have been in school now for almost 8 years... graduated with an art degree and went right back to school to get my Bachelor's of Science in Nursing. So, I'm going to be an RN in 2 short months... and I believe that this is going to be an excellent job for a skydiver. I'll work a relatively fixed schedule... may be nightshift.. but that simply equals more money. I might even be working most weekends (still, more $), but I doubt this will even interfere all that much if local DZs will take me midweek. After two years working in the ICU of our only Level I trauma center in the state, I'm thinking I'll be viable enoug to travel almost anywhere (going to be an MICU or emergency department nurse, most likely). So, travel nursing should be the passport for touring different skies in the US. Nursing's not for everyone... but it's a good job for anyone who enjoys chaos control, physiology, psychology, medicine, etc... it's a wide-open profession and offers a fair amount of freedom. Plus, it doesn't take very long at all to get an Associates Degree... from there you can start working and do online classes to get your BSN. Anyways :) I imagine that many of you are settled and have no interest in a drastic career change such as this... still, consider it highly recommended. Started out as an RN and now an ARNP.....we have a "weekend" dz only so it wasn't too bad really as I got to jump every other weekend during the summer.....being supplemental worked well as I could make myself available for weekend call on sunday or friday and have all day sat and sun for jumping. I currently work one day every weekend but will change to no weekend coverage come May when our jump season opens......this will be a great jumping year for me - at least I will be able to jump more than I have in the past.DPH # 2 "I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~ I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
base_nz 0 #13 March 17, 2008 Run a Backpackers... .....And you thought Kiwis couldn't fly!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
