Interesting Career Choice

Talking w/ folks sitting next to me at the local Greek Festival over the weekend, what an eye opener!

She is a traveling lab tech. Company is in North Carolina. They (She, husband and their dog - 7 year old Chihuahua) are from Mississippi. Apparently, we have a shortage of lab techs nation wide. Here is how it works:

As an assignment draws to a close, she receives a list of positions. She marks 1st and 2d choice. Company submits her resume. She has a phone interview. If hired, she signs a contract for 13 weeks, and her company pays for them to fly to the next destination, and pays the rent while they are there. Most contracts get extended, 13 weeks at a time.

They spent 6 months in Hawaii, 4 months in Seattle Washington, and every winter in US Virgin Islands! They've been doing this for over 5 years now.

It took them 3 years to set this up. He was a professor in forestry at a college in Miss. and left after 12 years. She left her job, they sold their home, have some things they wanted to keep and those are at his mother's house in Miss., which is considered their "home" for now. But they haven't been there in ages. He - husband - takes care of where they are staying, loves to cook, and spends time on the computer finding all the local attractions - which is how they ended up an hour from where they are staying, at the Greek Festival. Oh, he is also the dog's devoted slave! :cool:

Some places, they can't take the dog (Virgin Islands was one example), so she flies direct, he flies to his mom's, drops off the dog, and then continues on.

She said it is like being on permanent vacation, they visit so many places. She also said it is not for everyone, some folks like to feel they have roots.

She said most of the phone interviews, they don't ask anything about the technical bit, it is all likes and dislikes, trying to ensure the personalities will mesh well.

When I was younger, I would have really enjoyed that! Not the lab tech part, I can't stand blood, :D the traveling part.

I never heard of such a thing!

That's sounds pretty cool, especially if you can have your SO (and dog!) traveling with you! I'd like to do it for, say, 5-7 years just for the new experiences and then choose a place to live and settle down in.

I have a friend whose sister was a travel nurse for a couple of years. She would move around 3 or 4 times a year. 13-week assignments and if she really liked it she could request a second 13 weeks. She pretty much stayed in warm climates- Hawaii, Florida, Texas. She said the hardest things were not acquiring lots of "stuff" and getting her nursing license verified. The agency she worked for helped with housing. Then she wanted to put down roots so she took an assignment in Michigan, near her family, that ended up becoming a permanent position.