any ideas for a nocturnal job?

[Alien]

I have come to realize that I like the night, much more than I do the day. The night is peaceful, beautiful, serene and untroubled with people, the sun/heat, traffic, etc... In fact I like it so much that I have decided that this alternative lifestyle of being nocturnal is perfect for me.

 

So the other day I was pondering about my life. In the future, after school I'm going to need to find a career. But with being up at night and sleeping during the day I seemed to have limited myself on the career choices I have.

 

I know there are some jobs suited for this lifestyle (besides things like gas station clerk) I have come up with these possibilities - working at a hospital, working at a newspaper agency, but other than that I can't seem to think of any other real career. This is where I need help. If anyone knows of a career suited for the night please help me out. Thanks

[Antimyth]

A wide variety of jobs or in fact any job that involves shift work will allow you to work night shifts which often pays better than working during the day.

 

Examples of this include: nursing, police officer, some forms of catering, working in a nightclub, various attendant jobs, security guard.

 

If however you wanted a career with strong future prospects id go with police oficer or nurse.

 

Personally working in a nightclub would be pretty cool.

[Spirits Away]

I don't know how reliable these sources are but check this out, it relates to health and bodyclock.

 

link removed

 

It basically says you may not want to mess with the idea of not sleeping at night. But i dont' know how reliable the source is.

[Bene Gesserit541]

Are you into computers? If so, there's plenty you can do at night. I believe a lot of night jobs related to computers will require network skills though. My best friend's dad is a network admin, and he works 9pm-6am

[easyguy]

I would talk to a sleep doctor or something (does that exist?) and make sure that it isn't going to be a problem in the long-term with working the "graveyard" shift. It's not always a healthy thing to do if done for a long period of time for some people, so I would talk to someone very reliable and knows what he/she is talking about.

 

Police work is one that goes all night and all day. Firemen, nurses (retirement homes or for hospitals). Obviously these aren't jobs you can get right away. Some take a lot of training and preparation.

 

There are also those 24-hour businesses that you could check out, like some restaurants (Denny's for example). You could be a waiter, but I don't know if you'd want to be serving up food to truckers at 3:00am. Not sure what you're style is, so I don't know what you like and don't like.

 

I've noticed that a lot of the highest paying jobs have you start out during those nocturnal hours, like police and medical work.

[Mr. Cactus]

As a couple of posters have pointed out, there are actually long term issues with working at night and sleeping during the day. I looked into this myself many years ago when I was trying to find work. It has been shown that working a permanent night shift does cause problems. Previous to finding this out I had worked a 24 hour rotating shift for a couple of years and even as a young energetic person it nearly drove me round the bend. Most people I knew couldn't handle it long term either, and decided to find permanent day jobs. I also worked a permanent night shift for about 4 months, at which point I just couldn't take it anymore. I felt alienated from the world and I remember feeling incredibly isolated socially. As a result I became very depressed. I'm not kidding when I say it was almost like the world had ended, even though I always had colleagues on the shift. One thing that did make my night shifts a lot easier was having a television set in the background with news and current affairs programs from the other side of the world (so they were daytime shows). This helped relieve those symtoms of isolation but it was no substitute for being around during the day and integrating with "normal" society.

 

I have always been single as well - I think the potential problems would be far greater if you were in a relationship or had a family. So although I can understand the attraction for nightwork (and I admit it was fun in the beginning), you should think seriously about the cons. Perhaps the best idea is to find an occupation that lets you work nights with the option of switching to other shifts (ie day or afternoon). The suggestions you have been given sound like they would meet this criteria.

[easyguy]

Yes, there is a big psycological effect that happens when in those working conditions. I had a friend once who worked an all-night shift somewhere for a few weeks, and after a while he couldn't take it anymore because he felt separated from the world. As you will discover, there is never much action going on at the peak of night on most jobs.

 

I've always wondered how it would feel to be a trucker. I would imagine it'd be pretty lonely.

 

So yeah, you'd be sacrificing a lot to do it, that's if it is even healthy for you to do it. Look into that or there could be some serious problems later on when it comes to sleep and your general health.

 

And plus, working a job at night isn't quite the same thing as being on the computer at night surfing the web.

[Stab Girl]

I work 9 pm to 5 am driving around a town

 

i am security officer

 

I like it, you get to find people having sex and doing drugs all night and shine my flashlight in there face and scare them into thinking they might go to jail(some do)

 

buts its fun cause nothing happens after 2 am usually so its a lot of peace, but it does get boring

[Jetta]

My aunt is an ER nurse, works nights, and LOVES it! You've been given a pretty good list of jobs, meaning I can't think of anything to add. If night work is what you want great! There's a perfect job for you.

[DropToZero]

I dont know if I saw where you lived....but then again I don't know if it would matter. You want literal late hours?...try UPS Most people hate the graveyard shifts, but UPS pays pretty well. I'm working double shifts right now b/c of the fact that they're short on people in the graveyard shifts...but overtime is niiiiiice hehe.

[Alien]

thank you very much, everyone who responded, it was much appreciated. That is a great list of jobs to look over.

 

I knew that working the night shift for long periods of time could cause problems on my body and mind but I was unaware of there being long term problems. I definitely will look into it and talk to a doctor to learn more about it.

 

I also am aware of the loneliness, boredom, and minimal activity late at night and early in the morning. In fact I go out most nights and have experienced these for years. The thing is most everyone I know stays up all night too so I haven't had to worry about being completely alone.

 

And working the night shift will isolate me but you have to keep in mind that being nocturnal isn't being like a vampire. What I mean by this is - normal hours have you working 8 - 10 hours. If you sleep 8 hours each day that means you can have up to 8 hours spent in the daytime (depending on what shift you are on), with all the stores, restaurants, etc... open, and with people and the sun out.

 

again i am grateful for the responses

[BillyJean714]

Nice topic. I thought I was the only one who's a complete night owl! Here are some jobs that I can think of that you might want to consider:

 

Medical Field- EMT, Nurse, hospital job, ambulance driver, nightshift ER doctor. I think that jobs in the hospital are pretty much 24/7 all around.

 

Arts/Advertisement- graphic designer, web designer, illustrator, video production, newspaper/magazine editor, photographer for top ad firms, print production pre-press manager, art director (some art directors literally work over night). There will be numerous deadlines, so I wouldn't be suprsied how late many artists, designers, and advertisers have to work.

 

Others- Security for gated community homes, security jobs in general, cop, fireman, newspaper delivery, doughnut shop owner, entrepeneurial jobs relating to restaurant/restaurant management, hotel management, major credit card consultant (Visa/Mastercard), latenight newsreporter, FBI, crime scene investigator, shrimp boat captain, national coast guard, Amtrack engineerer, dock workers for commercial ports, crane lifter, Del Taco server/manager, ship engineerer, pilot, flight attendant, cab driver, trucker, casino dealer, jobs in Vegas (or maybe Manhatton, New York- it's pretty much 24/7 over there too)...

 

Anyway, find a job that best suits your personality and interests. This is just a list that I can think of for now. I bet you that you can be creative with your hours. As long as you're good at what you're doing, I'm sure that there is a way that you can negotiate your way to working night shifts (this also depends on what's considered a night shift).

 

About the whole body clock thing, I think that some people are just born with different circadian rhythms- sleep/wake cycles- so, I don't think that it would physiologically effect you tremendously to work late hours. It all depends on the levels of serotonin in your hypothalamus among other interacting hormones. I'm sure your doctor will educate you on this. Don't worry about not getting your sleep though. One thing's for sure, I can sleep throughout the day like it's nothing. As long as you're getting at least 7-8 hours of zzz's each night, I think you should be fine. In fact, bright sunlight makes me sleepy. So, I think that for each person, our serotonin levels vary among each individual. Anyhow, good luck with your career decision!

[Rozsi]

drug rehab places and half-way houses need nighttime workers and maybe you could go into management in those areas.

 

also i know people who own a lost luggage company and that is an all-hours job.