Looking for more "physical" type of IT work

Pedro_ramirez

I personally would prefer not like to be tied to a desk and would maybe like a more kind of physical IT job.Does anyone know of a more "mobile type" of career path or say type of company?
Personally I'm a very athletic person after work
and after 8 hours a day on a desk job my back hurts and eyes hurt.
Any recommendations?

networker050184

I feel you on the back and eyes. Really in this field the more physical work you do the less you get paid usually. Just much easier to pay some cheap labor to do the hard lifting than IT pros. There are jobs that involve lifting, moving, working with your hands like DC techs. This can be a lucrative field as well, but you're moving away from the real tech work though.

scaredoftests

look for a help desk position where you actually go to the person's workstation or maybe get into cabling? What I do is get up from time to time. I walk before work and try to get to the gym during lunch or walk with a co-worker.

markulous

Desktop support would work, but you're not going to get paid much. The more you know, the more you're going to be behind a PC. Maybe an onsite for a MSP would get paid decent and you'd bounce around to different clients in your area, but even then I can't see you making a ton of money. Guess it depends how much you want to make.

Pedro_ramirez

networker050184 wrote: »

I feel you on the back and eyes. Really in this field the more physical work you do the less you get paid usually. Just much easier to pay some cheap labor to do the hard lifting than IT pros. There are jobs that involve lifting, moving, working with your hands like DC techs. This can be a lucrative field as well, but you're moving away from the real tech work though.

Yeah I had a feeling you would say something like that. What are DC techs?
I had an interested in doing like network cabling, or computer forensics but I am not sure if the majority of the IT career require sitting in a chair. But I have also seen folks who are carrying PC's , Servers, crawling under desk, and doing cabling etc not sure what these jobs are

Danielm7

The problem is with most jobs you might carry a server somewhere, but it's not very often. Not exactly what I would consider "active". I exercise outside of work, try to get up a lot and walk around during the day, and some days I eat lunch quickly at my desk then go for a walk during what would have been a lunch break. Not a lot of active type IT jobs that I've seen.

NetworkNewb

Pedro_ramirez wrote: »

But I have also seen folks who are carrying PC's , Servers, crawling under desk, and doing cabling etc not sure what these jobs are

level 1 helpdesk support, aka the bottom of the food chain

pretty sure "physical IT job" is an oxymoron...

I recommend getting a standing desk, I'm getting my installed tomorrow! can't wait!

networker050184

A DC tech is the man on site racking devices, running cables, power etc. Not a very technical job in the same sense we think of it.

The people who are under desks etc. are low level employees. If you want to stay on that level then go at it, but it doesn't make much sense to pay people well to crawl under desks when any average Joe can do it.

thomas_

I would say look for MSPs that do racl relocations. Also, hardware refreshes and structured cabling(cable installer), would keep you pretty active as well. However, as others have mentioned these jobs aren't paid as much as your higher level IT jobs.

techfiend

MSP tech or IT consultant is probably your best bet to have some physical work, make good money and stay technical while challenging yourself. You take care of many small environments and you'll likely be moving computers, racks, etc. on a regular basis then you have set them up and keep them up which can be challenging.

As for money, there's an MSP tech job opening here paying $90K. I work with a consultant that gets up to $70 per hour and is doing physical work at least once a week on average.

UnixGuy

Go to the gym and lift heavy, you will get all the exercise you need

Russell77

You might want to look at the Telecom side of things. Installing and servicing phone systems as well as routers and switches will keep you on the move. Can be a lot of fun if you are a people person. The modern Telco person needs IT skills. Get with the right company and the pay can be pretty good.

NetworkingStudent

Unixguy is right hit the Gym.

Physical jobs? Well you could be a mobile net admin at a MSP. The However, like others have said this person is often moving computer, routers ect...

The net admin at the MSP I work at goes to customer sites everyday.

SteveLord

Get a Varidesk or other type of convertible desk.

roninkai

My last job had a standing desk in the next office as well as a treadmill desk. I used it as much as possible. IT usually = fat unless you really push yourself to stay active.

wd40

I am a helpdesk guy, I go to staff instead of using remote support tools and use the stairs.

I average walking 5000 steps in normal working day (including probably 1000 steps up / down stairs).

But as the others said, the pay for this type of jobs is not very good.

Plantwiz

Treadmill Desk!

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--kmXozaBA--/18s4aky3qwjsojpg.jpg


There are actually low profile models without the console in the way of the desk, I liked the multimonitor setup here though


Nevertheless, change your chair to an exercise ball or try the standing treadmill desk. Standing and working is great, also keeps people from staying too long to visit (no place to sit).

scaredoftests

My husband has that (he works from home) he loves it.

jibbajabba

I used to work for a small MSP - had to do everything end to end .. from sitting behind the screen selling VMs all the way to driving to the DC installation a new rack, lift 4U boxes and configure network gear... The larger the company, the more teams responsible for a specific task they have.

Polynomial

UnixGuy wrote: »

Go to the gym and lift heavy, you will get all the exercise you need

I want to emphasize this point.

Mooseboost

I will throw another vote for hitting the gym.. However, if you want a physical but technical position - you might look at telco/ISP work on the business side. Our business field techs get a good fix of install (running fiber, CAT5/6, phones, etc) and networking tech work (Troubleshooting wireless, voice, QoS, etc). YMMV depending on the provider though.

v1ral

The MSP I work for assigned me to a transportation company as their onsite tech. I do alot of travelling but all within my state. I'm technically considered tier 2 since the company's tier 1 is helpdesk and all they do is basic troubleshooting and primarily answering phone calls.

I do get a company car to use, no way in hell I would have taken this job if I had to use my own car. I don't plan to stay at my position for more than a year. Once my company announces openings for their NOC im shooting my resume. It's fun to go around personally talking to everyone rather than sitting at my desk and answering phone calls, but the pay in desktop support sucks.

YesOffense

Maybe move to a telecom/field engineer position? you will be out and about.

SoCalGuy858

I definitely want to echo those here who say help desk / desktop support.

When I was on help desk, I made it a point to never touch RDP / Kaseya unless I was supporting someone in another office. My division has 25,000 square feet of space split between two floors, and before we moved, we had two offices across the street from one another. Both were great, but ever since moving into my security gig..... I've gained a few pounds, since I do everything from my desk.

majestic_pecan

Look into support jobs at warehouses or distribution centers. In my company the techs who do warehouse support have to do desktop/help desk-like tasks in addition to cabling, physical installation and the like. They are probably some of the most physically active people in the company.

aderon

Plantwiz wrote: »

Treadmill Desk!

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--kmXozaBA--/18s4aky3qwjsojpg.jpg

Always wondered how people could use those. I tried it once, but the constant walking would "bounce" my vision and so trying to read things was difficult. I felt like my productivity was reduced because of it. Maybe if I had like a really large screen and the text was bigger it'd be better?

Deathmage

You could join a gym and/or get a posture/lower back bely. I personally use a elastic belt with velcro all day at work, it keep my core tight and since it's heat reflective it keep my core temp high so I keep my weight in check.

As mentioned I also workout and do 15 minutes of bodyweight training in the morning with 75 elevated pushups while having my knees on the living room couch, and I do pull ups until I can lift myself anymore.

I feel that if you sit in front of a screen 24/7 at work then you need to take time after work to maintain you're weight, this also is a factor of what you eat. If you eat crap food you'll never be in shape.

Me: April 9th 2012 (28th bday resolution) - 165 lbs, BFI: 26%

September 26th 2015: 198lbs, 9% BFI.

My feelings are a healthy and tone body allows for a healthy and tone mind.

NetworkNewb

Had my first day of using a standing desk yesterday! After about 30-40 minutes of standing I could already feel it my legs. I probably only stood for about maybe 2 hours at tops yesterday. Feet are a little sore today. I just bought a mat to stand on so hopefully that helps for next week. Can definitely tell sitting for most of the day for many years has made me weaker. Looking forward to using this moving forward!

The one I got is the adjustable Varidesk. Seems like a pretty solid adjustable desk after day 1.

I agree with aderon about the treadmill desks. I tried one before and didn't care for it. Its probably something you get used to after a while of using it though. But I'll just stick to the standing desk for now.

Plantwiz

The key I found to 'walking' while studying (at least) is that it helps to start out at a slower speed. Walking while studying/working at 3 or 4MPH takes a bit and may not be ideal for all, but with practice I think is possible. 1-2MPH is fine for most situations though. Keep in mind this would be more for mouse and some light typing work, not someone handwriting a book, but in time, I do believe that can be mastered easily enough.

First helpful step is the standing workstation though!

eugene_86

Heres a few suggestions:

Wake up 3 hours earlier than you usually do and bike to work, or drive to the gym while everyone is still asleep. I started getting fat so i started biking to school: but thdlen again my city has the best biking paths in the world.