Stable Jobs For An Easier Life & Less Stress

Life can be a fucking crazy and wild roller coaster ride with highs and lows. Some people thrive on that kind of excitement, but to be honest, most of us don’t want that kind of unpredictability.

What a lot of us want is stability in our lives, particularly with our income. Money is essential to living a comfortable life. And since we’re not trust fund babies, we gotta be an adult at work and slave away every day to earn an income to support our family and lifestyles.

When you’re younger and just starting in your career, it’s pretty common to try out different jobs in various fields. It’s all about finding the right fit. Job hopping in the early stages of your career is normal. Job hopping into your mid-to-late career is not.

It’s not that you don’t want to work. You do. It’s just that you want and need stability in your job and career so that you can live a life that you can plan around and control to some degree. And, not have to constantly prepare for layoffs.

Stable jobs are out there. You just have to know where to look.

Okay, let’s get one thing out of the way. There’s no such thing as a multi-million dollar job for life. It doesn’t exist. Might as well blow your money on buying lottery tickets and dream instead.

The reality is that there are a lot of jobs at normal income levels that offer more stability than others. You just gotta know where to look. And you probably have already interacted with some people in these kinds of positions.

Think about Betty at the post office who has been working at the front counter for decades. Or, how about Bob the butcher who’s been happily chopping meat and poultry since the pre-internet days. And of course, that one person you know who’s been at the same company for as long as you’ve known them.

What’s the common thread here?

In most cases, these jobs are with companies or organizations where the market demand for their products and/or services is consistent. Despite the ups and downs of the economy, these companies survive because what they offer is needed by the marketplace. It’s this consistent market demand that allows companies to keep providing those products and services and thus, have a constant need for employees.

Typically, these are industries that aren’t exactly glamorous. They are definitely not the high-flyin’ dot-com startups with in-house baristas and other kick-ass work perks. These are boring-ass industries.

Think of all the things that you can’t live without. We’re talking about the basic needs of life. It’s things like housing, electricity, clean water, food, health, etc. These are the economic sectors that are sustainable and long-lasting.

More specifically, here are some of those industries:
- Healthcare
- Public Utilities
- Government Services
- Food Distribution & Retail
- Education

To make it even more stable, seek employment in large population centers. Bigger cities tend to drive strong ongoing market demand for essential products and services that are needed even when the economy is shit.

Aim to be in at least a mid-sized city or major metropolitan area. Then, focus on the industries where products and services are in constant demand no matter what. Then, narrow your focus to job opportunities with companies in those industries.

If you’re already living in a mid-to-large size metropolitan area, then you’re already ahead of the game. Shift your focus to those above industries in your job search. Work your LinkedIn network of friends and business contacts to get a foot in the door.

A lot of people think that you have to be in the core job of that stable industry to be employed there. But, that’s not true - at all.

For example, you don’t need to be an electrical engineer working for a utility company and climbing power poles to have a stable job. You could be a project scheduler or work in the accounting department of that utility company.

See what we’re talking about?

Now, if your skillset matches the requirements of the industry core job, then you’re at a huge advantage. However, if your background doesn’t match the core jobs, it’s not a big deal. You just gotta look for the adjacent and supporting roles. This will expand your opportunities.

Again, remember that these kinds of stable jobs don’t pay high wages - that’s the compromise here - less pay for more stability.

Using that as a basis, here are some examples of stable jobs that could be within your feasible reach.

Here’s a steady job that is both necessary and rewarding. Instead of sitting your ass all day locked inside your cubicle, you could be getting your low sweat on at work all day helping others heal and recover. In this role, you’re supporting the nurses and doctors with quite literally hands-on care. You don’t need a medical degree but certification may be required. With lots of stability due to the high demand for healthcare aides, you can take comfort in knowing this job will last longer than most diets.

If a stable and reliable job is what you're looking for, then consider working at a utility company, where keeping the lights and heat on doesn't have to be mixed in with navigating office politics. With a little research into different positions with your local utility companies, you can land a solid job that can span decades without having to even wear a hard hat. This could be anything from working in customer service, accounting, program management, etc.

Not many people know this, but your local city hall can be a stable long-term employer. So long as the tax base continues to exist, so will city hall. This is why it’s important to look for these kinds of positions in mid-to-large cities where the tax base will always exist. Being an internal records administrator isn’t “following your passion” which is bullshit BTW, but it can still provide the steady security and stability of employment that many office workers crave.

No matter what’s happening with the economy, people have to eat to survive. It’s a basic human need. Working in the food distribution industry is an often overlooked option for those looking to make a real impact on getting people the food they need, not some heady mission of ending world hunger. Leave that shit to Unicef. Working as a logistics planner means you will be navigating supply chains to find solutions that ensure seamless movement of food from point A to point B – while being able to flex your problem-solving skills like never before.

Sometimes, you can get the most rewarding experience by shaping the future of younger generations. It can also be a stable one. Being a local school district program manager can be a rewarding career choice and an excellent way to provide yourself with job security and eliminate that long stressful commute. The types of programs you’ll work on will vary by each school district and what their priorities are. So long as kids are in school, programs will have to be managed by someone.

Everybody has to pay taxes, every year. Every state department of revenue has an army of people processing and managing cases daily all year long. Working in the state revenue department could be just what you need. This line of work often gets overlooked as people dream of more glamorous or high-paying professions, but there is a lot to say about having a dependable 9-5 job where it’s easy to disconnect from work and leave all the bullshit behind.

This one isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s one of the most challenging jobs out there that will test any person’s limits. But, it can be one of the most rewarding. Every state offers a program to help the needy and less fortunate. And, case managers are the main interface between the state and the person needing the help. This also provides your daily life with an added dose of purpose and makes your job more fulfilling than your typical paper-pushing desk job.

We’re guessing that you’re just as qualified as us to be a firefighter or police officer, which is to say, not at all. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t be part of the support and operational team behind the scenes. Civil services are always needed all the time. And, all fire and police departments need office support and administrative help to get all sorts of grunt work done. You can be part of that team and not have to put out fires or get shot at.

Just like taxes mentioned above, death is unavoidable. It’s a hard effin’ truth that everyone at some point will make the transition from this world to the next. And as part of that transition, families need help in planning and arranging funeral services. Marriages are also along the same lines, but wedding planning is more vulnerable to downturns in the economy than funerals. As weird and creepy as this sounds, there’s stability in death.

Way back in the day, people committed themselves to a company and in return the company provided a lifetime of employment. Today, that relationship has changed especially due to the never-ending pressures of Wall Street profitability. Short-term profits are now prioritized over long-term sustainability. So, now everybody needs to have a plan for preparing for job loss when things start to go downhill.

It can get tiring as hell to keep your eyes and ears open for warning signs of layoffs all the time. Nobody wants to work in that kind of environment. You just want to get in the zone each day, do your best and know that you’ve got a paycheck coming at the end of every week.

Life is hectic enough on its own and having to add another layer of uncertainty is not going to make managing work stress any easier. This isn’t something you want in your life. You want to eliminate that risk and not have to deal with that added stress.

Stable jobs are out there - a lot more than you think or know about. You just have to pay attention, search diligently and apply for the positions. It’s important to do some career management even when you’re busy as fuck. A little bit of planning now will get you closer to where you want to be sooner.

So, get on it. Find the opportunities. They are out there.

Feel Better,
[Cubicle|Therapy]