Ask Slashdot - Careers In Computer Science That Keep You Physically Active?

First time accepted submitter ozzyoli writes "I love computer science (IT not so much) but I despise the thought of being stuck behind a desk for the rest of my life. Are there any career paths that would suit a computer scientist who likes to be physically active and on his feet a lot?"

Field Engineers & Specialists

[kolbe]

While positions like these are not common, there are several fields out there that require "field" engineers that I can think of:

Power - For seven years I fielded calls for the Power Industry where 60% of my time was spent on the road or in the air traveling to remote locales around the world to fix the problems the "Homer Simpsons" of the power industry had created. Without internet I used just my know-how of various hardware types, operating systems such as AIX, Solaris & Windows and troubleshooting experience to solve problems. It was fun to travel and a daily challenge to solve what ever issue it might be, but I ultimately gave it up to have a family and be closer to home. The only thing that really sucked however is the remaining 30% of time I had in an office was usually spent in front of a desk writing ANSI, ISO, NEMA and OSHA compliant documentation about my journey's.

Networking Specialist - These people design, install, maintain and troubleshoot computer networks for all whom will employ them to do such. Some companies specialize in contracting guys with CCIE's etc out to companies who do not want to pay to have one full time. They generally travel on short notice and are prone to 60% or greater travel time.

Deployment Specialist - These people are usually certified in some specific product within the company they work for and make a job out of traveling around to "deploy" said product. Everyone from A to Z in Software and OEM Hardware employs these people to do the dirty work of installing and troubleshooting a product on a customer's site after it has been sold. Expect lots of long hours and a lot of travel to go along with these kinds of jobs.

Sales Engineer - Otherwise known as Systems Integrators in some companies, these people help potential (pre-sales) customers understand, compare, and contrast the solutions that are available for buying from the company they are employed for. Companies such as NetApp, EMC, Dell, HP and others use SE's to accompany sales guys to meetings about a potential sale. These people are generally hardware techs who moved their way up in the ranks from within the company or moved from another company doing something similar. As such, it would be best to start as a deployment engineer or similar first if this sounds interesting.

Technical Trainer - Just about every Tech company employs these guys to travel and host various classes, lectures and seminars. It's not overly "brainy" work, but the job does travel... A LOT.

While I am sure there are more, this was an "off the hip" list that I could come up with. Perhaps others can add to it. Good luck in your ventures... It will not be easy and there is no avoiding at least some "office based desk work".

Re:work time is not 24h/day.

[Anonymous Coward]

>> You don't need to be "on your feet" at work ... just at some point during the day.

Actually, that's not correct in the general health risk sense. Long sitting hours are a major health risk regardless of other exercise. Exercise definitely helps, but only independently.

"During 621 695 person-years of follow-up (mean follow-up, 2.8 years), 5405 deaths were registered. All-cause mortality hazard ratios were 1.02 (95% CI, 0.95-1.09), 1.15 (1.06-1.25), and 1.40 (1.27-1.55) for 4 to less than 8, 8 to less than 11, and 11 or more h/d of sitting, respectively, compared with less than 4 h/d, adjusting for physical activity and other confounders. The population-attributable fraction for sitting was 6.9%. The association between sitting and all-cause mortality appeared consistent across the sexes, age groups, body mass index categories, and physical activity levels and across healthy participants compared with participants with preexisting cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus."
http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1108810

The post is a great question (would love an 'active' coding job). I used to ask my co-workers whether they were interested in having meetings while walking and couple of my very best meetings were on bike rides. However, we certainly weren't coding, just design discussions and strategy. Cycling new routes seemed to have remarkable effects while brainstorming though. Would love to see the riot if I swapped dev team workstations with treadmill powered versions :) How about an IDE something like a combination of Eclipse with Wii-Fit or Dance Nation? Maybe augmented HMDs & neural interfaces will make somethings easier too. Any other more accessible and direct answers much appreciated!

Anything in a tall office building

[Anonymous Coward]

Or indeed, get any office job in a building, get out of the lift 4 floors too short and walk up the stairs for the last four floors. Do that a few times a day and you'll easily burn the same.

It's not difficult to find ways to keep fit. It's a state of mind not a job limitation.

The military?

[Zocalo]

What about the military, or something connected with it? Plenty of IT and similar equipment in the modern armed forces, all of which needs setting up, maintaining, and decomissioning just like any it does everywhere else, and that will often entail getting the out into the field. Even if you are stuck behind a desk for much of the time, you'll still need to do some physical activity as part of the daily routine since the military wants all of their staff to be physically fit for obvious reasons. If the prospect of potentially having to go on the front line doesn't appeal, then there are plenty of similar roles with defence contractors providing specialist support to the military, often on (much) higher pay - especially if you are prepared to go into places that might get a little heated.

Re:work time is not 24h/day.

[acidfast7]

to be honest, if you weight100kg, it's probably quite accurate. I weigh roughly 72-75kg, which accounts for the difference.

Re:work time is not 24h/day.

[acidfast7]

it's not funny, the amount of kcal burned is proportional to the weight of the cyclist (assuming that the cyclist weight >>> bike weight). of course, i'll burn less calories when i'm moving 25kg less weight (and good "kcal burnt" calculators take this into account.)