Flexible Jobs with Big Potential

Think you can have your cake and eat it too? You can’t. But you can come pretty close if you opt for one of these super flexible jobs with big potential.

It’s all about time—where you spend it, how you spend it, on whom you spend it—and why.

Workplace flexibility, in the face of the 9-to-5 paradigm, focuses on making the “when,” “where,” and “how” of working more employee-centered and less employer-centered. The goal? A mutually beneficial relationship between employer and employee that results in excellence. For employees who are driven and committed, but who want the flexibility of working remotely or across time zones, workplace flexibility is key. Employers who support high-flying employees by offering flexibility stand to benefit, too.

Let’s take a closer look at five flexible careers with big potential.

1. Statistician

There’s so much data out there—someone needs to figure out what to do with it all. That’s where statisticians come in. Not only do statisticians have the luxury of traditional work flexibility, they have flexibility in their fields. Pharmaceutical research, financial planning, public health, marketing, actuarial science, and education need statisticians. You can choose where you work—and the path you want to take. Change your mind? No problem. It’s easy to switch gears. Don’t like marketing? Switch to biostatistics. Be curious and follow your gut—the world needs people to make sense of the statistics flying around out there, regardless of specialty.

2. Accountant

You can telecommute. You can work full-time or part-time. You can freelance. You can moonlight. You can work some in the office, or some at home. You can have a hybrid office-home schedule. You can work underneath a tree.

Accountants have succeeded in creating flexibility because there’s a significant need—as long as deadlines are clear, accountants can work just about anywhere, anytime. When accounting employees are happy, so is the rest of the company, after all, a company can’t function without money and accountants have the key.

3. Software/Web Developer

Good money, flexible hours, that work-life balance: becoming a software or web developer has it all. Sometimes it seems like the entire world is online—that’s because of web developers and software designers. If you’re already in the middle of your degree and contemplating this career, consider Code Academy as a starting point. Offering free online classes, Code Academy gives its participants a taste of the kinds of work software and web developers do—if you like it, you can continue. If not, you can move on.

4. Nurse Practitioner

Easy to maintain full-time and part-time status, and easy to take a break and come back. You can work four-hour shifts, twelve-hour shifts, and everything in between. Nursing works with your schedule—you get to decide. You can also take it with you, anywhere you go. You can even decide to become a travelling nurse, which offers the advantages of being able to travel and work at the same time.

5. Genetic Counselor

Positive work-life balance wins out here. Genetic counselors have the options of working in traditional clinics, to working in less traditional settings like home. You can also make hybrid options work. As long as you have board certification in genetic counseling, you can figure out the best ways to meet with your patients and decide how much and how often. Language skills help here, so if your bi- or tri-lingual, you’ll have an upper hand in making a flexible genetic counseling career work.

Just like everything else, the key is balance. Too much work results in burnout. Too little results in boredom. Finding a flexible job that allows you to work when, where, and how you want, while still offering structure and feedback—and great pay—makes it all worth it.