A lot of people have to work through the night – and although it seems like torture working from 11pm to 7am – many ‘night owls’ find comfort in jobs that adapt to their lifestyle. We’ll be looking at the following in today’s article:
Protective service workers: fire fighters, police, ambulance
HGV truck drivers – Heavy goods delivery
Funeral Directors
Oil rig tool-pusher – Drill leaders and supervisors
Air traffic controller
We’ll take a look at the top five highest paying jobs for night owls.
5. Protective service workers
These jobs are those that require people to work day or night to keep people, property and society safe. There are variety jobs that fall under this category such as police officers, firefighters, prison officers, security guards, prison and jail security, and private investigators. Firefighters bring in an average annual salary of £34,000 which doesn’t seem like much considering the risks of the job. Being on call 24/7, putting their lives in harm’s way to save people pets and property from a fiery inferno, the job of fire fighter is one of the most selfless and heroic jobs out there. Also one that can drastically change in an instant. One moment a firefighter can be reading a book in the fire hall and seconds later they’re throwing on their gear sliding down the pole and racing to a burning building with water. There are some unique requirements to be a firefighter that most jobs don’t have. First off no criminal convictions, you must be able to swim, be physically sit and be able to carry over a 100lbs, a clean driving licence and must live close to the fire hall.
Police officers put their lives on the line daily to keep the general public safe but end up bringing an average of £5,000 a year more with an average annual salary of £39,000. Police officers have more requirements to join the force. No citizen with a criminal record, under the influence convictions, some petty theft convictions, history of illegal drug use or poor driving record will become a police officer. Some police agencies require officers to have a bachelor’s degree as well new police officers almost always have to spend the first few years on the force doing various night shifts. It’s the least desired time to work and save for newbies within this bracket.
A private investigator makes the most on average £48,000 a year. A P.I is someone who’s hired to get personal information on someone sometimes regarding legal or financial matters. They perform tasks such as verifying someone’s background and statements, investigating computer crimes and cases of missing people. This child is usually a job that is done by someone with years of experience working for the military or law enforcement. This job can demand one to work during the night; whether it’s following someone or working throughout the night on a time-sensitive case. Before you question the authenticity of this
4. HGV Truck driver
Long days and long nights is what you’re in store for if you’re a truck driver. Truck drivers have deadlines they must adhere to by sticking to a schedule in line with their destination.
For this reason they’re required to drive for extended periods of time throughout the night. On the dashboard of many trucks there are blue lights. These lights mimic the colour of daytime to artificially help keep the driver awake. Most lorry drivers are only given one day off because of demanding shifts, long drives and night time driving. Driving a HGV (Heavy Good Vehicle) is one of the most dangerous jobs to perform. While junior truckers don’t make a lot, experienced truck drivers will make an average of £45,000/year.
3. Funeral directors
A job that someone has got do is be a funeral director. It might be confusing to think that this is a job for night owls but funeral directors are often called in the middle of the night to come pick up a body.
While the pay is good at around £55,000 a year, it doesn’t come without its struggles. Grieving family sometimes become adamant that none of grandma’s furniture should be moved or the get very angry when she’s taken away too quickly. Funeral directors need to make a decisive and clear pass on how to get the deceased family member out of the house. If the pass out to the hearse is coming down the stairs of an apartment building, often stretchers won’t fit in the hallways leading the deceased person to be carried.
It can take multiple people to carry a very overweight person, sadly sometimes they get dropped. Funeral directors also have the job of executing or overseeing the embalming of the body. Private regions are stuffed to prevent leakage, plastic eyeball holders are inserted under the lids so the eyes don’t roll back into the head, and wire is threaded throughout the gums to keep the jaw shut.
None of this is needed if there isn’t an open casket but open casket funerals are very popular nowadays. Families often argue which outfit should be placed on the body which can be something that they may have fit into years ago, but simply don’t today. In this case the outfit is altered and made larger to try and squeeze the body into. Definitely a demanding job but one that comes with a nice pay check.
2. Oil rig tool-pushers, drill leaders and supervisors
Oil doesn’t find its way out of the ground on its own. The toolpusher, drill leader and supervisor are responsible for getting that oil out. This job requires one to live on an oil platform in the middle of the ocean. The salary can range from £50,000 to £75,000 depending on the position. Specialised positions can go as high as £150,000 but these aren’t very common so we won’t take them an account for the ordering of this list. Oil rigs operate 24 hours a day which means different teams are assigned to different shifts and everyone has to take turns doing the nightshift. Doing any job on an oil rig can be dangerous, especially at night. This couldn’t be more true with any role that requires one to be handling heavy machinery that is under extreme pressure. It’s a dangerous job.
If anything goes wrong you have nowhere to run. An explosion on an oil rig can turn the whole platform into a giant fireball. It is not exactly an ideal situation considering the drop can be up to 40 stories down to the water. While the pay is good, working 80 to 100 hours a week for 20 days straight followed by 10 days off seems like an extreme schedule to say the least.
1. Air traffic controller
This demanding job is not only the highest paying job for a night owl but also the most stressful. An air traffic controller is in charge of directing airplane traffic throughout the skies so every plane has a safe place to fly and an organised order for planes to land.
If you’ve ever noticed during a flight, you reach your intended destination but you end up flying in a circle around the landing strip. That’s because an air traffic controller has put your plane into a queue for landing but there might be between 15 and 20 planes ahead of yours waiting to land.
Planes will spiral around the airport in huge arcs, slowly descending until the runway is free. An air traffic controller works 40-hour work weeks but much of this is in the middle of the night. They are positioned in those giant towers at the airport but there are more jobs under the umbrella of air traffic controller such as terminal controllers, radar controllers, on route controllers as well as airport tower controllers.
They all fall under this category and each serve their own important functions. This job doesn’t require one to have a degree from college but you’ll have to complete an FAA approved education program. People doing the job deserve more credit than they get because a simple mistake could mean the death of hundreds.
This one job ensures the safety of everyone and is essential for airports to operate with. The average annual salary of an air-traffic controller is £90,000, which is great but it might be hard for many to justify the horrendous sleep pattern that comes with it.