10 Careers to Avoid Boredom

By Rachel Zupek

No matter where you are, boredom is one of the worst things ever. But, arguably, the worst place you can be bored is at work.

Boredom at work is the result of several things. Maybe your company is scaling back on hiring and, maybe, your responsibilities. Maybe you're an entry-level worker and your boss doesn't trust you enough yet to give you actual work. Or maybe your job is just tedious and you're totally uninterested in your tasks.

Whatever the reason, it's time to make a change. When you spend 40-plus hours doing mind-numbing work, you're bound to be miserable.

If you're looking for work that is anything but dull, check out these 10 careers that are sure to keep you on your toes.

1. Airline attendant
It's hard to be bored when you're a jet-setter, don't you think? Flight attendants are constantly on the move, working around the clock, year round and on nights, weekends and holidays, traveling to various places. During their working hours, they ensure that passengers follow safety and security regulations, while doing their best to guarantee travelers a comfortable flight. It seems that the only down time they have is during takeoff, landing and on their days off -- when a little boredom might be welcome.
Salary: $63,913/year

2. Buyer
Anyone who specializes in retail therapy can tell you, shopping is not boring. In all seriousness, buyers essentially shop for living, picking out what clothes are in demand, in style, determining what will sell and figuring out the amount of product their establishments should have in stock. To be successful, buyers must be on the pulse of fashion, keeping up with latest trends, competitor pricing, sales levels and consumer buying patterns.
Salary: $58,407/year

3. Event planner
Some call it stressful, others call it energizing, but no one calls it boring. Event planners are always on the go, dealing with several people, operations and vendors at the same time. They work under strict deadlines, travel to event sites, attend endless meetings and work long days and weekends. Event planners are usually arranging more than one event at time, which means they do all of these things times two (or three, maybe four).
Salary: $76,374/year

4. Food and beverage server
I was a server for a few years in college and while I admit that there were some slow days at work, for the most part, I was constantly busy. The key to not being bored as a server is finding a popular bar or restaurant, engaging with customers and working on days when you know you'll be busy, like weekends, game days or holidays. Running food and drinks from table to table, closing out tabs, dealing with complaints, cleaning up after patrons -- it never ends.
Salary: $19,013/year

5. Futurist
Although this career is uncommon, it's perfect for anyone who likes variety, research and curiosity. What do they do exactly? Futurists examine the present for clues to changes that the future may bring. Usually, they work as consultants to companies to help them foresee possible business changes and adjust accordingly. They are constantly researching reports, statistics, trends and other predictors to help them forecast different paths the future could take.
Salary: $98,603/year (consultant)

6. Nonprofit fundraiser
Fundraisers for nonprofit organizations have the daunting task of finding money and gifts to keep an association thriving. After all, just because nonprofits don't make money doesn't mean they don't have expenses. Fundraisers look for capital contributions and endowments, and plan events to help garner donations for a cause. Raising money is the difference between the organization' s ability to start new projects and continue existing ones, so it's essential they are on top of things.
Salary: $68,145/year

7. Journalist
As a general rule, reporters and broadcasters eat, breathe and sleep the news -- and as any journalist will tell you, the news never sleeps. Whether they're following a lead, reporting breaking news or are operating under a tight deadline, journalists must be ready for anything at a moment's notice.
Salary: $48,206/year (reporter); $40,510 (news broadcaster)

8. Casino worker
Most casinos are open 24 hours, seven days a week, which means there is always work to be done. Whether you're a gaming dealer, slot key personnel, a security guard or a manager, you are constantly dealing with someone or something, which leaves minimal down time.
Salary: Various

9. Registered nurse
Health-care positions in general are always go, go, go; but nurses might take the cake. Often caring for several patients at the same time, RNs are frequently running from room to room, administering medications, answering call buttons, talking to families, making patients comfortable, updating charts and attending to the various needs of doctors, patients and families.
Salary: $66,427/year

10. Public relations manager
Public relations managers specialize in protecting and promoting their client's image or brand. Anything that is written, broadcasted or published about an organization must go through the PR team, as do any scheduled appearances or interviews. They are responsible for making sure their client's name stays reputable; putting out fires (so to speak); issuing statements when necessary; drafting press releases; pitching their client to media outlets and so much more.
Salary: $89,683/year

Bosses Tell All: How I Busted My Employee Playing Hooky

By Rachel Zupek

Let's get one thing straight: Though you shouldn't, everyone plays hooky. But come on, people -- be smart about it! Or at the very least, don't get caught twice.

Donna Flagg, workplace expert and president of The Krysalis Group, caught the same employee playing hooky not once, but twice. The first time, Flagg saw her on the evening news the same day she claimed to be on her deathbed. Another time, she saw the employee at a party where she saw her ducking behind a group of guys and mouthing unprintable obscenities about seeing her boss.

To avoid situations where you have to run and hide, our first advice is to not skip work in the first place; if you do, stay out of public places. Secondly, whether you want to sleep off a hangover, go to the beach or head to the Cubs home opener, if you decide to take the day off, be honest about it.

"If a person needs time away from work for legitimate reasons, they should talk with their boss," says Franklin Riga, author of "Global Collusion: The Cover Up." "If they want time off on a whim and play hooky, they shouldn't go the Ferris Bueller route, as exciting as it seems."

Honesty doesn't seem to be the best policy for most employees: 33 percent of them admitted to playing hooky this year rather than telling their bosses the truth, according to a survey by CareerBuilder. com.

People often think they need to lie because they think they lack control over their lives and work, says J.T. O'Donnell, a career strategist and workplace consultant.

"Most companies are getting a lot better about offering personal days as a way to take an unexpected day off without explanation, " O'Donnell says. "It's OK to need a day off. There's really no need to create an elaborate excuse."

Web of lies

Jenn Hoffman, founder of public relations agency Get Some Media, is no stranger to elaborate excuses. While she was the editor-in-chief of a Phoenix-based magazine, her editorial assistant called to say that while she was visiting her family in Michigan over the weekend, she had gotten so sick with the flu that she couldn't travel and would be out all week.

"I told her no problem and to get better. I felt really bad for her because she was a college student and this was during her winter break," Hoffman remembers.

When Hoffman logged into MySpace, however, she saw a series of bulletins from her employee with such subjects as "Back from Michigan. Called in sick to work ALL WEEK. Who wants to party???!!!" and "Winter break, b****s. Pussycat Lounge Tonight?" The next day, she posted pictures of her partying adventures.

"If she just told me she needed a day off, I might have been sympathetic. I knew she was a young, full-time college student, working long hours and doing an internship," Hoffman says. "Instead, not only did she lose her job, she ruined her chances to ever get a positive recommendation from me or anyone at our organization. "

More true tales

"A young temp worker was exceptional. One Friday, he shows up messy, smelling like alcohol and can't do one thing right. The manager sends him to the staffing company at lunchtime to show them what a mess he is. He takes two hours to get there, but shows up just fine, [his] old self again. After some questioning, he breaks down and admits he was on an interview for a full-time job, and thus, sent his TWIN BROTHER in to work for him that morning!" - J.T. O'Donnell, Careerealsim. com

"A young man called in sick on the first sunny, hot day of the year. The next day, the boss called him in the office and let him go. When he asked why, the boss just gave him the state's leading newspaper and said, 'Next time, don't get photographed. ' There he was, sitting on a couch that he and his buddies had dragged to the beach, in his sunglasses and swim shorts with a big grin - ON THE FRONT PAGE!" - J.T. O'Donnell, Careerealsim. com

"I was senior manager for a pharmaceutical company. Around Thanksgiving, I received a 'death bed' call from an employee. She was feeling so bad that she couldn't possibly come into work. (This was the same lady who scheduled surgeries around her grandchildren' s birth and summer vacations.) One of my other employees called me that afternoon after having seen [the sick employee] at the casino boat. She had won about $3,000 and had told her co-worker, thinking that she wouldn't tell me. She did." - Kristin Peoples, author of "The Complete Bankruptcy Guide for Consumers and Small Businesses"

"Earlier this year, when I was senior vice president at my previous employer, two employees were having an interoffice romance. Their attempts to cover it up were ham-fisted at best. One afternoon, both employees were conspicuously missing from the office for an extended period of time. I was suspicious and began asking employees about their whereabouts. Suddenly, my mobile phone rang and a fellow [co-worker] reported them departing hand-in-hand from a cheap hotel (with no lobby or restaurant) two blocks from the office. We couldn't wait for them to get back." - Kevin A. Mercuri, president, Propheta Communications

"I took over [a] fraud detection department due to downsizing; I found that one of the fraud analysts had convinced the previous manager that he had a medical condition that forced him to stay home, where he supposedly was working on building a fraud detection database. I became suspicious and asked him to bring a note in from his doctor. He did, and I became even more suspicious of the note. I ended up calling the doctor's office and faxed the note to him. His nurse called back and told me it was a forgery. When confronted, the analyst said his friend had forged the note and he had spent the last months at home playing video games on the company's dime." - Diane Ness, ENI Security Solutions

"I was the manager of retail advertising for a newspaper in Pennsylvania; I had a sales rep named Xavier. [One] particular morning, Xavier, or X has he preferred, called in sick. He had a terrible cold, didn't want to infect the staff, yada, yada. The publisher of the newspaper had a business lunch to attend that day and I was going with her. We arrived at the event, socialized and later got in the buffet line for our food. When I got to the carving station, the chef asked, "What can I get for you?" Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be my very sick employee, X. The look on his face was priceless. I almost said, 'I'd like a resignation please,' but it didn't seem the appropriate moment." Janet Gillis, Tampa, Fla.

"I was a show director for a trade show company. One of our vendors gave Red Sox home day opener tickets to one of my sales reps, who invited me to go with him. I let my staff know I was taking an unplanned vacation day but I didn't tell them I was going to the Red Sox opener with this sales rep. While we were [there], I ran into an old college pal who was a news photographer for the Portland, Maine, NBC affiliate. He was with a reporter to find people to interview for the 6:00 news. The reporter asked me specifically, 'Did you call in sick to be here?' and I said 'No, that wouldn't be a very good career move.' Later that day, after many beers, my sales rep fessed up and said, 'I did call in sick.' Moral of the story: Don't become too chummy with your direct reports. Somewhere down the line, it'll blow up in your face." - Jane Bogue, Wells, Maine

Saying No to Your Boss

By Rachel Zupek

When you think back to your childhood and your mom said, "We'll see," it was always better than a flat out, "No." Much like "possibly" is sufficient when you ask your boss for time off and "I'll think about it" gives you hope when you ask for a raise.

Though all of these responses are really just a more polite version of "no," they're easier to hear than the actual word itself. While hearing "no" is hard enough, it seems that saying no is even more difficult for some people -- especially when it comes to their boss.

"Most employees avoid saying no to their boss because they fear it will ruin their relationship, cost them their job or appear disrespectful, " says Joseph Grenny, co-author of "Crucial Conversations. " "With the right set of skills, it is possible to be 100 percent candid and respectful when holding this important conversation. "

The reality is, we can't say to yes to everything, so it's essential to position yourself in the best way possible if and when you have to say no at work. The trick, experts say, is not really what you say, but how you say it.

"Many of us won't say the word because we are afraid to, especially in this economy," says Mary Byers, author of "How to Say No ... And Live to Tell About It." "It's easier to say no at work if you don't actually use the word. That way, your boss won't feel like you're being insubordinate. "

Elisabeth Manning, a human potential coach, recalls a time when she was an assistant to the president of a major company. The president wanted to make Manning her marketing manager at the same time -- and the same salary.

Manning, who knew that she would have too much on her plate if she accepted working both jobs, told her boss that she wanted to maximize her capacity for potential at the company and accepting the offer would not be the best, most efficient use of her time.

"I was neutral, not emotional and held my ground," Manning says. "I spoke as if it were already a done deal, without fear."

Here are five situations where you might find yourself needing (and wanting) to say no at work and how you can do so tactfully -- and without losing your job.

How to say no to ...
Your boss assigning you too much work

It can be tough to tell your boss you have a problem with the amount of work he or she is assigning you, but it's possible if you can make your boss feel safe, Grenny says. Start with facts instead of harsh judgments or vague conclusions and let your boss know you care about his interests and respect him, he says.

"Strip out any judgmental or provocative language and be specific," Grenny says. "For example, 'Last week, you gave me two large projects to finish in a very short amount of time and I had to complete these on top of my regular responsibilities. I am afraid my large workload might be affecting the quality of my work.'"

Outrageous demands

If your boss asks you to do something like run his errands or work all weekend and you can't (or don't feel like you should have to), focus on what you can do, says Susan Fletcher, a psychologist, author and speaker.

"The next time your boss asks you to go pick up his or her dry cleaning, instead of saying no, say, 'What I can do is cover your phone calls for you while you are out of the office,'" Fletcher suggests. "Or if your boss asks you to start up a new company initiative, instead of saying no, say, 'What I can do is brainstorm with you on the strategy for the initiative and help get the proper team members in place who can execute the strategy."

Something you honestly can't do

Of course, it's always good to learn new skills, but if you truly believe you aren't the best person for the job, you should say no. Byers suggests responding with something like, "Is there another department where this project might fit better, or someone we can collaborate with?"

"If you know you don't have the necessary time, resources or knowledge for a given project, this is a good way to open dialogue about the best way to get an assignment done," she says.

Unrealistic deadlines

If you frame your response in a way that helps your boss to rethink his request, you'll be OK, says Beth Sears, president of Workplace Communication.

Be aware of your tone of voice and try something like, "I understand your need for this assignment to be completed, but I need some help prioritizing my other work. You requested me to complete 'A' by tomorrow, 'B' by Thursday and 'C' by Friday. This last assignment 'D' would make it impossible to accomplish all of these. How would you prioritize these tasks?" Sears suggests.

Anything illegal, unethical or that crosses personal boundaries

Say no to anything that will you get into trouble if you say yes. Meaning, if something will be detrimental to your career or goes against your integrity, you should always say no.

Jennifer Bergeron, an HR training specialist, recently said no to one of her bosses who asked her to lie to her direct manager.

"I said, 'I'm not comfortable doing that, because the result will be [X, Y and Z]. Please don't ask me to ever lie to someone," Bergeron says. "He said, 'OK, you're right. I didn't realize all that was going on.'"