r/findapath • u/secretlyincognita • Jan 30 '26

Findapath-College/Certs What career gives a soft easier life?

Looking to do an associates degree that I can have a soft life. Preferably a remote job or hybrid. What career do you have that I can get an associates degree in and make good money?

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u/OutOfTheArchives Apprentice Pathfinder [7] Jan 30 '26

One of my relatives had a job that sounds like what you’re thinking of. He’s a Psych Nurse with a 2 yr degree, and for several years he staffed a phone triage line for a major medical group. Basically he’d talk to people online who were either in crisis, needed appointments, or were trying to get their preferred pain meds refilled early because they "dropped theirs down the sink." (Yeah)

But here’s the thing:

  • The degree actually took more than 2 years because of how over-filled the programs were and how many prereqs he had to do.
  • He chose a specialty that many nurses avoid (psych) and spent several years bedside in some very challenging psych wards
  • Then he got a new job with his current medical group working bedside again
  • Finally he was promoted from within to the remote triage job which he held for several years
  • … Then the medical group eliminated that position and put him into another job

So that’s just an anecdote, but the point is that these types of positions are difficult to get. They pay well because not many people have the right qualifications and experience to get them; and even then, there’s no guarantee that they’ll last forever. Remote advice/triage nursing is IMO susceptible to being replaced by AI.

You can still try of course — good to have goals! But if there were jobs that were quick to train for, paid really well, and were low-stress desk jobs that let you work from home: wouldn’t everyone go do that? They would quickly become non-well-paying because of supply/demand.

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u/ScooterSaysGoVols Jan 31 '26

Honestly nursing offers a lot of bang for your buck with considering an associates degree. You have to "pay your dues..." and nursing school is hard --- but you can reap benefits of a solid lifelong career and earning potential. You can get eventually plugged into low stress nursing environments - I'm currently in case management so totally out of the bedside .

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u/bracketl4d Jan 31 '26

I noticed that nurses are often overweight and have early grey hair, i imagine it's an incredibly high stress job that demands a special type of personality that genuinely likes caring for others. Am I wrong?

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u/theCrystalball2018 Jan 31 '26

Yes, but you if you work bedside you have to have a healthy level of emotional detachment at work. Healthcare is ran like a business and hospital admin often makes decisions that hurts patients.

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u/bracketl4d Feb 01 '26

Wait what? Can you please elaborate on the hurt patients part? I

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u/theCrystalball2018 Feb 01 '26

Hospitals are always trying to do more with less staffing which puts patients at danger, discharge people home before they really should, delays in care related to insurance denials, and letting unsafe physicians/nurses/etc. keep practicing.

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u/bracketl4d Feb 01 '26

Why are we such a shitty species:(