No one likes to be stuck inside during a beautiful summer day. One of the best-kept secrets in the job-hunting world is that you don’t need to wear a tie or even sit in an office all day to make a relatively hefty salary. Outdoor jobs can be awesome year-round, and there’s no better reminder of this than a sunny afternoon in June.

So what kind of work can get you out of the office without sacrificing the paycheck? Here are ten awesome careers to consider:

1. Alaskan Summer Jobs: JobMonkey has some great resources if you want to learn more about finding an Alaskan summer job. Some of the highest-paying options include working at one of the state’s national parks or heading rafting and adventure expeditions.
2. Archaeology Fieldwork Jobs: If you love the outdoors, as well as history, you could work on an archaeology excavation site as a field technician, crew chief, or director.
3. Diver Jobs: Those who love water can find diver jobs working with tourism companies, diver certification schools, and commercial companies.
4. Land Tour Guide Jobs: Working as a land tour guide allows you to share your love of an area with people visiting while on vacation.
5. Modeling Jobs: Here’s an interesting type of outdoor job – modeling. While some models do focus mainly on runways or other indoor types of modeling, many people working as models spend time on outdoor editorial shoots in awesome locations around the world.
6. Federal Outdoor Jobs: Want to make the big bucks? Try to find federal outdoor jobs like those available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
7. Forest Service Firefighter Jobs: Working as a forest firefighter allows you to make money in the outdoors while providing emergency services to people who’s families and homes are in danger.
8. Dude Ranch Jobs: Jobs available on a dude ranch include being a wrangler, ranch maintenance, and naturalist jobs. You’ll get to share your love for the outdoors and farming with visitors in these positions.
9. Hunting Guide Jobs: People who enjoy hunting pay a lot of money to someone working as a hunting guide in order to hunt and/or fish for wildlife they can’t find back home.
10. Environmental Jobs: While some eco-friendly jobs are based in offices, you can also find an environmental job in the field, doing research or fieldwork on major projects to help your community go green.

In short, you don’t have to be stuck inside all day in order to make money. If you’re interested in a new career that allows you to work on your day and enjoy nature, check out the ten jobs listed above!

You know what I love about working for the JobMonkey? It truly is the home of cool jobs. I know, that’s kind of our unofficial tagline, but every few weeks the geniuses behind the JobMonkey scenes add a new job category over there on the website’s homepage and every time, I think: Wow, that really is a cool job!

Like last week, did you see that Photography Jobs was added? I have a number of friends who work as freelance photographers (specializing in shots of babies, kids, pregnant mamas and growing families). In fact, they got their start at this entrepreneurial home-based business after they had kids of their own and couldn’t get enough of photographing their little ones.

Over time, their kids grew — and so did their photography skills. To learn more about how they turned this hobby into a great income stream, stay tuned next week for an interview with one successful freelance photographer.

In other cool job news, the JobMonkey folks also recently added another awesome section on rafting jobs. Have you ever been river rafting? It is amazing! Fun, challenging and totally beautiful scenery, too! (The last time I did it was six years ago on the Colorado River and I still remember that trip like it was yesterday!) Learn more about working as a river raft guide … Sound like the perfect summer job to me!

It’s freezing out there! But if the temperatures don’t deter your love of the great outdoors, then an outdoor job may be right up your alley.

Today I am featuring three hot (er, cold) outdoor jobs featured at JobMonkey’s free Job Center — the web’s #1 free resource for job seekers in search of an adventure — and a paycheck. This is just a sampling of the great leads you can find at the Job Center right now, so if you don’t see your dream job on my list today, head on over there!

Outdoor jobs can be either seasonal or year-round, part-time or full-time. Learn more about working in the great outdoors from JobMonkey’s section on Outdoor Jobs http://www.jobmonkey.com/parks/ , including National Park, Forest Service and other Outdoor Jobs.

1. Fish and Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service , Various U.S. Locations

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking a full-time Fish and Wildlife Biologist to work in the Northeast Region. Job duties will include planning and providing oversight for technical reviews; evaluating biological and operational data pertaining to Federal programs for threatened and endangered species; collecting and managing field data; and providing technical guidance to other biologists.  This is a Level 11 or 12 position with the Federal Government. The listed salary range for this position is $41,324.00 – $61,157.00 /year

2. Terrain Park Staff, Angel Fire Resort, Angel Fire, NM

Angel Fire Resort in Angel Fire, New Mexico is seeking a seasonal worker to shovel, rake and maintain the shape of Park features. Other job duties will include testing Park features at the beginning and throughout the day, maintaining daily terrain park logs, and conducting morning set up of the Terrain Parks. The ideal candidate will be competent in skiing and/or snowboarding and have a guest-oriented service attitude.

3. Building and Yard Maintenance, Bear Mountain Resorts, Big Bear Lake, CA

Bear Mountain Resorts in Big Bear Lake, California is seeking a part-time maintenance person to help maintain and repair buildings and grounds. Shifts are available around the clock. The ideal candidate must be at least 18 years old, able to work outdoor in winter weather and equipped to perform physical labor.

If you didn’t find the job of your dreams on our hot jobs list today, be sure to check out the JobMonkey Job Center for hundreds of other listings in every imaginable field.

Good luck with your job search this week!

Here in Seattle the sun is finally out thank goodness. What a long, wet, cold winter and spring it has been! Anyway, the sun has us all thinking that we should be outdoors sucking up the warmth – regenerating our batteries.

For job hunters there’s a tremendous opportunity to spend maximum time outdoors this summer. Livin’ life.

Take a look around the free JobMonkey website. You’ll see that we have an extensive outdoor jobs section where you can learn about park ranger jobs, opportunities with dozens of park concessionaires, seasonal government jobs…and so on. There are myriad seasonal employment opportunities.

When you’re done looking through the free material it might be a great idea to check out our new outdoor job board as well as the built in JobMonkey Job Center. It’s important to search for jobs using specific keywords in order to find the types of work you’re seeking. One final note: be sure to remember the sun screen!

Unless you have been living in a cave for the last 18 months, you know that our country is in a major recession.

What that means for you, whether you are 16 or 66, is that your job is less secure — and a new job is going to be harder to come by. For teenagers looking for a summer job, the pressure is especially intense. There are fewer jobs than normal, and each one is being fought over by a far greater number of applicants.

There is some good news in this whole mess: There are a growing number of programs, many of which are funded by the federal government, to aid 14 to 24 year olds in finding a summer job. Here are seven of the best sites to help you (or the youngster in your life) to find a summer job.

1. YouthBuild is a Department of Labor program for at-risk 16-24 year-olds, providing them with construction and community rehab jobs that will be utilized to create affordable housing for low-income families.

2. Job Corps is a job training program for 16-year olds+. Participants receive free room and board while enjoying top-notch job advice and training.

3. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 hosts this comprehensive list of federally-funded youth employment programs. To find a program near you, call (202) 693-3030.

4. Student Educational Employment Program helps college students find federal work internships that will further their academic and career goals.

5. Student Jobs is an online portal for high school and higher education students looking for jobs within the federal government.

6. My First Paycheck hosts a nationwide job board for youth looking for a summer job .

7. JobMonkey’s section on Summer Jobs features targeted opportunities for teens and young adults, from summer camp jobs and theme park jobs to outdoor jobs and even jobs in Alaska.

Apropos to my post yesterday about following your dreams despite the recession, the USA Today just ran a review of a new book about the very same topic.

Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields is a guide to teach you how to make money while doing what you love.

After you figure out what you want to do (i.e. what you love doing), you have to work out the finances. Fields says you do not need to earn top dollars, but there is no reason that following your heart should leave you destitute.

The book is filled with personal vignettes from others who have left the rat race to follow their dreams — including the author, who jumped ship from his lucrative law practice to open a yoga studio.

The key to success, writes Fields, is to find and fulfill an unmet need within the marketplace. That advice works well for those of you with entrepreneurial dreams, but what happens if you want to be an employee? Someone who gets a paycheck from someone else to be a chef or an outdoor educator, to work as a model or a fashion designer … or whatever else your heart desires?

I think Fields would say that, even when someone else is paying your salary, you need to approach your job search (and your career) from an entrepreneurial mindset.

What do you think? Do you agree with the premise of Career Renegade that it’s possible to have it all: A career you love and a salary you love, too?

This recession is doing funny things to people’s career goals. On the one hand, it is forcing us to reevaluate our plans and think practically about our futures.

That’s mostly a good thing. If our heads had been in the clouds, they are not any more. Of course, the flip side is that people are abandoning their career dreams to focus on what they think (hope?) is a “sure thing”. Things like recession proof careers, steady paychecks and stable 9-5 jobs.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that living your life responsibly and paying down your mortgage are bad things. Not at all. But if the means to that end are leaving you empty and unfulfilled, trouble could be brewing for you. It’s like the old adage asks: Do you live to work? Or work to live? And if you work to live, shouldn’t you at least get to enjoy your work (if not love it)?

Which brings me to today’s topic: Outdoor jobs. For some of you, working outside in the blazing sun and freezing rains would be tantamount to torture. For others, however, there is be no greater reward than working in nature — whether as an outdoor educator, a park ranger, an environmentalist or a forest fire fighter.

Sadly, these are the very types of dream jobs that people are abandoning in droves for the perceived safety and security of a desk job. Of course, if you are one of the “no greater reward than working in nature” types, then soon enough, that cubicle is going to start feeling like a cell.

So when you begin yearning for the expansiveness of the great outdoors, what should your next step be? Where do you start your quest for an outdoor job? And how do you balance that dream with the practicalities of feeding your family and paying your bills?

Internships
I have talked before about the value of internships. If you are a college student or a recent college grad, now is the perfect time to land a summer internship at a national or state park.

Whether your major was archeology, botany or web design, national park interns can contribute their knowledge and experience while gaining invaluable experience in a field they love. Plus, what better way to get your foot in the door and start making career connections?

Volunteering
What if you are already working full-time at an unfulfilling job? How do you begin to make the change to a job you will love? Why not spend a few hours a week volunteering at a park? All of the national parks welcome volunteers, as do state parks and local wildlife refugees. Assignments can range from teaching youngsters to clearing trails to planting trees.

Volunteering is a wonderful outlet for practicing your skills, confirming your passion for the field, and connecting with professionals who can help you as you begin to job search in earnest. (For more on the value of volunteering, check out this post from last week on volunteering your way into a new job.)

Federal Outdoor Jobs
From North America’s national parks to the U.S. Forest Service to the US Fish & Wildlife, the federal government is the gate keeper to many of these great outdoor jobs. To plot your strategy for landing a federal outdoor job, check out JobMonkey’s extensive research on federal employment practices, salaries, benefits and more.

The bottom line: As employees, finding our way through this recession isn’t going to be easy. And sure, there are some jobs (real estate flipper, Ponzi scheme operator) that probably do not to be “downsized.” But working at a job that makes invaluable contributions to mother nature (and human nature, for that matter) is not one of them! You can work to live and love to work, with some planning and perseverance. So if an outdoor job is your dream, don’t give up on it.

Does the thought of punching a clock at a 9-5 job make your heart shrivel up? Would you always rather be outside than behind a desk? Spending time in the great outdoors doesn’t have to be just on the weekend. You can enjoy a rewarding career (with incomparable views from your "office") working for the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, private park concessionaire companies, and environmental organizations. In addition to a growing number of year-round positions, many of these employers also offer seasonal jobs that are perfect for college students. Check out JobMonkey’s section on Outdoor Employment Opportunities to learn more!