Non-office jobs with decent pay for a non-academic young person

[CollegesinLondon]

What do you do for a living which isn’t office related? What did you study? Do you make a decent living? Trying to guide DC who is not academic and doesn’t want an office job

oh, well her options are almost anything she wants. what did you have in mind for her as there are very few 'office' jobs these days.

how about turning a hobby into a career and sets up her own business? how about she gets a job in an industry or hobby she loves or is interested in? this has to be one of the weirdest or misaligned questions on MN

Skilled Trades seem to be quite well paid and in demand - plumber, heating engineer, electrician etc.

Gardener
chef/ baker
TA/ teacher
paramedic/ nurse/ healthcare assistant
police / fire fighter

not sure about paramedics but teaching and nursing both require university.

There’s a lot of studying to be a paramedic, whether by degree or apprenticeship degree route Paramedic careers

A lot of girls go into beauty. Hairdresser, nail tech. She could look for an apprenticeship. Plumber, joiner. These are all jobs she will make a good living from any of these. Always worth going round local businesses and asking directly too.

Childcare/elderly care
Trades, not all are heavy lifting, eg learn to drive forklift, dumper truck or something
Gardening related
Hands on factory work
Customer service/retail
Warehouse work
Hospitality

None of these are well paid to start with but a bright person with a good attitude would be able to progress.

I was convinced I did not want an office job -so boring - many moons later after a job in hospital I realise my mistake -I have adhd and prob autism -people don’t take to me - should never have worked with teams/ groups where you can be left out - should have worked in an office using maps or designing, a few colleagues, a thinking job not a socialising job

Supermarket with career path?

Off/near shore wind farms and also the teams doing our solar and heat pump installs have more work than they can shake a stick at right now.

Look at the utility companies - lots of apprentice engineers/ technicians who do a lot of work in customers houses / at big sites - challenging but decent salary and very unlikely to be replaced by AI!

What do you see as “decent pay” @CollegesinLondon ?
there’s a recent thread where the op thinks £56k is terrible

Bus driver, but you do have to deal with the public.
HGV driver.
At one point I quite fancied being a tower crane operator, I'm ok with the height, not so sure about the ladders.

Dog walking is fun and pays well

If she wants to future proof her career she should look at jobs in sustainability - look for apprenticeships in companies that specialise in heat pump engineering, solar, batteries, and the like. I think we’ve reached tipping point because of ever rising energy costs and mainstreaming of EV cars. It’s a huge growth sector and many of the jobs can’t be done by AI.

Train driver
Plumber
Electrician

Maybe see if any of your local FE colleges do an open day and see what courses they have on offer, that might give some ideas of the breadth of possibilities. We’ve got one nearby which specialises in ‘land based’ courses - covers all sorts of things and qualifications at different levels.

What does she enjoy now? What subjects are her favourite or topics does she love?

osteopath
plumber
fencer
mechanic
heath care assistant
pharmacy technician
teaching assistant

Conservation/park ranger/environmentalism fields?

Have a look at the Armed Forces.

DH flunked school, not a single GCSE, and ended up with a 25 year career he adored with a pension oainf out aged 43 and has now started his second career.

Whilst in the Royal Navy, he obtained a diagnosis for severe dyslexia and dyscalculia, but also 5 GCSE equivalents and several much higher qualifications in things like leadership and teaching.

The Forces are genuinely an excellent career option for jobs that don't involve sitting at desks all day.

One thing that occurs thinking about some of the many possibilities is that quite a lot may require a clean driving license. So if they’ve not yet started learning maybe support them with that if you can?

Any skill that eventually enables them to run their own business and employ other people.

On your other thread she is interested in doing performing arts at college.
Why not just let her do that and see where it can take her.
She doesn't have to have a specific career goal to aim for yet (or ever).

Train driver. In this trainee position in London, the salary is £32K and £69 when fully qualified.

https://www.google.com/search?q=train+driver+jobs&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari&jbr=sep:0#sv=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

Police officer?

-Exciting and worthwhile career
-Lots of people from various backgrounds and academic achievements
-Virtually recession and AI proof
-Career for life
-Endless training opportunities
-Better pension than most

Cons:
The people (public and some colleagues!)
Shift work
Nights
Weekend work
BH/public holiday work
The people
Rain and sun on outdoor duties (road closures and scene guards)
Traumatic experiences are possible (but not a given)
Relatively low pay for stressful and hard work

I've been in the police around 20 years and have enjoyed the vast majority of my career.