12 Career Pathways that Support the Community

• By admin
• June 3, 2022
• 7 minutes read

Whether you are just finishing up your undergraduate degree and are set to graduate with a well-deserved qualification at the end of the summer, or else have never attended university and are looking for ways to enhance your job prospects, there can be no better motivation when searching for your next career move than looking for a calling that serves the community.

So, with that being said, here for your information and, of course, reading pleasure, are the main 12 career pathways that support the community and enhance your personal life just as much as they challenge your professional one.

• Paramedic

 

The first career on the list is one of the most important frontline vocations of them all; that of the paramedic.

Paramedics are essentially the initial first responders to an emergency and are well-versed in a number of medical techniques and treatment options, with typical responsibilities including, but not limited to, the following:

• Instantly responding to 911 calls and arriving first at the scene of an accident
• Attending calls that are not considered to be an emergency and administering medical treatment and care, such as pain relief
• Maintaining and monitoring tools and equipment
• Providing information, updates, and advice to their patients’ friends and family members
• Liaising with hospital staff

According to a 2021 study, paramedics working in the United States currently earn between $34,000 and $37,000 a year on average.

• Family Nurse Practitioner

 

Far much more of a vocation rather than simply a job, the role of a family nurse practitioner is one that has a direct impact and major influence on not just members of the community who require care and treatment, but on a wider level, their friends and family members as well.

There are a number of different professional pathways a person can take to become a family nurse practitioner, but the most practical by far is to embark upon an MSN-FSN degree program in nursing, especially since all studying is conducted entirely online.

This modern kind of flexible learning will allow you to fit your nursing studies around your current professional and personal commitments. Learn More about this rewarding and exciting program and start a new journey to becoming a family nurse practitioner today.

Typical roles, duties, and responsibilities of a family nurse practitioner include, but are not at all limited to, the following:

• Taking various specimens from patients, such as urine and blood, and ordering the relevant test samples
• Giving professional advice and special instructions regarding general healthcare and health improvement strategies, such as nutrition information and weight management
• The performance of routine medical treatments and procedures
• The provision and management of post-surgical care help and treatment
• Analyzing, diagnosing, and assessing individual patients
• The formulation of both long-term and shorter-term treatment plans
• Prescribing the relevant medication based on professional tests and subsequent findings
• The application of routine, thorough, and periodic medical evaluations of patients and handling their referral to the appropriate specialist as and when required

• Firefighter

 

As with becoming a professional and registered nurse, another career pathway that is often quoted by young children as the field in which they dream of entering is that of becoming a firefighter.

There is a lot more to this role than attending emergencies and putting out fires, and often – especially in smaller towns and even cities – firefighters have a much more active role in terms of educating the community about the dangers of fire and how to prevent accidents.

Typical roles and responsibilities of a firefighter include:

• Executing rescues and extinguishing fires
• Evaluating new firefighting techniques and equipment
• Educating members of the public on how to prevent fire damage
• The mitigation of chemical spillages
• Notifying supervisors and peers of repairs and equipment maintenance issues
• Handling medical care and other emergency services
• Minimizing fire damage by conducting inspections, especially in public and communal buildings

• Mental Health Counselor

 

An intense and exceedingly rewarding career choice that sees itself firmly in the heart of the community is that of a mental health counselor, and after the disruption and, in some cases, downright devastation caused by the worldwide pandemic, 2022 has mental health counselors in more demand than ever before.

Essentially, the main duties and responsibilities of a mental health counselor can be summarized as the following:

• Meeting with clients and patients on a regular, often weekly, basis
• Diagnosing, talking, treating, and monitoring clients
• Assisting clients in finding and embarking upon additional professional help should they need it
• Employing a wide range of professional techniques to treat their patients
• The development of a treatment plan and working together with the patient to action that plan

• Family Therapist

 

Health professionals who are both licensed and trained in the discipline of psychotherapy and psychology to diagnose and treat both mental and emotional disorders in members of their community, specifically families, are called family therapists.

Family therapy is a fascinating and independent discipline with its own rewards and challenges and often includes the following duties, amongst others:

• Analyzing, noting, and observing thoughts and professional diagnoses surrounding the functioning of a particular family
• Improving and upgrading pre-existing environmental resources, which are there to help families work towards their common goals
• Offering assistance to their clients when working through family traumas, such as grief
• Schooling provision advice
• The formulation of reports and statements for admission to both family therapy and other programs
• Working at the center of the community to ascertain a treatment plan for both individual family members and the family as a whole

• Social Worker

 

Social workers are another group of healthcare and wellbeing professionals who find themselves solely in the middle of the community in which they are immersed. Essentially, they care for people in need, regardless of age, gender, lifestyle, and personal situation.

The role of a social worker within the community is a multi-faceted one but will always contain the following elements as part and parcel of their daily duties:

• Contacting and communicating professionally with people in vulnerable situations
• Planning activities for their clients
• Working together with families, partners, and close friends
• Compiling, updating, and submitting reports
• Stepping in as the professional attendee in a family crisis or dispute

Additionally, the role of a professional social worker often also includes the following responsibilities:

• Spending time building up a rapport with the service user
• Strengthening their professional ties and connections within the community
• The provision of professional support, guidance, and information to people within their community
• Interviewing both individual service users and their families on an informal and formal basis
• Keeping constantly abreast of any and all changes to relevant legislation

• Family Attorney

 

A family attorney is an extremely fascinating career path to pursue that sees a person firmly solidified at the epicenter of their local community and often representing said community by fighting for the rights of its residents.

Overall, there are a variety of different components of family law:

• Child protection and childcare
• Prenuptial marriage agreements
• Child support, visitation rights, and custody
• Annulment and divorce
• Domestic violence
• Juvenile and youth law
• Paternity and maternity
• Financial and property settlements
• Surrogacy

• Speech & Language Therapist

 

A job role that is influential and rewarding and positively impacts the community is that of a speech and language therapist.

Speech and language therapists work with people of all ages to treat and improve a wide range of speech and language disorders and problems, with the ultimate end goal of helping those individuals to communicate more effectively.

Typical roles and responsibilities of a professional speech and language therapist include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Providing professional support, advice, and treatment techniques to people of any age, as well as their family members
• Compiling and writing reports
• Maintaining case reports and notes
• Performing controlled speech and language therapy sessions with groups, whole families, and individuals, including young children
• Providing and planning treatment plans and monitoring how these plans are enacted

• Midwife

 

Another career route that is very important within a community is a midwife. Midwives play a crucial part in society, and are known and valued by not only members of the public but also a host of other professionals too.

Midwives are registered nurses who solely concentrate on the care of the mother before, during, and after the birth of her baby and often liaise with new mothers’ close friends, partners, and family members as well.

A midwife’s duties and responsibilities generally involve the following:

• Building a strong and close professional rapport with the expectant mother
• Monitoring and examining pregnant women
• Administering screening tests
• Taking the mother’s temperature, pulse, blood pressure, and other samples
• Monitoring the baby during labor
• Offering professional help, guidance, and support to new mothers regarding how to care for and bond with their baby
• Helping both mothers and fathers cope emotionally and overcome the trauma and grief of terminations, neonatal death, miscarriage, and stillbirths
• Coaching, tutoring, and professionally supporting student midwives
• Undertaking extensive professional care plans and both monitoring and assessing care requirements

• 911 Dispatcher

 

It is certainly not just the people on the front line dealing directly with the immediate aftermath of accidents, and an exciting, challenging, yet fulfilling way to spend your working life all day every day in such a role would be to apply to become a 911 dispatcher. Conveniently, this profession is entirely feasible to enter without any formal academic qualifications, making it a viable option for many kinds of people.

911 dispatchers are responsible for, amongst others, the following:

• The translation of information to appropriate codes on the phone line
• The performance of immediate and proper medical dispatch of the correct emergency services
• The operation and monitoring of the computer and radio console
• Interpreting, anticipating, and analyzing the situation the caller is in and working to help them as quickly and as efficiently as possible
• Modifying and entering the given information into state, national and local community databases

• Care Worker

 

You will no doubt know someone in your life who has dedicated themselves to looking after elderly people or those with disabilities, illnesses, or accessibility needs – either on a full-time and exclusive basis or in a care home or other residential establishment

Thankfully, this incredibly selfless career choice is one of the most popular amongst people who want to play a highly valuable role in the community and perform a meaningful service but who may not necessarily have many academic qualifications.

Becoming a professional care worker will mean every single day is different and very varied, and the job often involves the following general responsibilities:

• Serving and preparing meals for patients
• Diagnosing and then subsequently making professional medical recommendations to both other healthcare professionals and the patient’s close family members
• The organization of recreational hobbies and enriching activities for patients to enjoy
• Close collaboration with other members of the healthcare system, as well as regularly conversing and meeting with social workers and nurses to ensure that each patient is receiving the best possible standard of care
• Handling daily tasks such as housekeeping in patients’ rooms or homes, shopping for groceries, and doing laundry
• Monitoring, analyzing, and administering both topical and oral medication in the presence of professional nurses

• Kindergarten Teacher

Often, people seem to remember their teachers who taught them when they were small children much clearer and in more detail than teachers who were present in their educational journey later on in life.

The role of a kindergarten teacher is one that is absolutely seminal in terms of impact and influence within the community, and almost no other career sees your professional life surrounded by young minds every single day.

Typical responsibilities of a kindergarten teacher, otherwise often referred to as an ‘early school educator’ include the following:

• Working closely in conjunction with other teaching staff, the early school administration team, and other professionals
• The integration of targets, lesson plans, objectives, and goals in terms of early learning and educational play
• The use of artwork, books, computers, games, movies, and music to enhance the learning experience and educational enthusiasm of young children