Lifeguard
🏊On duty at a beach, pool or water park: watches swimmers, pulls out people in trouble and gives first aid. Often seasonal work.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $35.9k a year on average
Lifeguards & other recreational, & all other protective service workers — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £26.9k median a year · 16,000 jobs
Sports and leisure assistants — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI cameras spot a drowning swimmer in a pool faster than a human, but someone still has to jump in and pull them out.
Who it suits
Interests: 🛡️ Protecting, rescuing, serving, 🏃 Sport and movement, 🤝 Helping and caring, 🩺 Medicine and health.
Key strengths: strength and stamina, organisation, attention to detail.
Where to study
- Course Lifeguard certificate (RLSS NPLQ in the UK, American Red Cross Lifeguarding, DLRG Rettungsschwimmer in Germany)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): PE, Biology.
🧗 A short course (about 30–40 hours) and a certificate: NPLQ in the UK, Red Cross Lifeguarding in the US, DLRG Rettungsschwimmer in Germany. You can start at 16, usually as a summer job.
Things to know
🌊 Working on or under water🩺 Strict medical checks
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