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10 professions with meaning – “helping people”

Generation Y is said to all want to do a job that makes sense. Why not? It can be a good start for a fulfilling life. Many people see a purpose in helping people. Here are 10 professions you can do this with:

1. Agricultural scientists / farmers

No, I don’t mean that you should help people with delicious milk products on the cooling shelf. But agricultural science is a sought-after profession in international development cooperation organizations. Develop projects on how to grow plants even in difficult climates and even travel to the countries themselves and teach people how they can take better care of themselves through new cultivation methods – for such tasks you need experts with good background knowledge. And adequate nutrition is the first and most important step in development cooperation – long before trauma therapies, the advancement of women and human rights work, it must first be guaranteed that people can live at all. Well, is farmer suddenly no longer such a bad job?
(Access: Studied agricultural science, agricultural economics, training as a farmer)

2. Civil engineers (and other engineers)

I still haven’t gotten into the social professions. Because social workers cannot build wells. And they cannot set up decentralized sewage systems for slums that are not connected to the sewage system. You probably don’t know how to use renewable energies as power sources for isolated villages. Engineers can also expand the infrastructure, e.g. B. a reasonable road network and help build schools and hospitals. By the way, you don’t necessarily have to have studied to take part in such projects. Craftsmen are also required.
(Access: Studies in civil engineering, architecture, training as plant mechanic, steel and concrete worker, plumber, roofer, etc.)

3. Social workers

Okay, okay. I come to THE job when it comes to working with people. Yes, you can do a lot with social work. Whether young or older people, with or without a migration background, women, men, transgender people etc. Whether trauma therapy, assisted living, social counseling, educational support, community work oriented to social space, as a social worker you can take on an incredible number of different tasks and also learn more than in maybe any other course of study on how to treat people with respect, appreciation and the necessary professional distance. A little tip: In my opinion, FH makes more sense here than Uni. And: See that the course is ideally recognized by the state. This gives you more job opportunities.
(Access: Studies in social work, social pedagogy, without state recognition educational science)

4. Lawyers

If you specialize in international law, human rights and co. you choose to become an important legal expert. You can work in human rights organizations, act as a consultant or critical observer in the establishment of democratic structures in countries, act as a mediator in international or much smaller conflicts and become a legal adviser in non-profit organizations. But: Lawyers have rather difficult prospects on the German job market. It is best to diligently gain experience in the areas of your choice while studying.
(Access: law)

5. Health care professions and academic health care professions

Doctors, nurses, nurses for the elderly, pharmacists, midwives / childbirth nurses, paramedics … in the health sector it is pretty clear that you work directly with people. There is also a great need for jobs in nursing and for doctors, but in the non-academic professions in particular, pay, working hours and stress are minus points. It is best to find out beforehand through internships or ideally an FSJ in the hospital whether you are really so passionate about work that you would like to accept the negative aspects of the job. PS: If you later go to Doctors Without Borders or similar. want to work, see which professions are recognized abroad.
(Access: Studies in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, training in nursing, nursing for the elderly, midwife / maternity nurse, paramedic, PTA, MTA, (dental) medical specialist, osteopath, alternative practitioner * in etcpp.)

6. Psychotherapists

Here too it is clear that you are helping people directly. Whether with your own practice, in German clinics or at Doctors Without Borders, you can help traumatized and mentally ill people. But the way to get there is not easy: If you want to work with adults, you need a master’s degree in psychology and at least 3 years of very expensive training. If you want to work with children and adolescents, you have to study psychology, educational science or social work (master) and then do a 3-year training course, which is a little cheaper, but still very expensive. The cheaper, but also more difficult way is to study medicine – to become a psychiatrist or medical psychotherapist.
(Access: Studies in psychology, educational science, social work, medicine)

7. Training occupations (craft, industry, "green")

If you are a master in an industrial or craft profession or in a “green profession” (e.g. gardener), you can work in projects for labor market integration. Adolescents with bad grades, long-term unemployed, former drug addicts, refugees etc. often find it difficult to gain access to the labor market. That is why there are projects in which they can do supervised vocational training tailored to their needs. You could be their trainer and give them a future.
(Access: thousands of different training courses)

8. Health and social managers

Helping people doesn’t always mean that you work directly with your target group. In hospitals, social institutions and non-profit organizations, there must be people who keep the store going. Someone has to take care of finances, make personnel decisions, work on and have projects worked out, plan strategically, manage public relations etc. It may sound unsexy, but it is an incredibly varied and, for structured thinkers, a very exciting field of work. For many people, even in later years, it becomes an option if they have let off steam in social work.
(Access: Studies in health and social management, business studies with a focus – can also be saddled as a master’s degree in health science, social science or economics bachelor courses).

9. PR consultants / speakers / employees

For many non-profit companies, public relations work is the be-all and end-all. Without good advertising, there are no donations. That is why campaigns for television, online and poster advertising have to be developed. Flyers, newsletters, brochures and information materials must be created. The website and social media must always be up to date. And and and. Organizations prefer to use people who have studied journalism and PR. A great opportunity to combine creativity and meaning in his job.
(Access: e.g. journalism, communication science, German studies and literature, media studies, a journalistic education).

10. Consultants

Special projects need special experts. If an NGO offers educational projects abroad from kindergarten to adult education and maybe also a multitude of health projects, you need excellently trained, highly specialized specialists who are familiar with them. Here, the gender researcher can advance equality, a peace and conflict researcher can help to rebuild a post-war society, and a political scientist can develop civil society political structures. The only problem: Such positions are limited and have very high requirements – including mostly many years of professional experience. So you should research beforehand what you can do with your studies until then.
(Access: Many, many degree programs. In the example of gender studies, peace and conflict research, political science)

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