What careers help the most people?

[BlueOak]

What careers in your experience help the most people?

In any capacity that you've experienced.

Thanks.

 

[Ninja_pig]

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/meaningful-jobs

https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/meaningful-work

From my research it seems like being a surgeon is the most sure-fire way to help a ton of people in a really meaningful way. If you want a job that helps people, make sure you are directly involved in actually impacting their lives. You can't really help people from a distance like some engineers, academics, lawyers, or politicians think they can (not to say that it's impossible to to help people directly with these skills). I'm pretty young and have not started the career I want to yet (I'm still in college), but I have been tutoring for a while and I have found that very rewarding because I get to directly help people with their course work and with succeeding in college. It's happier and has heightened my self-esteem a lot.

[Michael569]

Couple of ideas I can think of depending on the scale you want to have an impact. Obviously, all of these are macro categories and they can be broken down into an endless amount of jobs. None of the below are jobs per se, they are sectors which you may consider. 

• Careers in health & welness in general - medicine, alternative medicine, welness services, therapeutic services of any kind
• Ecology, Sustainability and Planetary Welfare - such as WWF, B-Corp, Fair Trade, Organic Soil Association . 
• Social Services - retirement homes, social care, homeless care, child foster care services etc
• Law and legal counselling services 
• Careers in consumer right protection of any kind - such as corporate audits, legal support for people who cannot afford private counceling
• Careers in consumer health protection - FDA, Water treatment, Public health guidelines etc. 
• Careers in public safety services - fire brigade, police department, military, paramedic services, crime & investigation, forensics
• Other public services - public transport & infrastructure management 
• Education & Tutoring in any shape and form is a humble public service with lasting impact 
• Farming & Food sourcing is much needed public service
• Missionary work
• Public entertainment is a gigantic sector with millions of different jobs 

There is much more. Ofcourse different careers come with different salaries, career progression and satisfaction but if your sole goal is to help people and feel good at the end of a day, you can have that as a mental health coach, as a paramedic, as as an elementary school teacher or an educator or even as a volunteer in a charity shop. 

All depends on your values, financial needs, freedom requirements and current staus quo 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Michael569

[Ulax]

@BlueOak I'd say stage yellow careers. So it wouldn't tell having a job where you are essentially in a position of responsibility with regard to some sort of system. For example if you were to become a well regarded and effective policy advisor within a government then you could have a very great impact.

In my opinion, I'd say being in this position of say a policy advisor would actually enable you to do much greater good and say being a therapist. Forward with a therapist you are limited to say a number of clients in the hundreds during your career. However on a governmental level he would be making decisions which affect the lives of millions of people in that country alone, let alone if you were to influence something like foreign policy.

I think the key difference with the stage yellow career is that you are thinking big picture. It's not just how can I help this suffering African Village but instead how can I affect the entire economy of this African country. The former helps dozen's, the latter helps millions

[BlueOak]

Thank you all for the thoughts

@Ulax | @Michael569 | @Ninja_pig

People's own experiences and opinions are probably the best thing to ask, when looking at careers like this. I appreciate it, and will keep an eye on the thread if anyone has any other experiences they want to share.

Gratitude. Have a great day.