Careers for Those Who Want to Help Their Community

It's often said that by helping others, you'll also be helping yourself while giving back to those in the community who need it the most. In any case, you may want to consider one of several career choices that contribute directly to those whom you care for and want to support. For that reason, you'll find below a list of careers known to help people as directly as possible.

Lawyer

Becoming a lawyer means potentially dealing with and solving problems related to families and children, defending clients in court, or even helping those who have been injured at work or in an accident. As an attorney, you'll be able to set up shop directly within the community you'll be serving, allowing its members to employ your services directly in order to help them with their legal needs. In some instances, you may even be inclined to take some jobs pro bono, meaning without pay, as a favor to people facing egregious charges.

Clinical Psychologist

In today's world, mental health issues are becoming more prevalent than ever due to mounting pressures and anxieties in day-to-day life. A psychologist's job is to help alleviate and find solutions to mental health problems many people are facing. More specifically, your role will be to assess patients, diagnose, and treat psychological illnesses within your practice, either in general categories or within a specialization. To obtain your career, you'll need to enroll in a clinical psychology program and earn your Ph.D. This is followed by clinical training and becoming fully licensed.

Police Officer

Police officers undergo rigorous training and exercises in order to directly protect the communities which they serve. You may feel that your community needs direct help to deal with some of the problems it faces. You may also be willing to make sacrifices to serve your friends and neighbors. In that case, becoming a police officer may be a good career choice to consider.

Firefighter

The responsibilities of a firefighter go beyond just putting out fires. Firefighters consist of emergency response teams deployed in the event of a natural disaster, rescue situations, and can even apply first aid in some situations. They go through training and learn specific skills, ultimately working in hierarchical structures organized to maintain order in drastic, stressful situations. This is another career of self-sacrifice that has a direct impact on the community. Additionally, your work doesn't have to be limited to the ground; you may even find yourself working on Life Flights, taking the most urgently sick people through the air in a helicopter to direct care in a hospital.

Paramedic

Both paramedics and firefighters form the backbone of what is now known as the full set of first response teams. Paramedics comprise the medical portion of first response, administering first aid and transport of critically injured or ill patients to hospitals so that they can receive the urgent medical attention they need. Being a paramedic, you'll be able to help people directly by stabilizing their condition enough for transport to a hospital.

These are only a few among many of the different career choices you can take if you want to help your community. Importantly, they're jobs that make very direct, proven, and visible positive impacts on those around you, making them ideal and obvious choices.