Which jobs would be morally rewarding?

Delivery driver for Riverford? Or anything in organic/regenerate agriculture growing food.

Check out third sector for jobs relating to charity/ good causes.

https://jobs.thirdsector.co.uk/?_ga=2.158502716.76818516.1675789567-419449247.1675789567

Interesting that folks seem to think that working in an ethical industry is essential for moral rewards.

I don’t (or at least the opinion of the huddled masses on here seem to only ever say the industry is a moral vacuum) and I do find my work personally rewarding.

My last job was morally rewarding. It was providing bike hire and driving cyclists to and from the start/end of their holidays. I genuinely felt that enabling more cycling holidays was reducing car/van traffic and the associated pollution. The likes of Sustrans will have a requirement for legal skills.

Boob inspector.

Teacher? Industry expert for an exam board? Education is massively frustrating at times, but having just got out of a very productive examiners’ meeting to read a message from one of my upper 6th students who has just been offered his dream degree apprenticeship reminds me how much positivity can be imparted by education.

Stay in the current job (unless you really want/need to leave) but go 3 or 4 days per week and then spend some time doing something else… Maybe become a scout leader?

Helicopter door gunner in Austraila, shooting thousands of feral camels.

Proceed with caution.

I’ll add, watch out for recruitment marketing that’s specifically targeting people of your mindset, some companies making a big push on this to attract and retain staff.

Any business that askes for staff engagement surveys etc and have break out spaces are the evil empire with a spin doctor.

I’d like to work outside

Teaching  has its ups and downs

But I work in a sixth form college which is more up than down

Starting salary is more than £22000. Progressing the scales gets  you £42000 with out promotion

Never doubted what I’m doing is worth while. Really only the odd hour doing pointless stuff

Been there, done that, sort of!

It depends what you mean my morally rewarding. For me, it meant feeling like I was doing something that I believed in. When I worked in the public sector, I did a bunch of stuff I could believe in, and worked every hour there was to deliver it. But then I got put on some projects where I felt like the eligibility for spending was all wrong, and public funds were being wasted, and I just couldn’t muster the will to sit in meetings and argue for stuff I didn’t really believe in.

Writing for a MTB magazine might not sit in the same boat as ‘rescuing dogs’ or ‘finding cures for cancer’, but I do think it’s a thing which brings other people joy, and through which I can try and Do Some Good. Having a platform to talk about things I care about like mental health, or environmental issues, or social justice feels purposeful, even if it’s not the focus of the job.

It sounds like you probably have some sort of organisational and maths skills – those are probably transferrable to whatever sector or discipline you might find purpose in. So, what causes or issues get you excited? Are there things that bring you joy? What do you like making a difference to? What do you wish everyone else could experience in the way you do? Somewhere in there lies the clues to a happier future, I think. But bear in mind that turning your hobby into your work might mean you can’t create separation – that’s not for everyone.

I wouldn’t suggest the bike industry (at least not this year!), but these tales of people making the switch to something they believe in might give some inspiration: https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/singletrack-magazine-issue-117-quit-your-job/

Complete curve ball but there’s a massive push up here in Scotland to recruit people into peatland restoration roles. Outside most days in some fantastic landscapes and actually making a difference to our climate crisis surely has to be morally rewarding.

Join the military, as long as false intelligence dossiers are not found, you will not have to go off and kill people. However you can get to drive oil tankers, ambulances, fire engines, do passport control, stop dams leaking with sandbags, stop people in dinghy’s trying to float over here, cover for prison officers, set up emergency hospitals and give injections during a pandemic, provide security for international sporting events, the list is almost endless, good luck!

Depending on age and willingness to retrain you could look into working in healthcare.

There is a severe shortage of decent people working in cancer diagnostics or of you want to use the skills you have there would be opportunities for managerial roles in healthcare.

last few years have been hard work but with an aging population there are only going to be increasing numbers of people getting cancer and with your personal history it would probably feel pretty rewarding

I work in renewables, we generate loads of legal work.

@keith74 any links?

Any business that askes for staff engagement surveys etc and have break out spaces are the evil empire with a spin doctor.

we know we are the evil empire so got rid of the spin doctor.

Really just repeating what others are saying, but charity sector seems obvious. Cancer Research UK for instance employs lots of finance and legal types to deal with their huge quantity of multi-million pound grants/deals/contracts/partnerships. Most of them seem to have come from a corporate background and take big salary cuts to ‘give something back’. Despite the far, far more modest salaries, you could still easily get your £22k working part time.

There is a whole network of Law Centres, charities which provide advice on a whole series of legal issues – debt, immigration, housing, family law – which might suit your legal background.  https://vacancies.lawcentres.org.uk/vacancies/

My stock response: Read and complete all the tasks in What Colo(u)r is Your Parachute.

The answer is at the end of that.

I am an engineer who mainly focusses on people not drowning/losing everything in floods. And making sure railway bridges don’t fall into rivers.

It’s pretty satisfying as there are no shareholders. Well there are bit it’s the employees.

Found myself in a similarish situation to you about five years ago at the age of 50.  I was lucky enough to be able to stop work for a couple of years during which time I recovered physically and mentally while learning to repair vintage wooden boats.  This was a great way to decompress and spend some time focused on being creative etc.

I also thought about what I really liked doing as I’ve always wanted to achieve the holy grail of making my hobby my job.  The upshot was that I retrained as a sailing instructor and now run a sailing school based at a club on the Thames.

My children are at a state secondary and I have been doing work there, initially as an exam invigilator and more recently as a tutor helping youngsters who are in bottom set years 7-11.  If there is one sector which needs the support of people who want to make a difference and do good it is education (in my opinion at least).  My school is ranked outstanding and in one of the UK’s most affluent boroughs and yet there are kids who come to school hungry and will a huge range of social and psychological issues at play.  I have also had feedback that the fact that I am an older male is a benefit to the school as the majority of the (excellent and massively motivated) staff are younger and female.  Bottom set is populated by boys so providing, in some small way, a male role model really helps them.

So, I’m now doing three part time jobs, busy and stimulated all the time, have control over my life (no work on a Monday!), earn a fraction of what I used to do but am many times happier and believe I am doing something morally good helping kids and adults learn new skills and achieve their potential.  My health is also better than it has been for a decade as are my relationships with loved ones.  I am very fortunate to have the support of my wife who is our main breadwinner but as I am able to combine work with childcare and running the home (cooking, cleaning etc) she is happy with the trade-off as we are saving all the money we used to spend on childcare and so on.

Good luck!

(As an aside, drop me a line if you are thinking of working for a charity.  I spent four years running a business providing services to 150 of the largest organisations in this sector and would suggest that it may not deliver on your desire for something ‘morally rewarding’.  Like all businesses, charities can have significant moral blindspots which is why I would never go back).

Morality is a massive subject but I will take it as “feeling like you are doing good and helping the world”.

First thing you need to decide is how do you want to help the world? Environmental? Society? Wildlife? Fighting for the under represented?

You then need to define the compromises you are prepared to make. Money, location, what type of organisation you would work for / with. How close to the results you want to be?

A family member has retrained and taken a ‘sign language’ course at university. She’s about to start work, but has done voluntary work using her skills in the deaf community.

I’d steer clear of charities if you can, unless you find one that actualy does what it sets out to do, or you’re capable of turning things around.

I’m going to generalise here, but based on my own experience, directly and indirectly with a reasonable number of charities covering a couple of sectors, they range from broadly incompetent, to scandalously corrupt.

Some charities tend to be set up by people with a vision, or those that have been broken by the ‘system’ so set out to do something, while lacking the ability to follow through properly and, through no fault of their own, are unable to follow through.

Some see them as an income with little demand. fine if the outcomes are met, but not exactly driven is it? these inevitably are unsustainable past a few rounds of external funding.

Some set them up possibly with good intentions, but end up being condiuts for donated money and funds generated through succesful, but vague funding applications, to go into paying high wages, or payng over the odds for services provided by mates/relatives etc, rather than set aside to do what it set out to do or improve a service that the cash is specifically given to do.

I’m sure they’re not all like that. possibly.

Not exactly morally rewarding though.

I’m sure they’re not all like that. possibly

They really are not like that. We’ve existed for 33 years, levered millions into our work, led the world in many areas of our work, still work with thousands of schools and early years settings, and make sure our finances are aimed at doing what we do really well.

Some of our founders, including a certain David Attenborough, had an aim that we should do ourselves out of a job. That still remains a measure of success, and it’s disappointing that we’re still here and needing to do what we do.

YCMMV

In fact we are recruiting, so come join us.

Work For Us

https://uk.indeed.com/jobs?q=citizens+advice+worker&l=&from=searchOnHP&vjk=eb70dddaad392668

£30k a year but might have to live near Bradford!

But CAB or most LA’s do have welfare rights workers and most (paid) staff earn over £22k. Defeat the evil of the DWP (I work for them btw) 😉

This is a bit of a shameless plug. Arboriculture is deperately short of people, particularly the technical side and moreso of Local Authority Tree Officers. LA surveyors can now earn more than £22,000 and TO’s are generally paid a little more. You are generally advocatimg for trees and often by extension green spaces; this might not be about retaining each and every tree but maintaining and hopefully growing a healthy and diverse tree stock for the benefit of all.

CAB / advice work jobs are very hard to get into and certainly Mrs TJs job with Edinburgh city councils advice shop she barely earned £22000 with a law degree and 30 years experience.  She really struggled at times to get jobs as its very competitive.

that job in Bradford the OP would go in as a trainee

Protect the planet by lowering carbon output, while injecting joy into the lives of your customers.  Become a woodburner guy. 🙂

There’s no downside that I can see with that one.

I work in IT and whilst I didnt have a life changing event, I was feeling increasingly bothered by only working for profit. That, in combination with seeing how poorly people mistreat the trail networks (mainly litter) I felt like I needed to do something that made a difference.

Also, in my experience (and I’ll admit I am quite the existential nihilist) hell is other people; so I wanted to work for the planet.

After about a years searching and applying, I have just landed a job at Friends of the Earth. I start in April, the salary is very reasonable, and they’re priortising work/life balance by moving all contracts to 30 days a week. I won’t be working Mondays anymore, I’ll be riding them.

I realise that this is a pretty niche example, and believe me I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot. But my point is, as someone with transferable skills you can find legal work at places that make a difference.

People seem fixated on making a difference themselves; but I came quickly to the conclusion that you have to collaborate to do that. You need to find a company or a business that aligns with your idea of ‘making a difference’ and just start chucking out applications. Whilst retraining and taking a lower salary is an option – its not the only option.

Tree planting, mate (paid per tree). You’ll be so knackered at the end of each day anything other than primal needs will be the last thing on your mind!

 30 days a week.

I’ve had weeks like that

Ha! That’s not exactly good work life balance is it 😉

I meant 30 hours…

Forestry

Currently working in banking dealing with litigation. Having suffered from and recovered from Cancer in the last 2 years has caused me to rethink my life and occupation. I’d like to consider a job where I’m doing some good. Making a difference to other people or to the world in general.

Interesting views.

If you are fair I don’t see anything wrong with being a litigator or in any other jobs at all. (This comes from someone who strongly believes in karma) i.e. all jobs can be morally rewarding with the right intentions.

People can have a morally right job yet with all the negative intentions. Plenty of examples if you look around.

I have seen people who tried to destroy others privately but front themselves as charity donors to preach the good. Well, they have just doubled their own negative karma. LOL!

Think like litter picker or volunteer counsellor, only the pay would have to be minimum 22k, which would be a substantial reduction to current salary.

If you wish to off set your karma then help those who help others. Make sure they are really genuine people and don’t judge the book by the cover.

Brainstorm with me, what might you suggest?

Be a morally fair person from within yourself. i.e. start with your intention. Not easy once you start evaluating yourself tbh.

p/s: slight hijack. I have also seen people crying in their old age regretting their past actions. Too late. Time is almost up.

I see someone mentioned renewables, that’s what I came here to type. Your skills would you get you into that industry.

I’ve gone bike mechanic, hydro engineer, forestry engineer, in that order. I wouldn’t recommend commercial forestry as morally rewarding as it’s definitely not a force for good environmentally (its also pretty dull engineering wise). Forestry is probably not good for the mental health of the lower ranks either, but they do need land agents if that fits you. The rule I try to apply is ‘being part of the solution, not part of the problem’, to most directions I take in life, which is roughly the same as what you’re looking for.

Busker? 🎶

https://www.environmentjob.co.uk/jobs/93661-community-partnerships-lead

Coincidentally, there’s a well paid job at FoE that suits someone with a background in law 🙂

For me the problem here is twofold:

1) Any job you do after a while loses its charm, work is dull. So be aware of that.
2) Any job any of us do can be undermined by morals, all our jobs have a bad effect on someone somewhere, that’s just life.

Any job where your perceived value to society is greater than your perceived value of your income.