LOL I was surprised that OP dismissed my UPS suggestion. Those drivers tend to look pretty fit - not like the guy on King of Queens. I bet there are some kinesiology majors among them.
And another idea–PT Aide. Doesn’t require any additional training or certificates beside what he already has. Work is physically intensive. Lots of lifting and helping to move bedridden patients. Pay is ~$19/hour. Less stressful and hectic than working EMT jobs. No night shifts either.
It would allow him to see if being a PT Assistant would appeal before committing to additional schooling.
He’s looked at PT aide and thought he’d need additional training? He’s still toying with the idea of PT assistant.
I will mention ups driver! One of his friends, business major, is driving for ups.
Amazon is starting drone deliveries. Not sure what part of the last mile delivery this will effect over the next 10 years. Something to keep in mind. There are more interesting ways to do this in fact – for a while (maybe even now on a resale) you could buy these delivery routes and operate them yourself. I think the investment offered a high teens percentage annual return.
I think the thread has moved on, but just a bit of advice from having hired several people over the past couple months - try not to apply directly on Indeed, Facebook, etc., at least for smaller companies. One, especially if we are old, we don’t know how to get those applications. Two, at least on Indeed, the formatting is odd, and it doesn’t show things I was requiring - e.g., send your resume and a cover letter to xxx email address w/ xxx in the subject line - so I was weeding folks out who didn’t include a cover letter (can’t follow directions) and so on before I realized that was an Indeed issue, not an applicant issue. This is obviously different for large companies with full-sized HR departments, but my advice is find the job on Indeed or whatever, and then see if you can find the actual posting on the company website & apply through that. A little more work, but WAY more likely to get seen and interviewed.
On another note, I find it so sad that EMT is so underpaid. In my neck of the woods (not a major urban area) the pay is $15/hour and jobs are going begging. This is due to low reimbursement rates and puts us all in danger. Meanwhile my 18-year old is making $16 an hour in one job, and $18 in another, and they are service-type jobs that take little training & aren’t anywhere close to as difficult to perform (or as important to society). People working jobs with tips are probably making $8-10 more an hour than she is, maybe more. So why would anyone be an EMT? If anyone is looking for a cause to advocate around this is a good one. It’s an incredibly difficult job, physically and emotionally, and we should be rewarding those willing to do it.
There are many problems with the analysis – using inaccurate salaries from decades ago, assuming earnings on year 1 remain the same as earnings on year 20, assuming UPS drivers can work unlimited hours, assuming all type of UPS drivers and physicians have the same net income, ignoring job related expenses, ignoring inflation, etc. The assumptions are inaccurate enough to make the specific numbers meaningless, but it is true that physicians often have a good amount of debt and often take many years past undergrad to reach high annual earnings, which can limit early career net earnings.
Indeed lists the average salary for UPS drivers as $20.67 per hour or a little over$40k/yr for 40 hours per week. Drivers in CA would be significantly higher than average, less experienced drivers would be lower than more experienced. It’s a livable wage, but not the first job I would think of, if the goal is to increase earnings over present. I used to be involved with the strength training community and participate on related forums. Enough people worked as UPS drivers for me to take notice, but it was often people looking for an inexpensive way to get health insurance with a part time job.
Other possible graduate pathways besides PT (which is tough to get into and might not even be what he’d enjoy) would be Athletic Training (2 year MSAT, offered at a number of CSU’s including Long Beach and Northridge) and Chiropractic (3-4 year DC).
In the shorter term, an alternative to living at home might be a live-in caregiver job. A guy who can lift 300# safely would be a huge asset to a disabled adult who needed live-in care, and some of these jobs are compatible with having a “day job” as well.
Make sure you’re looking at PT Aide, not PT Assistant. PT Assistant requires an AA degree + state certification. PT Aide does not.
FSIL was able to get a full time PT Aide position at an academic hospital with zero specialized training and a completely unrelated undergrad degree. (Environmental sustainability management) Working as a PT aide was part of his decision making process about whether to attend PT school. (He decided yes and is now in his first year.)
It is probably commonly used as a stepping stone job. Examples include aspiring medical students and firefighters.
If he’s interested in teaching PE, have him look at the NAIC website. Independent schools don’t require state teaching certification.
FSIL also worked for 2 years as an outdoor education teacher at a private school. He led school groups in grades 6 thru 12 on overnight to 2 week long outdoor camping trips.
Prior to that, he worked for Outward Bound as a trip leader/organizer/trainer. Outward Bound is a great job for someone who loves being in the outdoors/wilderness, but it’s mostly seasonal work with very few staff being kept on year round.
LA County hires Outdoor Ed teachers for a variety of programs. Some require teaching certification; some don’t.
Well, exactly. So you’re ok with the fact that the person who shows up when you have a heart attack or stroke is just using it as a stepping stone and probably only has a couple years of experience, at best? I mean sure there might be a paramedic on the ambulance, but especially for those of us outside major metropolitan areas there probably isn’t. I’d personally like to see EMS services paid at a similar rate as fire/police - but the insurance companies will never go for that. And with that we are thoroughly off-topic so I’ll stop there 
I am not saying that the resulting state of affairs is a good thing, just stating a possible reason why it is.
Of course, the ambulance companies want to charge as much as possible because patients are not in a position to choose by comparing quality and price. But when they are hiring labor, they probably have the advantage of a large supply willing to work for relatively low pay.
Many ambulance companies are critically understaffed. There’s a lot of talk about the need to pay a living wage, but nothing changes.
And yet, the bill if you need even a short ambulance ride? Thousands!
$12000 for a ride across the Bay Bridge to UCSF for a kid with, at the time, undiagnosed complex migraine that mimics a stroke. It was after hours and the only available pediatric MRI. I fought this bill, tooth and nail and wished I never left Europe.
Insane. You should’ve gotten a helicopter for 12K. (Not to mention that it should be covered…)
When my son was injured getting on a chairlift due to an operator’s error, he was taken by ambulance to the local airport, by helicopter to Portland’s airport, and then by ambulance to the nearby hospital. The total transport bill was about $12,000 but that was in 2007. At first the ski resort said they would not reimburse us, but we got an attorney and they changed their mind.
I agree, but I’m curious if anyone knows the answer to this question — are Volunteer Fire Fighters compensated in any way or are they truly volunteers? I’m just not sure of the funding. Obviously they have fire engines so they have to pay for those somehow. Just amazing to me the things that are prioritized in this country. So grateful that there are people who will step up and help out even w/o compensation.