Careers in the Post-Apocalyptic World

Just like today, surviving the post-apocalyptic world is going to be a rat race, except in this case the rats may have grown considerably in size, intelligence, and aggression due to all the radiation. At any rate, you’re going to need a way to put food on your plate somehow.

When you think of careers after the # hits the fan, think low-tech. There simply won’t be a whole lot of demand for web designers, software developers, or network engineers. Along the same lines, the career you choose is going to have give people some sort of real, tangible benefit, so you can forget about being an interior decorator, nail technician, or attorney. Our society is an extremely complicated one, with many different levels of complexity when it comes to the job market. Once Armageddon begins things are going to get a hell of a lot simpler, and the economy will go back to more or less what we had during the early middle ages in Europe, only with a lot more mutants and a lot fewer court jesters.

Since jobs are going to revert to their most basic level, your average Joe is probably going to be a farmer, a hunter, a gatherer, or some combination thereof. With any luck, you won’t be an average Joe, allowing you to pursue some of these exciting opportunities.

• Wandering Merchant - Travel from town to town, hawking your wares to pockets of survivors, while buying other stuff back. With any luck you’ll make enough in the difference to get some food and maybe a hooker every now and then.
  
• Mercenary - If you’ve got an aptitude for violence, you could do a lot worse for yourself than good, honest mercenary work.
  
• Eccentric Inventor - If you chose Steampunk as your preferred manner of dress, and hot air balloon as your primary means of travel, then Eccentric Inventory is undoubtedly the career path for you.
  
• Lackey - Think you’d make a good bad guy, but don’t quite have what it takes to lead a gang of violence-fueled ruffians? Consider being a Lackey. Think of it as a management training program for ne’er-do-wells.
  
• Snake Tamer - Just like the world of today, someone needs to be out there, taming snakes and teaching them to attack passers-by who wander too close to your camp.
  
• Gladiator - Win the favor of the fickle crowd by savagely mauling your opponent. A great career for out-of-door types.
  
• Amateur Archaeologist/Scavenger - Someone is going to need to pick the bones of our dead civilization, so why not you? Imagine the fun you’ll have rummaging through all the useless gadgets to try to find something with some intrinsic value.
  
• Entertainer - People are going to be mighty depressed, what with the total collapse of global society and all, so they’re going to need someone to cheer them up. In exchange for you performing magic tricks or singing top forty music on a homemade guitar, they’ll probably agree not kill and eat you.
  
• Slave Trader - Profit from human misery!
  
• Raider - Do you enjoy breaking things, stealing stuff, and killing people? Be a raider and be your own boss. Franchise opportunities abound.
  
• Prostitute - If the oldest profession can’t survive the apocalypse, you sure as hell aren’t going to. So swallow your pride and put on a smile, big guy, you’ve got some Johns to please.
  

thecrit.com...

Great stuff, lots of interesting sections including:
The Environment
Food and Drink
Shelter
Transportation
Clothing
Self Defense and Weapons
Dealing with Hostiles
Companions
ect



So what other jobs will there be? Anyone care to add to the list?

It looks like whoever created this list was a huge fan of the Fallout video game series.

Assuming the absolute worst case scenario and taking the topic seriously, I think that doctors, civil and agricultural engineers, and homeopathic/natural "pharmacists" will all be in high demand. We'll need to rebuild infrastructure and vital systems (engineers) and we'll certainly need all the healing help we can get following an apocalyptic event.

Conversely, those professing the careers of politician, lawyer, and tax collector will hopefully be shot on sight.

reply to post by warrenb


Whiskey making .... or in these parts a moonshine called "Poitin" .



So long as i don`t end up wearing a "jacket made from tractor tyres" complete with headgear ala. Madmax , i don`t mind.


Land , with a permaculture system set up ........ my only true pension plan

How about setting a merchant bank up?
and then maybe later on a stock exchange?
if it all goes tits up, some mugs would surely help you out

PEACE,
RK

I've recently taken up wine making.

I think that this will have value in the future.

Why would anyone want to harm their local wine maker?

[edit on 22-7-2009 by Wildbob77]

I think specialization would disappear.
So most people would have a couple of different "jobs".
We all have abilities or at least potential to develop the most diverse abilities.
All we need is a little push to start our own development (since we are comfortably numb).

Haha, I've thought about this before, after playing Fallout 3.

I work in graphic / web design so computers are a big part of my daily life. I'd need to think of alternative skills that I can use if it comes to that.

Entertainer? I'm sure there would be a few undamaged guitars lying around hehe

Being of assistance to others would be another. Building shelters, stuff like that.

There would be hostiles, and a lot of little groups of people who will kill to get an item. Having some combat skills would be an advantage



[edit on 22/7/09 by dmorgan]

Fitness Trainer: It helps people relax,provides distraction and add confidence, and produces excellent "happy stimulations" for the brain and body!

A "natural" anti-despressant.

You'll have to be tough both mentally and physically to survive,sorry.
You'll also NEED to stay healthy because health-care will be hard to come by and a strong,fit,body is one less likely to become ill or damaged.

You'll also look great which may come in handy if you choose a couple of the other otions listed above.

No fancy stuff required as I see it,you can make-do with lots of things and get a killer workout plus "planks" are free,LOL!

If you can teach dance or movement,that will be a plus.If you can teach yoga,you may well become a deity,HAHAHA!

[edit on 22-7-2009 by irishchic]

Engineering skills of any kind would be invaluable. For example if your savvy enough to be able to build a wind generator from scratch you just became a hero.
Doctors or any sort of medical background would also be an invaluable asset in a post apocalyptic world.
Being able to bring a wide variety of skills to a group of people (or just yourself if you are the loner type) would drastically increase your chances of survival and acceptance.
Some sort of combat or survival skills would also be handy.

I know quite a bit about my local flora and fauna,am a vegetable gardener and have been for some years,i have some hens and rabbits,i can cook just about anything and know how to dress(cut up) various animals(in theory,i've studied it and would do it if i had to),i can operate a bow and arrow,i can make clothes,i know how to make dye for clothes,i can ride a horse,i can assist in an uncomplicated birth,.....infact,listing it all,i'm actually quite suprised!I may just be able to help my family survive should the SHTF!

Isn't fate weird?All the interests i was ridiculed for would make me popular in the right circumstances?My 'geeky' interest in Archaeology means i've studied how to make flint tools.If i ever need that skill for real,i'll be wishing we had power so i could ask for the ATS community's slant on destiny!

I think that more people will move to the country and become farmers, living off the land. We have a generation gap - My great-grandfather was the last of our family that had farming skills - But these skills can be learned over time and with some specialized reading on the subject.

As society breaks down, look for more and more people to move to the country and seek a quieter, more peaceful life growing their own food.

reply to post by TheLily


your skills will be in demand for sure

reply to post by warrenb


An old school radio amateur would be a really good career choise. The kind of an old radio ham who can build antennas, repair radios and communicate on morse code. Amateur radio would be the only method of long-range communication. (This is why I have a radio amateur license, unfortunately I don't spend any time on this hobby now...)

But yes, I think that most people would be just farmers.

So basically you should learn farming, get an amateur radio license, learn how to shoot and read some manuals about nuclear survival?

Water filterer/distiller. People could set up solar stills, and steralize glass containers/lids by boiling, then fill them with distilled water, cap them and mark the time/date/person who processed it.

Water could be traded as money, and if many people had a distilling operation, they'd contribute to the community as well as make themselves dispensable. Remember, in our hypothetical post-apocalyptic scenario, infections become much more deadly and important than they are now. Giardia could kill, rather than merely make a person sick for a long time. Waterborne pathogens and other contaminants might be the primary vector of illness.

Originally posted by CookieMonster09
I think that more people will move to the country and become farmers, living off the land. We have a generation gap - My great-grandfather was the last of our family that had farming skills - But these skills can be learned over time and with some specialized reading on the subject.

As society breaks down, look for more and more people to move to the country and seek a quieter, more peaceful life growing their own food.

I agree with you,we have lost too many skills in the past 50 years.
I have learned how to make homemade jelly and jam for
my grandkids'. It tastes better than what you would buy in the store.
I'm learning how to can foods and later want to start gardening.

I found these books on the internet called, Foxfire.I recommend that
people try and buy these books,there are 12 volumes in total.They
teach you skills from another era.You never know when you might
need these skills.

Think I'd take a little to gun working. Both making and using! Just tried a flint lock recently and it was love at first shot! Gunpowder for one can be made rather easily, flint is pretty common were I'm from and getting lead for bullets would be tricky but possible. For long term we may need to go simple for the types of guns we'd use. Having access some vary valuable artifacts called books on that and other topics necessary for survival could also go a long way!