If you currently work as a flight attendant and are thinking of switching careers to something completely different, you might be wondering what other jobs are a good fit for you.
There are several reasons why someone would want to leave behind being a flight attendant. Some people just want to have a job with less travel and more normal hours. Others might want something that is a little less physically demanding.
With the current events regarding COVID-19, many flight attendants are even finding themselves laid-off or furloughed until further notice.
So, we thought it would be helpful to put together a list of jobs that might be a good fit for someone who might be out of work recently due to the pandemic, as well as anyone looking to make a career change for personal reasons.
Switching careers is never easy and usually takes a lot of hard work and patience. You might have to apply and interview more than you would like and even learn some new skills along the way.
The good news is that your experience and training as a flight attendant set you up nicely for a variety of jobs in diverse set of fields.
Here is a list of some of the best jobs a flight attendant can easily transition into.
EMT (Emergency Medical Technician)
Being a flight attendant requires you to be responsible for the safety of passengers. Flight attendant training usually even includes quite a bit of first responder training in the event there is a medical emergency in the air.
Many of these skills transfer well to being an EMT. You would still get to work with and help people as well as have an exciting job that doesn’t require you to sit at a desk for most of the day.
As a flight attendant you already have a taste of working under pressure and being responsible for the safety of others, so this might be a natural fit. As a bonus, most EMT jobs don’t require a bachelors degree and the job can pay as much as $70,000 per year.
Executive Assistant
Flight attendants are known for having a high level of professionalism, great communication skills, and a high level of attention to detail. These are all things that are needed to be a great executive assistant.
Executive assistants spend much of their day helping other professionals be more effective with their time. They handle important tasks for the executives they assist including managing calendars and travel (which you should know a thing or two about as a former flight attendant).
This job is typically an 8-5 office job with little to no travel, so if you are looking for something with more traditional hours this might be a great fit.
Hospitality/Hotel Management
Most of the passengers you assisted while working as a flight attendant were either on their way to or coming from staying at a hotel. If you like interacting with people and can handle some of the negatives that come with dealing with frustrated travelers, then working in hospitality might be a great pick for you.
There are many different roles within these organizations that let you focus on a variety of skills you’ve developed as a flight attendant. This includes things like meeting lots of people, working non-traditional hours, interacting with many co-workers all trying to achieve the same goal, etc.
This career also has a lot of upward potential. Hotel and resort executives earn great money and have access to some amazing benefits.
Bartending
Bartending is a job that can pay great and you can potentially get started in very quickly. If the aspect of being a flight attendant you loved most was helping meeting and interacting with the passengers, this might be a great fit for you.
The most important skills needed to be a great bartender are to be outgoing, hardworking, and able to connect with people. The better you do at this job the more you can earn in tips.
This is another opportunity that rarely requires a typical 8-5 schedule and offers much more excitement than sitting in a cubicle.
Nanny
Being a nanny is another job that would be a great fit for a former flight attendant. Like many of the other jobs listed here, it requires a high level of interpersonal skills, a high level of responsibility and requires you to balance being friendly with caring for someone and making sure they are safe.
The job can be much more interesting than having a normal 9-5, and in some cases you can even be a live in nanny and have the benefits of living with a nice family while you help raise their children. Being good with kids and having patience is also very important in this role.
Sales Professional
Flight attendants have incredible interpersonal skills. You have to spend your interacting with people from literally all walks of life and make sure that they leave the flight happy.
Part of being a flight attendant already is centered around getting people to see things your way and react how you want them to react. While you might picture sales as a job requiring you to use high pressure tactics to sell something (like a car) to someone who doesn’t want to even be there, in reality there’s much more to it than that.
Being a good sales person requires you to be able to read people (facial expressions, posture, etc.) and negotiate with them by showing the value of your relationship and the product or service you sell. It really is that simple – and most flight attendants I’ve know excel at these things.
Being in sales can also be very financially lucrative. I’ve met many sales people that make well over $100k annually and the better ones can easily make 2-3 times that. As an added bonus – some of these sales positions require you to travel, so you might still get that travel fix you are so used to.
Personal Banker
This might seem like an odd one, but hear me out. Personal bankers are basically sales people who also have to have incredible attention t0 detail and be good at getting their customers to trust them.
Again, these are things that flight attendants do every day better than most professions so this should be an easy transition. This job requires you to work a schedule much closer to an office job (8am to 5pm) but instead of an office with a cubicle you’ll be in a bank branch.
Personal bankers not only make a healthy salary, but have the potential for bonuses, commission payments, and can be promoted to quite a few jobs within a bank including jobs like branch manager, licensed banker, and many more. The industry also tends to be less effected by dips in the economy as bank branches always have to have staff in them for customers.
Pilot
Before, you roll your eyes, hear me out. You’re already used to working on airplanes, are used to the uncertain schedule and probably know a ton about aviation and the industry. If you’ve ever dreamed of being a pilot, this might be the time to do so.
I would tell you more about the role of airline pilot, but odds are you know more about it than I do. It pays well, offers the ability to travel, and is one of the most respected professions in the world. This might be a great opportunity to go to school and get those flight hours to earn your ATP license so that when things get back to normal you are ready to take advantage.
Teacher
They say being a flight attendant requires having the patience of a saint. Well, if that sounds like you then you might also have what it takes to be a teacher.
You might think this is too much of a change from being a flight attendant. Some would argue it’s just like it but you’re trading adults on a plane with kids in a room (and fewer kids at that!).
In all seriousness, being a teacher is a rewarding profession that pays well, has amazing benefits, and offers the ability to enjoy summers off. You can even start out as an assistant or teaching at a day-care while getting any education or certifications you might need.
Flight attendants are great at interacting with people and this is the ultimate job for doing just that.
Conclusion
As you can see, there a lot of jobs that you can use your experience as a flight attendant to transition to.
In some cases you might take one of these jobs on a temporary basis while being away from your flight attendant role. In other cases you might find one of these jobs to be a nice change of pace and decide to stay. You might even have the opportunity to have one of these jobs on the side in addition to your job as a flight attendant.
Whatever you decide, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons and that it’s something you think you’ll enjoy for the long term.
Best of luck and safe travels!
