While thinking about getting certified in lifeguarding may conjure images of lounging by the pool stand all summer, lifeguard certification can actually provide profound benefits for your career development and future job prospects. Through programs established by the American Lifeguard Association (ALA), becoming a certified lifeguard not only prepares you to work as a lifeguard but also gives you highly sought-after skills that can help advance your career in many different industries.
This article will explore how lifeguard certification through the ALA can enhance your career opportunities both directly through jobs in aquatic facilities and indirectly through the valuable skills you’ll gain in training.
Lifeguard Certification Provides Direct Job Opportunities
The most direct way that lifeguard certification benefits your career is by allowing you to work as a lifeguard. The ALA’s lifeguard certification courses teach all the skills needed to work as a professional lifeguard at beaches, pools, waterparks, and more. Becoming certified proves to employers that you have the critical knowledge and abilities to supervise swimmers, recognize and respond to aquatic emergencies, and provide first aid and CPR. Many aquatic facilities require a current lifeguard certification as a minimum job qualification.
The skills learned in the ALA’s lifeguard certification program are also directly transferable to working as a lifeguard instructor. With experience lifeguarding and advancing certifications, you can begin to teach lifeguarding courses yourself. Lifeguard instructor jobs are a natural step up for those interested in expanding their career in aquatic safety. The ALA regularly offers lifeguard instructor certification courses to help certified lifeguards transition into this educational role.
Strong Transferable Skills for Many Career Fields
While lifeguard certification itself leads to direct career opportunities, the most significant benefits may come from the valuable skills you gain during training. Employers in many fields seek out candidates who can demonstrate abilities in judgement, responsibility, emergency response, and customer service – all core competencies addressed in the ALA’s programs. Some of the transferable skills lifeguard certification provides include:
- Risk Management and Decision Making – Lifeguards must vigilantly scan their zone, size up situations, and make quick choices to ensure safety. This type of risk assessment and judgment is useful in public safety, insurance, and many business roles.
- Effective Communication – The ALA’s training emphasizes clear communication, both verbally and non-verbally, to direct patrons, coordinate with fellow guards, and respond to emergencies. These skills are invaluable for careers involving customer service, public relations, education, and more.
- Leadership and Accountability – As the first responders overseeing public safety, lifeguards must exhibit strong abilities to assume authority, direct others, and solve problems independently. These skills prepare candidates well for careers in emergency response, security, and management.
- Adaptability – By nature of the job, lifeguards must be able to remain calm and think clearly in high-pressure situations. They learn to adjust to changing conditions like fluctuations in attendance or aquatic facility needs. This flexibility and resilience benefits careers requiring multitasking, fast-paced work, and composure under stress.
- Health and Safety Focus – Under ALA guidance, lifeguards gain extensive understanding of CPR, first aid, automatic external defibrillators, and injury prevention. Beyond direct roles in healthcare, this grounding in safety protocols benefits various technical and industrial positions.
- Physical Fitness – Lifeguard candidates must pass rigorous physical tests involving swimming, treading water and exercising rescue equipment. This demonstrates an ability to maintain health, stamina and productivity that can carry over into public service, military and labor-intensive roles.
- Time Management – Lifeguards are responsible for monitoring their zone, rotations and reporting intervals all while supervising activity. The ALA’s training fosters strong organizational, prioritization and paperwork skills important for roles like emergency response, education and project coordination.
Beyond the Pool: Career Paths Enhanced by Lifeguard Skills
With these highly applicable skills, potential career fields lifeguard certification and experience can help prepare candidates for include but are not limited to:
- Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or Paramedic – Advanced lifeguard and CPR/first aid training provide an ideal foundation for these in-demand emergency response roles. Many EMT certification programs even award credit for lifeguard coursework.
- Police Officer, Firefighter or Coast Guard – Agencies desire candidates who can remain collected, assess threats, direct others and respond immediately to critical incidents – attributes significantly strengthened through lifeguard certification.
- Fitness Professional – Personal trainers, group fitness instructors or programs directors value candidates who understand exercise physiology, health monitoring, injury prevention and can model an active lifestyle.
- Childcare Worker – Skills in supervision, priority-setting, recognizing distress and maintaining safety translate well for roles like daycare worker, camp counselor or teacher’s aide.
- Healthcare Roles – While lifeguard certification alone may not necessarily qualify someone for jobs like nursing, it instills focus areas like patients assessment, emergency preparedness and safety awareness that healthcare employers desire.
- Educational Assistant – From tutoring to test proctoring to administrative roles, the communication, organization and supervision skills lifeguards cultivate are advantageous for supporting classroom, afterschool and office operations.
- Insurance or Risk Management – Understanding catastrophic risk assessment, emergency action plans, safety audits and legally defensible decision making benefits careers analyzing liability and enforcing compliance.
- Customer Service – Many retail, hotel or restaurant employers recruit guards for roles involving hospitality, handling complaints constructively and providing a reassuring presence.
- Event Staff – Jobs coordinating conferences, concerts, facilities rentals and municipal recreation value lifeguards’ coordination, crowd control and rapid problem-solving talents. Read more informative article click here.
Final Opinion
Whether viewing it as a direct avenue to aquatic careers or means to round out one’s experience, lifeguard certification conferred through the American Lifeguard Association’s rigorous programs delivers abilities recognized and sought after across diverse professional fields.
Combined with additional certifications, continuing education and life experiences, these transferable skills instilled through lifeguard safety training can open countless new doors for lifeguard alumni long after they turn in their whistle. With commitment to advancing safety knowledge and strengthening qualifications, a career path in lifeguarding holds great promise for personal and professional growth.