Job profiles

What the job pays, what it needs, and how to get in

Written for people deciding what to do next, not for people who already know. Every profile gives the real pay range from adverts, the hours, the tickets, what is funded for you, what is genuinely hard about it, and where it leads. Then the live vacancies for that trade on this board.

HGV Class 1 driver

Driving articulated lorries over 7.5 tonnes on trunking, tramping or store delivery work. The best paid driving licence in the country, and still short of people.

£32,000 to £45,000 a year, or £15 to £22 an hour Warehouse operative

Picking, packing, loading and moving stock. The most common way into logistics, and the trade where a forklift ticket pays for itself fastest.

£23,000 to £30,000 a year, or £11 Care assistant

Supporting people with daily living in a care home, in their own homes, or in supported living. Hard, needed everywhere, and the entry point to a whole profession.

£22,000 to £27,000 a year, or £11 Electrician

Installing, testing and maintaining electrical systems in homes, sites and industry. A licensed trade where the qualification is the whole thing.

£33,000 to £48,000 a year employed Groundworker and CSCS labourer

Drainage, foundations, kerbs, concrete and everything that happens before a building appears. The most common way onto a UK building site.

£26,000 to £38,000 a year Chef

Cooking to a standard, at speed, every service. A trade where you can start with nothing and progress on ability alone.

Commis £22,000 to £26,000, chef de partie £27,000 to £33,000, sous £32,000 to £42,000, head chef £38,000 to £60,000 depending on the site Security officer

Guarding sites, retail, events and premises. A licensed job, which means the badge comes before the work.

£23,000 to £30,000 a year, £11 Teaching assistant

Supporting a class or an individual pupil in a primary or secondary school. The usual way into education without a degree.

£18,000 to £25,000 actual pay, often quoted as a full time equivalent of £22,000 to £28,000 because term time only contracts are pro rata Vehicle technician and MOT tester

Servicing, diagnosing and repairing vehicles. Skilled, portable and increasingly electric.

£28,000 to £42,000 a year, more with MOT and electric vehicle qualifications CNC machinist

Setting and running computer controlled machine tools to make parts to tolerance. Skilled engineering with a real shortage of people.

£28,000 to £42,000 a year Cleaner and facilities operative

Keeping offices, schools, hospitals and factories clean and safe. Available everywhere, often part time, and frequently a way into a bigger facilities team.

£11 Customer service advisor

Answering calls, emails and chats for a business. The most common office entry job in the UK, and a fast way to learn systems and process.

£22,000 to £28,000 a year, with bonus in sales linked roles Forklift driver

The ticket that pays for itself fastest in this trade. A day or two of training separates a picker from a forklift driver, and the gap shows up in the hourly rate every week afterwards.

£24,000 to £32,000 a year, or £12 HGV Class 2 driver

A rigid lorry, where the cab and the body are one vehicle. Usually multi-drop, usually home every night, and usually more physical than Class 1.

£28,000 to £38,000 a year, or £13 Multi-drop delivery driver

A van, a route and a number of drops. The easiest driving job to get in this country and the one where the terms vary most, so read them twice.

£24,000 to £32,000 a year, or £12

Pay ranges come from real UK adverts through 2026 rather than official statistics, and they are ranges because the same job pays differently in Birmingham and in London. If one looks wrong to you, tell us and we will check it.

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