Survival Specialist

For most people, “surviving” the workday means getting through the staff meeting without falling asleep, making their morning commute without screaming expletives at the car in front of them, and not spilling coffee on their favorite shirt at lunch. When you’re a Survival Specialist, however, “surviving” the workday isn’t a figure of speech. It’s your job description. Literally.

That’s because a Survival Specialist is a Soldier who’s been trained in the U.S. military’s Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) program, which trains elite military personnel to survive in uncertain or hostile environments, including emergency situations where they’re cut off from support and supplies, as well as combat situations that place them behind enemy lines. You’re typically known as a SERE Specialist, and it’s therefore your job as a Survival Specialist to teach SERE survival techniques to Soldiers in the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines.

Naturally, your curriculum includes four components: 1) “Survival” (for example, how to build shelters, fabricate makeshift tools and weapons, find and preserve water, and hunt, trap, and forage for food). 2) “Evasion” (for example, how to avoid capture by enemy forces by covering your tracks and hiding). 3) “Resistance” (for example, how to resist interrogation, exploitation, and indoctrination as a prisoner of war). And finally, 4) “Escape” (for example, how to plan and execute an escape from captivity).

Although most of your students are military personnel, you might also teach survival skills to civilians who need them — especially if you’re a retired SERE Specialist, in which case you might teach private survival courses to the likes of Police Officers, Firefighters, and Park Rangers.

Forget rush hour, staff meetings, and irate customers: Your job is surviving famine, drought, and war!