Career ideas if low IQ but very hard working?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Armed forces
Emt paramedic firefighter
Plumber carpenter electrician
Nurse

You are so wrong. Nurses have to get through difficult coursework. They must be bright.

And, believe it or not, many of the trades do require intellect.

You are absolutely right. I’m pp and I’m sorry. I know people with low IQ in those jobs, but they are supported and surrounded by a loving community who values their role.
I stand by armed forces, though. It’s a good career with a duty of care. Factory work would be good, they make good money if there is a union. Animal caretakers, too, many are unionized.

I don't know where you are coming up with this stuff--the examples you are thinking of probably don't have truly low IQ. Sorry, but armed forces will not take someone with a low IQ. The current test being used for the military is called the ASVAB and there are minimums in order to enlist. There are also other standards. If you look at the current minimums and some studies, the minimums are roughly equivalent to somewhere in the 90s in terms of IQ (91-92 ish), which mean that the bottom third of the population in terms of IQ cannot enlist.

The ASVAB covers
General Sciences

Arithmetic Reasoning

Word Knowledge

Paragraph Comprehension

Mathematics Knowledge

Electronics Information

Auto and Shop Information

Mechanical Comprehension

Assembling Objects

Verbal Expression

The minimum score is 31, but if you score between 31-49 you can take a one time course to up your score. Higher scores open better MOS opportunities. The score range is 0–100, and scores are reported as percentiles. The average score is 50, and most scores fall between 30 and 70. But you can't be truly low IQ in the clinical sense.

Yep it would be hard for someone of truly low IQ to score above a 31. It's a percentile score so you have to be in the top 69 percent of applicants, basically. Also, keep in mind that the bottom tail of the population is removed from this test pool since the very bottom tail in terms of IQ does not apply to the military (sadly the bottom tail of the population would be institutionalized or under someone else's care in most cases). So this means that you need to be the top 69 percent of a pool that is already more competitive than the general US population of the military eligible age.

Generally speaking, the modern military requires more high IQ people as a fraction of the military than the military of the past, too, so I think it's only going to get harder, unlike we (heaven forbid) end up in some major war where we are invaded and need people or something.

Yup. It's also not graded as percentage answered but in relation to the pool of test takers which is already somewhat self selecting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about hvac repair, plumber, electrician. I was reading about some boxer who discovered he was autistic as an adult and he had been diagnosed during his schooling as low iq and prior to boxing was an electrician. That said…who knows what his non verbal iq was.

You DCUM folks really don’t know what on earth you are talking about with this stuff. All of this class snobbishness about the trades reveals it.

I know nothing about HVAC, but plumbing and working as an electrician are way out of reach for someone with low iq.

+1 do you really want a low IQ electrician burning down your house? It takes mentally demanding training to qualify as an electrician.

PP. the example of an electrician I gave literally was diagnosed low iq in childhood.

[Anonymous]

Mechanic? There’s a woman in the SN forum that posts about her son with a low iq that is a mechanic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sales and retail. Will take a while to make 75k+

Firefighter, police officer (probably won't progress too far, but would do a decent job).

Pharma sales rep. Has to have cheerleader type personality and be good looking.

None of the above are for people with actual low IQ.

Retail--see above in this thread. Need a degree to be a manager and need to pass exams and trainings. Pharma sales--need a bachelor's degree and need to pass trainings/exams on different products. Low IQ person will fail out of the product trainings.

Firefighter and police--need to pass aptitude exams to get into academy, need to pass multiple exams while in academy, need to demonstrate on the job strong decisonmaking/reasoning ability.

I am the pp and yet I know low IQ people who barely graduated from high school who have done all of these things. Many lower IQ people can memorize quite well.

You do not need a college degree to be a manager at a retail store. Many retail managers have degrees, but you can also work your way up. You won't make 75k+ but you can work your way up.

One of my relatives is in sales for construction materials and they make 100k+ with a high school diploma. Again, it took them years, but they are now a VP of sales.

Again with this stupid conflation of lack of higher education and low IQ. Someone with a low IQ is not going to be VP of anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And, I would also say that for professions like nursing or plumbing or electrians, you do have to be higher IQ. I've known lower IQ people who either failed out or been kicked out of those jobs, if they even made it through college / training.

Same.

Step-sister’s DH with a college degree didn't last much longer than a month trying to learn to be a plumber. He is quite stupid. Same step sister’s DD married a guy who dropped out of college after one semester, went into plumbing, and is thriving and making a huge amount of money.

[Anonymous]

Test engineer. Patent examiner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mechanic? There’s a woman in the SN forum that posts about her son with a low iq that is a mechanic.

An actual mechanic? Or someone who does bodywork on cars that got a crash or something? Because being a mechanic isn’t necessarily all that easy. It’s easier than a lot of the other things people are mentioning on here though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Armed forces
Emt paramedic firefighter
Plumber carpenter electrician
Nurse

No. None of these are suitable for someone who isn’t of average intelligence—at the very least.

You DCUM folks are confusing low education with low IQ. Not remotely the same thing.

OP needs to clarify what low IQ means.

I am not above poster but my assumption was OP is a 130 IQ talking about a 90 IQ person. Like an A student talking about someone who is scraping by in high school with C's but who could do fine at non-academic jobs.

My son has mentioned thinking about plumbing. It's a 5 year training and paid apprentice program in our unionized state. So that's not "low education" either.

My guess was middling real estate agent because there are some in my family who were pretty bad at school and good with people. The bar is raised when the market is bad or for high-priced real estate where clients expect better service. Low bar to getting into the field as an assistant/helper/paperwork admin. But the economics of commissions are worsening.

An IQ of 90 is not “low IQ”. That is within one standard deviation of the norm. That is normal.

[Anonymous]

My cousin who is learning disables but great with people and puts in the effort had success in a customer service training program and fully supports herself. Think airlines, car rentals, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But you can get Cs and still get a job. It’s not like becoming a doctor where every grade matters.

I’ll let her know that. She was told a 3.3 GPA will kick her out of the program.

She’ll be so relieved to hear that her university advisors and the program itself is wrong!

Lady calm down. No one is insulting your child. I’m sure she’s a genius.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Armed forces
Emt paramedic firefighter
Plumber carpenter electrician
Nurse

You are so wrong. Nurses have to get through difficult coursework. They must be bright.

And, believe it or not, many of the trades do require intellect.

You are absolutely right. I’m pp and I’m sorry. I know people with low IQ in those jobs, but they are supported and surrounded by a loving community who values their role.
I stand by armed forces, though. It’s a good career with a duty of care. Factory work would be good, they make good money if there is a union. Animal caretakers, too, many are unionized.

I don't know where you are coming up with this stuff--the examples you are thinking of probably don't have truly low IQ. Sorry, but armed forces will not take someone with a low IQ. The current test being used for the military is called the ASVAB and there are minimums in order to enlist. There are also other standards. If you look at the current minimums and some studies, the minimums are roughly equivalent to somewhere in the 90s in terms of IQ (91-92 ish), which mean that the bottom third of the population in terms of IQ cannot enlist.

The ASVAB covers
General Sciences

Arithmetic Reasoning

Word Knowledge

Paragraph Comprehension

Mathematics Knowledge

Electronics Information

Auto and Shop Information

Mechanical Comprehension

Assembling Objects

Verbal Expression

The minimum score is 31, but if you score between 31-49 you can take a one time course to up your score. Higher scores open better MOS opportunities. The score range is 0–100, and scores are reported as percentiles. The average score is 50, and most scores fall between 30 and 70. But you can't be truly low IQ in the clinical sense.

Yep it would be hard for someone of truly low IQ to score above a 31. It's a percentile score so you have to be in the top 69 percent of applicants, basically. Also, keep in mind that the bottom tail of the population is removed from this test pool since the very bottom tail in terms of IQ does not apply to the military (sadly the bottom tail of the population would be institutionalized or under someone else's care in most cases). So this means that you need to be the top 69 percent of a pool that is already more competitive than the general US population of the military eligible age.

Generally speaking, the modern military requires more high IQ people as a fraction of the military than the military of the past, too, so I think it's only going to get harder, unlike we (heaven forbid) end up in some major war where we are invaded and need people or something.

Yup. It's also not graded as percentage answered but in relation to the pool of test takers which is already somewhat self selecting.

Yeah, and I will add that many schools administer it to everyone as a benchmarking and career exploration tool which means the pool you are compared to includes a lot of people who are heading to colleges-- I went to a good high school and they administered the test to everyone in either 11th or 12 grade, which included a lot of college-bound kids.

[Anonymous]

My relative with lower IQ and learning disabilities went into the Army, and now he is a security guard. Failed at plumbing, it was too complicated. Another is in sales.

They do better in professions which are predictable, supervised, and repetitive without having to use critical thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Car detailing. My ds makes $50 in less than an hour doing it. Being polite and thorough is all you need.

+1

You also need to be able to market your business, get appropriate licenses and insurance, keep records, pay taxes, schedule and travel to appointments, purchase and maintain stock of appropriate supplies, and communicate with customers. Someone with an IQ of 92 would likely have an easier time with all of this than someone who has an IQ of 62.

[Anonymous]

Most likely

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Armed forces
Emt paramedic firefighter
Plumber carpenter electrician
Nurse

Not a single one of these jobs can be done by someone with low IQ. Do you have low IQ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Armed forces
Emt paramedic firefighter
Plumber carpenter electrician
Nurse

Nurse?

My DD is in college for nursing. She is currently taking Calculus, Anatomy, Chemistry, and Pharmacology…. all in one semester.

It’s a challenging courseload.

My daughter is in the middle of the program as well. Nursing courseload is very demanding and your have to have a great memory.