Skills & Hobbies

Hands-on careers for school leavers, career changers and parents

Turn what you're good at into a career you'll love

Tell us the skills you have and the hobbies you enjoy. We'll match you with 52 practical UK careers – from plumber and electrician to IT technician and chef – with honest salaries and real ways in.

Find my career match Browse all careers

Or start with one thing you're good at:

How it works

  1. 1

    Pick your skills

    Choose what you're already good at – fixing things, problem-solving, caring for people, working with computers.

  2. 2

    Add your hobbies

    DIY, gaming, baking, cycling, animals… the things you do for fun often point to a job you'd enjoy.

  3. 3

    See your matches

    Get careers ranked by fit, with the reasons why, salary ranges from official sources and the ways in.

Start the matcher

Browse by skill

Browse by hobby

Browse by sector

All sectors

Popular hands-on careers

See all 52 careers

Building services and energy

Plumber

Fit, fix and look after the water, heating and drainage systems that keep homes, hospitals and businesses running.

£24,000 – £46,000 starter to experienced

Building services and energy

Electrician

Install, test and repair wiring, lighting, controls and low-carbon tech in homes, workplaces and new buildings.

£26,000 – £45,000 starter to experienced

IT and telecoms

IT support technician

Be the person who fixes it: solve hardware, software and network problems for computer users, in person and remotely.

£24,000 – £36,000 starter to experienced

Building services and energy

Heat pump installer

Help homes and businesses switch to low-carbon heating by installing, commissioning and servicing heat pumps.

£24,000 – £46,000 starter to experienced

Automotive and transport

Motor vehicle technician

Service, diagnose and repair cars and vans - including hybrids and EVs - in a busy garage workshop.

£22,000 – £42,000 starter to experienced

Food and hospitality

Chef

Prepare, cook and present food in restaurants, hotels, hospitals and schools, from commis chef at the start to running your own kitchen.

£22,000 – £40,000 starter to experienced

Outdoors, land and animals

Tree surgeon

Climb, prune and fell trees safely, assess tree health and plant new stock in streets, parks, gardens and woodland. Also called an arborist.

£25,000 – £35,000 starter to experienced

Hair, beauty and wellbeing

Hairdresser

Wash, cut, colour and style hair, talk clients through new looks and build a loyal following in salons, spas or as a freelance stylist.

£19,000 – £30,000 starter to experienced

Salaries are the National Careers Service's average starter and experienced figures for England, checked September 2026. Each career page links to the source.

Ways in, explained

All guides

  • Apprenticeships explained

    How apprenticeships work in England: levels, pay, training time, who can apply and how to find one in a skilled trade.

  • T Levels explained

    What T Levels are, how the industry placement works, which T Levels lead into the trades and how they compare with apprenticeships.

  • Skills Bootcamps

    Free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks for adults in England, with a guaranteed job interview at the end – including construction and green skills.

  • College courses and adult learning

    College routes into the trades at 16 and as an adult: diplomas, free courses, loans and help with costs in England.

Straight answers, no hype

Every salary, training route and licence on this site comes from official sources such as the National Careers Service, GOV.UK, Skills England and the trade bodies – and we show where each figure came from and when we checked it. If a figure isn't published, we say so rather than guess. The matcher is a starting point for exploring, not a verdict: talk to people in the job, try a taster course and check the official links before you decide.

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