But there are many different opportunities for the recreation workers career, as long as the number of available specialties in the field is pretty big.
The most usual sub-categories of recreational worker profession are recreation leaders, sport and activity specialists, directors of recreation and park, camp counselors. The actual number of specialties is much bigger - you should check all the available courses in each particular school or college.
Major tasks of the activity and sport specialist are to organize and control different groups. This specialist also motivates people for different kinds of physical activities.
Position of director of recreation and park needs more administrative knowledge. These specialists develop new programs for parks, city playgrounds and camps. Their tasks also include managing different facilities and controlling the budget of such activity programs.
There are many schools that offer programs and courses for recreation workers career. Of course, disciplines in each course depend on the job position - some of them include medical courses, while the others have special administrative trainings. And it is better to check all the courses for each college, because the diversity is considerable in the sector.
Some of the colleges also offer courses of skill improvement for recreational workers and different certification programs. All this will help to get better position in the future. In each country you can find national recreational organization that performs such certification. There are also several international agreements, so different certificates in the United States will suit for most of the European countries and vise versa.
What are the usual earnings for the recreation workers career? For recreational workers in public sectors, like parks and city playground, the usual hourly wage is about $8-$11. Recreation workers in camps and on cruise ships are usually paid on per project basis and their earnings are usually bigger. Working in a private sector, the recreational worker might earn about $15000 - $30000 a year.
Recreational work also offers the biggest number of seasonal positions. The salary here is pretty small, but usually such position does not need special education, so students usually work as summer camp counselors. That is a wonderful opportunity to get needed experience in the field.
The field of recreational work is growing these days, so the number of available job positions will increase. But still competition in the field is pretty big and to get better recreational position you need to get special college degree and working experience. Certain personal qualities, as communicative skills and good physical state, are also needed for the recreational worker.