What Does a Beach Lifeguard Do?

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Beach Lifeguard Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real beach lifeguard resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

Used ATV's for various beach duties.
Examine injure persons and administer first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, if necessary, using training and medical supplies and equipment.
Examine injured individuals, administer first aid.

Beach Lifeguard Job Description

On average, the beach lifeguard annual salary is $29,050 per year, which translates to $13.97 an hour. Generally speaking, beach lifeguards earn anywhere from $23,000 to $36,000 a year, which means that the top-earning beach lifeguards make $13,000 more than the ones at the lower end of the spectrum.

As is the case with most jobs, it takes work to become a beach lifeguard. Sometimes people change their minds about their career after working in the profession. That's why we looked into some other professions that might help you find your next opportunity. These professions include an aquatics specialist, swim instructor, ski patrol, and ski patrol director.

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5 Beach Lifeguard Resume Examples

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Gerald Mason Beach Lifeguard Contact Information Chicago, IL (660) 555-3548 gmason@example.com Skills Weather Conditions Product Knowledge CPR Greeting Customers Recreational Activities Customer Service Hazardous Situations Current Promotions Communication Public Safety Employment History Beach Lifeguard 2019 - Present Arlington Heights Ford Chicago, IL Aided in opening and closing pool procedures Aided patrons in need of medical assistance and responded accordingly in emergency situations. Patrolled assigned pool to ensure safety and enjoyment of all patrons-Conducted swimming lessons for children and adults Ensured safety at all times as lifeguard, during swim lessons, boating and general swim time. Beach Lifeguard 2017 - 2019 Glenview Farmers Market Chicago, IL Facilitate lifeguard training by creating scenarios and lesson plans to ensure cast reediness in life threating emergencies. Head lifeguard at various single guard pool faculties, responsible for pool operations and water quality. Create weekly lifeguard rotation schedules Check pool chemicals and add chemicals when necessary Resolve conflict when it arises Sales Clerk 2016 - 2017 Walmart Chicago, IL Provide customer service maintain a clean safeenvironment. Stock shelves and general up keep of the sporting goods and hardware departments. Down stacked Produce trucks every morning and put them in steals in the back room. Education High School Diploma 2016 - 2016


Harold Porter Beach Lifeguard Contact Info Indianapolis, IN (220) 555-6714 hporter@example.com Skills WSICustomer ServiceLesson PlansCPRWeather ConditionsSpecial EventsLifeguardNew InstructorsProfessional AttitudeEmergency Employment History Beach Lifeguard 2020 - Present YMCA of Greater Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN Prevent the loss of life due to drowning, and provide minor first-aid on guests throughout the park. Created lifeguard schedules, completed payroll forms, and carried out general maintenance of the pool and facility. Educate public on weather conditions, forecasts, currents and wave patterns. Scheduled and supervised other lifeguards and maintained pool clarity and chlorine levels as head lifeguard. Beach Lifeguard 2018 - 2020 YWCA USA Buffalo, NY Certified as a waterfront and pool lifeguard with first aid and CPR certification as well as partial WSI training. Enforced rules, resolved customer service issues. Swim Instructor 2017 - 2018 YMCA of Greater Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN Water Safety Instructor, First Aid, Lifeguard, AED/CPR certified Monitored homework and online computer components of course. Teach 10 to 20 classes a week (Infant, Child and Adult Swim Instruction, Water Safety). Education High School Diploma 2017 - 2017


Harold Porter Beach Lifeguard Indianapolis, IN (220) 555-6714 hporter@example.com Experience Beach Lifeguard2020 - Present YMCA of Greater Indianapolis•Indianapolis, IN Prevent the loss of life due to drowning, and provide minor first-aid on guests throughout the park. Created lifeguard schedules, completed payroll forms, and carried out general maintenance of the pool and facility. Educate public on weather conditions, forecasts, currents and wave patterns. Scheduled and supervised other lifeguards and maintained pool clarity and chlorine levels as head lifeguard. Beach Lifeguard2018 - 2020 YWCA USA•Buffalo, NY Certified as a waterfront and pool lifeguard with first aid and CPR certification as well as partial WSI training. Enforced rules, resolved customer service issues. Swim Instructor2017 - 2018 YMCA of Greater Indianapolis•Indianapolis, IN Water Safety Instructor, First Aid, Lifeguard, AED/CPR certified Monitored homework and online computer components of course. Teach 10 to 20 classes a week (Infant, Child and Adult Swim Instruction, Water Safety). Skills WSICustomer ServiceLesson PlansCPRWeather ConditionsSpecial EventsLifeguardNew InstructorsProfessional AttitudeEmergency Education High School Diploma 2017 - 2017

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Beach Lifeguard Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 34% of Beach Lifeguards are proficient in CPR, Emergency Situations, and Patrol.

We break down the percentage of Beach Lifeguards that have these skills listed on their resume here:

CPR, 34%
Be ready at all times to save lives, perform CPR, alert Coast Guard or local EMS if necessary.
Emergency Situations, 9%
Monitored beach and water for any arising emergency situations.
Patrol, 8%
Collected, organized and submitted all required documents to Human Resources for the 100 plus members of the beach patrol.
Water Safety, 6%
Communicated with and educated patrons about water safety and conditions.
Lifeguard Training, 6%
Facilitate lifeguard training by creating scenarios and lesson plans to ensure cast reediness in life threating emergencies.
Public Safety, 4%
Answered inquires and enforced state beach rules to ensure public safety.

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"cpr," "emergency situations," and "patrol" aren't the only skills we found beach lifeguards list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of beach lifeguard responsibilities that we found, including:

See the full list of beach lifeguard skills.

Before becoming a beach lifeguard, 73.2% earned their bachelor's degree. When it comes down to graduating with a master's degree, 5.5% beach lifeguards went for the extra education. If you're wanting to pursue this career, it may be possible to be successful with a high school degree. In fact, most beach lifeguards have a college degree. But about one out of every eight beach lifeguards didn't attend college at all.

Those beach lifeguards who do attend college, typically earn either a business degree or a biology degree. Less commonly earned degrees for beach lifeguards include a kinesiology degree or a psychology degree.

Once you've obtained the level of education you're comfortable with, you might start applying to companies to become a beach lifeguard. We've found that most beach lifeguard resumes include experience from Great Wolf Resorts, City of Norfolk, and Cadence Education. Of recent, Great Wolf Resorts had 73 positions open for beach lifeguards. Meanwhile, there are 6 job openings at City of Norfolk and 4 at Cadence Education.

But if you're interested in companies where you might earn a high salary, beach lifeguards tend to earn the biggest salaries at Bay Head Yacht Club, Gettysburg College, and State of Connecticut. Take Bay Head Yacht Club for example. The median beach lifeguard salary is $37,503. At Gettysburg College, beach lifeguards earn an average of $34,754, while the average at State of Connecticut is $32,764. You should take into consideration how difficult it might be to secure a job with one of these companies.

We also looked into companies who hire beach lifeguards from the top 100 educational institutions in the U.S. The top three companies that hire the most from these institutions include Ymca, CampCo, and American Red Cross.

The three companies that hire the most prestigious beach lifeguards are:

Great Wolf Resorts73 Beach Lifeguards Jobs
City of Norfolk6 Beach Lifeguards Jobs
Cadence Education4 Beach Lifeguards Jobs

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What Aquatics Specialists Do

The duties of an aquatics specialist depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. With their expertise in aquatic environments, an aquatics specialist may work at government agencies, laboratories, learning institutions, and private companies. Typically, their responsibilities include conducting studies and observations, gathering and analyzing data through scientific procedures, coordinating with fellow experts, managing aquatics programs and projects, and developing strategies to resolve issues and concerns. Furthermore, as an aquatics specialist, it is essential to lead the efforts of different projects, all while adhering to the organization's vision and mission.

We looked at the average beach lifeguard annual salary and compared it with the average of an aquatics specialist. Generally speaking, aquatics specialists receive $7,950 higher pay than beach lifeguards per year.

While the salaries between these two careers can be different, they do share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both beach lifeguards and aquatics specialists positions are skilled in cpr, water safety, and resuscitation.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A beach lifeguard responsibility is more likely to require skills like "emergency situations," "patrol," "lifeguard training," and "public safety." Whereas a aquatics specialist requires skills like "husbandry," "primary resource," "animal welfare," and "retail sales." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

The education levels that aquatics specialists earn is a bit different than that of beach lifeguards. In particular, aquatics specialists are 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a beach lifeguard. Additionally, they're 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What Are The Duties Of a Swim Instructor?

As the name entails, swim instructors teach both children and adults how to swim. They help people develop their swimming ability through proper swimming techniques. Their responsibilities include ensuring that all swimming equipment is in good condition, evaluating student performance and providing feedback, and preparing reports on attendance and accidents. They are also responsible for preventing injuries and accidents through monitoring. There are several requirements to become a successful swim instructor that may include previous experience as a swim instructor, certifications on CPR and first aid, and swimming abilities.

Now we're going to look at the swim instructor profession. On average, swim instructors earn a $3,235 lower salary than beach lifeguards a year.

Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Beach lifeguards and swim instructors both include similar skills like "emergency situations," "water safety," and "resuscitation" on their resumes.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are worth noting. For example, beach lifeguard responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "cpr," "patrol," "lifeguard training," and "public safety." Meanwhile, a swim instructor might be skilled in areas such as "cleanliness," "customer service," "kids," and "work ethic." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

It's been discovered that swim instructors earn lower salaries compared to beach lifeguards, but we wanted to find out where swim instructors earned the most pay. The answer? The education industry. The average salary in the industry is $28,059. Additionally, beach lifeguards earn the highest paychecks in the hospitality with an average salary of $29,643.

On the topic of education, swim instructors earn similar levels of education than beach lifeguards. In general, they're 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

How a Ski Patrol Compares

The third profession we take a look at is ski patrol. On an average scale, these workers bring in higher salaries than beach lifeguards. In fact, they make a $3,724 higher salary per year.

Using beach lifeguards and ski patrols resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "cpr," "emergency situations," and "patrol," but the other skills required are very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers as shown by resumes from each profession. Some of those differences include the skills required to complete responsibilities within each role. As an example of this, a beach lifeguard is likely to be skilled in "water safety," "lifeguard training," "public safety," and "water rescue," while a typical ski patrol is skilled in "trail maintenance," "first-aid," "guest service," and "patient care."

Ski patrols are known to earn similar educational levels when compared to beach lifeguards. Additionally, they're 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Description Of a Ski Patrol Director

Now, we'll look at ski patrol directors, who generally average a higher pay when compared to beach lifeguards annual salary. In fact, the difference is about $24,318 per year.

According to resumes from both beach lifeguards and ski patrol directors, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "cpr," "patrol," and "safety procedures. "

While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "emergency situations," "water safety," "lifeguard training," and "public safety" are skills that have shown up on beach lifeguards resumes. Additionally, ski patrol director uses skills like emt, aed, medical equipment, and outdoor emergency care on their resumes.

Ski patrol directors reach similar levels of education when compared to beach lifeguards. The difference is that they're 0.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree less, and 5.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Updated October 2, 2020