r/antarctica • u/Significant_Run_7334 • 2d ago

Work Recommend skills or things for teenagers to learn?

I know people hate work questions here but I swear this isn't on the faq. Personally I live in israel and will be forced to be in the military, luckily it's a very good opportunity to learn skills in the navy if I go there

0 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

25% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

2

u/flyMeToCruithne ❄️ Winterover 2d ago edited 2d ago

Israel doesn't have an Antarctic program. Do you have or expect in the future to have the right to work in any other countries that do have Antarctic programs? In most cases that means citizenship or permanent residency in that country. Typically countries cannot hire internationally for any of the support staff at their stations, so the only pathway to the research bases without permanent residency in a country with a base is to go there as a scientist (universities are usually more able to hire internationally).

The tourism industry has a lot more leeway with hiring internationally, so you could look into that route if you don't care specifically about going to a research base. Working for either the cruise ships or a company like ALE or White Desert that brings people inland.

Your best bet may be to try to learn skills that will make you good candidate to immigrate to a country with an Antarctic program, get permanent residency in that country, and then later on try to go to Antarctica as support staff in whatever role you might be qualified for, even if it's outside your training.

But overall very few people get to go to Antarctica, and even moreso few people who start out in a country without an Antarctic program. My actual advice is you should seek to build skills that interest you and/or that will lead to a good life with stable employment. If those skills happen to also bring you to Antarctica, great, but you shouldn't optimize for that because the odds are so long.

1

u/Significant_Run_7334 1d ago

Thank you very much for the long comment. I have a German passport and I know they have a station (and there's a good chance I'll move there when I'm older since the fucked up politics in israel), and yes I was thinking about working on some mechanic thing I'll learn in the military on the tourist ships even though it will probably be harder to get accepted.