Realistic careers
Realistic interests are about working with things rather than ideas or people — machines, tools, plants, animals, physical materials. The common thread is tangible results you can see and test at the end of a shift.
Who it tends to suit
People high in Realistic interest usually prefer concrete problems with verifiable answers, learning by doing over learning by discussion, and workplaces that judge output rather than presentation.
Where the work happens
Workshops, sites, vehicles, labs, farms, plants and anywhere outdoors. Often practical training or apprenticeship routes rather than purely academic ones.
Occupations led by realistic interest
The 40 most characteristic of 390, ordered by how strongly the work rates on Realistic. Each links to its full O*NET profile.
Drive and control equipment to support agricultural activities such as tilling soil; planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops; feeding and herding livestock; or removing animal waste. May perform tasks such as crop baling or hay bucking. May operate stationary equipment to perform post-harvest tasks such as husking, shelling, threshing, and ginning.
Assemble, fit, fasten, and install parts of airplanes, space vehicles, or missiles, such as tails, wings, fuselage, bulkheads, stabilizers, landing gear, rigging and control equipment, or heating and ventilating systems.
Repair and refinish automotive vehicle bodies and straighten vehicle frames.
Assist engineers in determining the practicality of proposed product design changes and plan and carry out tests on experimental test devices or equipment for performance, durability, or efficiency.
Replace or repair broken windshields and window glass in motor vehicles.
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul automotive vehicles.
Install, inspect, test, adjust, or repair avionics equipment, such as radar, radio, navigation, and missile control systems in aircraft or space vehicles.
Repair and service bicycles.
Control and monitor biomass plant activities and perform maintenance as needed.
Construct, assemble, maintain, and repair stationary steam boilers and boiler house auxiliaries. Align structures or plate sections to assemble boiler frame tanks or vats, following blueprints. Work involves use of hand and power tools, plumb bobs, levels, wedges, dogs, or turnbuckles. Assist in testing assembled vessels. Direct cleaning of boilers and boiler furnaces. Inspect and repair boiler fittings, such as safety valves, regulators, automatic-control mechanisms, water columns, and auxiliary machines.
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul buses and trucks, or maintain and repair any type of diesel engines. Includes mechanics working primarily with automobile or marine diesel engines.
Cut, shape, and assemble wooden articles or set up and operate a variety of woodworking machines, such as power saws, jointers, and mortisers to surface, cut, or shape lumber or to fabricate parts for wood products.
Repair and adjust cameras and photographic equipment, including commercial video and motion picture camera equipment.
Lay and install carpet from rolls or blocks on floors. Install padding and trim flooring materials.
Smooth and finish surfaces of poured concrete, such as floors, walks, sidewalks, roads, or curbs using a variety of hand and power tools. Align forms for sidewalks, curbs, or gutters; patch voids; and use saws to cut expansion joints.
Wash or otherwise clean vehicles, machinery, and other equipment. Use such materials as water, cleaning agents, brushes, cloths, and hoses.
Operate or tend machines to wash or clean products, such as barrels or kegs, glass items, tin plate, food, pulp, coal, plastic, or rubber, to remove impurities.
Set up, operate, or tend spraying or rolling machines to coat or paint any of a wide variety of products, including glassware, cloth, ceramics, metal, plastic, paper, or wood, with lacquer, silver, copper, rubber, varnish, glaze, enamel, oil, or rust-proofing materials. Includes painters of transportation vehicles such as painters in auto body repair facilities.
Work below surface of water, using surface-supplied air or scuba equipment to inspect, repair, remove, or install equipment and structures. May use a variety of power and hand tools, such as drills, sledgehammers, torches, and welding equipment. May conduct tests or experiments, rig explosives, or photograph structures or marine life.
Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites. May operate hand and power tools of all types: air hammers, earth tampers, cement mixers, small mechanical hoists, surveying and measuring equipment, and a variety of other equipment and instruments. May clean and prepare sites, dig trenches, set braces to support the sides of excavations, erect scaffolding, and clean up rubble, debris, and other waste materials. May assist other craft workers.
Operate self-propelled mining machines that rip coal, metal and nonmetal ores, rock, stone, or sand from the mine face and load it onto conveyors, shuttle cars, or trucks in a continuous operation.
Install, repair, and maintain mechanical regulating and controlling devices, such as electric meters, gas regulators, thermostats, safety and flow valves, and other mechanical governors.
Operate or tend equipment such as cooling and freezing units, refrigerators, batch freezers, and freezing tunnels, to cool or freeze products, food, blood plasma, and chemicals.
Operate mechanical boom and cable or tower and cable equipment to lift and move materials, machines, or products in many directions.
Set up, operate, or tend machines to crush, grind, or polish materials, such as coal, glass, grain, stone, food, or rubber.
Rig derrick equipment and operate pumps to circulate mud or fluid through drill hole.
Clean dishes, kitchen, food preparation equipment, or utensils.
Set up, operate, or tend drilling machines to drill, bore, ream, mill, or countersink metal or plastic work pieces.
Apply plasterboard or other wallboard to ceilings or interior walls of buildings. Apply or mount acoustical tiles or blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing materials to ceilings and walls of buildings to reduce or reflect sound. Materials may be of decorative quality. Includes lathers who fasten wooden, metal, or rockboard lath to walls, ceilings, or partitions of buildings to provide support base for plaster, fireproofing, or acoustical material.
Operate a variety of drills such as rotary, churn, and pneumatic to tap subsurface water and salt deposits, to remove core samples during mineral exploration or soil testing, and to facilitate the use of explosives in mining or construction. Includes horizontal and earth boring machine operators.
Repair, maintain, or install electric motors, wiring, or switches.
Assemble or modify electrical or electronic equipment, such as computers, test equipment telemetering systems, electric motors, and batteries.
Install, adjust, or maintain mobile electronics communication equipment, including sound, sonar, security, navigation, and surveillance systems on trains, watercraft, or other mobile equipment.
Repair, test, adjust, or install electronic equipment, such as industrial controls, transmitters, and antennas.
Inspect, test, repair, or maintain electrical equipment in generating stations, substations, and in-service relays.
Install or repair cables or wires used in electrical power or distribution systems. May erect poles and light or heavy duty transmission towers.
Install, maintain, and repair electrical wiring, equipment, and fixtures. Ensure that work is in accordance with relevant codes. May install or service street lights, intercom systems, or electrical control systems.
Operate, test, maintain, or adjust unmanned, automated, servomechanical, or electromechanical equipment. May operate unmanned submarines, aircraft, or other equipment to observe or record visual information at sites such as oil rigs, crop fields, buildings, or for similar infrastructure, deep ocean exploration, or hazardous waste removal. May assist engineers in testing and designing robotics equipment.
Assemble or modify electromechanical equipment or devices, such as servomechanisms, gyros, dynamometers, magnetic drums, tape drives, brakes, control linkage, actuators, and appliances.
Install, diagnose, or repair communications, sound, security, or navigation equipment in motor vehicles.
Not sure whether realistic is your leading area? The interest test rates 60 real work activities and gives you your own three-letter code.
Take the interest test →Occupation data from the O*NET 30.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. O*NET® is a registered trademark of USDOL/ETA. Northstarself is not endorsed by or affiliated with USDOL/ETA. Interest ratings dated 11/2023.