Social Impact

Animal Trainers

Train animals for riding, harness, security, performance, or obedience, or for assisting persons with disabilities.

Sector: Social Impact
Preparation: Zone 2 — some preparation needed
O*NET code: 39-2011.00

What you'll actually do

The activities O*NET rates highest for this occupation, most important first. Numbers are out of 100.

Making Decisions and Solving Problems

a major part of the work — rated 80/100 for importance.
Performing General Physical Activities

a major part of the work — rated 78/100 for importance.
Training and Teaching Others

a major part of the work — rated 76/100 for importance.
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public

a major part of the work — rated 75/100 for importance.
Thinking Creatively

a major part of the work — rated 73/100 for importance.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

a major part of the work — rated 71/100 for importance.

Train animals for riding, harness, security, performance, or obedience, or for assisting persons with disabilities. Accustom animals to human voice and contact, and condition animals to respond to commands. Train animals according to prescribed standards for show or competition. May train animals to carry pack loads or work as part of pack team.

What it takes

Two numbers per line: the level the work expects, and how important it is to doing the job well. Both are O*NET ratings, already on a 0–100 scale.

Skills

Instructing

Needed at a basic working level (45/100), and rated 69/100 for importance.
Learning Strategies

Needed at a solid working level (55/100), and rated 63/100 for importance.
Speaking

Needed at a basic working level (43/100), and rated 63/100 for importance.
Critical Thinking

Needed at a solid working level (48/100), and rated 60/100 for importance.
Active Learning

Needed at a basic working level (45/100), and rated 56/100 for importance.

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service

Needed at a high level (60/100), and rated 76/100 for importance.
Education and Training

Needed at a high level (62/100), and rated 65/100 for importance.
Psychology

Needed at a solid working level (52/100), and rated 55/100 for importance.
Administration and Management

Needed at a basic working level (42/100), and rated 53/100 for importance.

Abilities

Problem Sensitivity

Needed at a solid working level (57/100), and rated 69/100 for importance.
Oral Expression

Needed at a solid working level (57/100), and rated 66/100 for importance.
Oral Comprehension

Needed at a solid working level (55/100), and rated 60/100 for importance.
Information Ordering

Needed at a basic working level (43/100), and rated 56/100 for importance.

How people get in

O*NET places this occupation in Zone 2 — some preparation needed. That is a statement about what employers typically require, not a rule about you.

Education

A high-school diploma is the usual starting point.

Experience

Some prior work experience helps but is rarely required.

Training

Expect a few months to a year of on-the-job training.

What it pays

These are typical social impact compensation bands by employer tier — sector-level figures, not a measured salary for Animal Trainers specifically. Treat them as the shape of the market, then check a real posting for the number.

UN · Gates Fdn · WHO

$90k – $160k

Large NGOs & Government

$60k – $100k

Local Nonprofits

$40k – $70k

How the work tends to run

Each line below is read off a single O*NET activity rating for this occupation — named, so you can disagree with it.

The work is physical — you are on your feet and handling things, not sitting still.From “Performing General Physical Activities”
You are in front of the public, so the job is partly performance.From “Performing for or Working Directly with the Public”
Long-running relationships carry the work; the same people come back.From “Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships”

How FlightWay scores your fit against this

No black box. Here is the whole method, factor by factor.

1. You answer a short quiz: Your answers build a profile across the same 161 O*NET dimensions this page is describing — skills, knowledge, abilities and work activities. Same axes, so the comparison is like-for-like.
2. We correlate the two profiles: Fit is a mean-centered cosine — a correlation between the SHAPE of your profile and the shape of Animal Trainers. Centering matters: raw similarity between any two occupations sits at 0.70–0.85 because all work shares a common profile, so without it every career would look like a match.
3. The number you see is personality fit only: "Would I want this work" and "am I ready for this work" are different questions, and averaging them answers neither. So readiness — what your résumé, coursework and projects prove — is scored separately and shown next to fit, never blended into it.
4. Every factor is visible: You can open any match and see which dimensions pushed it up and which pulled it down. If you disagree with the number, you can see exactly where it came from.

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Ten questions, about 90 seconds. You get your match against Animal Trainers and 782+ other real careers — with the reasoning shown.

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Occupational data on this page comes from the O*NET 30.3 Database, published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET is a registered trademark of USDOL/ETA. FlightWay is not endorsed by, and USDOL/ETA is not responsible for, anything built on that data — see our terms. What is ours is the comparison, the score and the plan.