Career Paths For Highly Sensitive Introverts?

[bhayes]

Hello. Just recently i bought a book called

"I Don't Know What I Want But Its Not this" by Julie Jansen

its a great book. in that it stresses the importance of Self-Essessment
however during the self-assesment i realized that the book like most career  self-assement books is little more biased towards the qualities of highly non-sensitive EXTROVERTS in the business world. This is not a criticisim. Its a good book and it have been very helpful. Now as marti has put it, Our culutre values these "go out and conquer the world" qualities because that's apart of what makes the U.S.A what it is.

When i realized this i decided to pick up a copy of Highly Sensitive persons workbook by Elaine Aaron. She has a chapter dedicated to highly sensitive introverts where she discusses vocation.

and she give the reader some helpful exercises. such as describing your qualities  and  making journal entries.

caring, tenderness, isolated, gentle, focused, loyal, passionate, angry, concientous etc.,   

but it left me with the idea. How can highly sensitive people who are introverts make it out there?

but i guess my question is what are some good resources or books that give good comprehensive info about this.

ive looked at amazon.com but some the books there while they sound promising

like

1."200 Best Jobs for Introverts "

2. "Making Work Work for the Highly Sensitive Person" have been given bad reviews in that they make the reader feel good

3.Careers for Introverts & Other Solitary Types

have been given bad reviews by the amazon reviewers saying that they make the reader feel good but to give the how-to info. or make poor sspamestions.

or another good example is with my family. Alot people around me have said to me "ya know brandon you're a good listener and deep thinker. you should be a teacher or a therapist."

While i do have the ability to empathize deeply with others this doesn't mean that i always want to hear the deep complex problems of strangers. Or be like a child, family, marrige counselor. Why many times a therapist merely serves the role of the referee in groups situations. or Maybe being a therapist is a complicated way of being around people who have more problems than i do and somehow i'll feel better about myself. But again this make me feel bad or confused when i think about that. 

And i honestly don't feel like i am SMART enough or SUCCESSFUL or COOL enought to teach any subject matter.

So again i was wondering if anyone had any sspamestions.

[Fran]

Test Your Own Job Aptitude by Jim Barrett and Geoff Williams is very good.  It has three different sections that people can use together to find possible good career choices for themselves.  One section is aptitude tests, one section is personality, and one section is interests.  The idea is that rather than looking at each of those things separately, a person should look at them together and find the best possible career choices.  It might be the kind of book you want.

[bhayes]

Thank you fran. i will get a copy of this and let you know. i'm reading a preview right now. the people who wrote it seem to have some sensitivty

[Fran]

You're welcome.  I'll be interested to see your reaction.  I agree that they do have some sensitivity.   

[GroovyCD]

I am wondering if introverts who are highly sensitive may have a problem finding a job they're willing to do not only because of the cultural bias against introverts, but also because it seems like so many jobs out there would make a sensitive person cringe due to the questionable ethics involved. Even if I may be perfectly cut out, based on my introversion, for a job copy editing ads, as a sensitive person do I really want to help promote a product that is harmful to a person's health, wreaks havoc on the environment, or exists only because of a customer's socially-created insecurities?

[Fran]

What about a job in a small non-profit place where you believe in the cause?  If it's more of a background type job instead of one that involves a lot of social interaction, it might be good for a senstive introvert.

[GroovyCD]

That is a good idea, but it wouldn't work for most people since jobs at nonprofits, by their nature, are limited.

[Jibberwocky]

A person has to eat. Sometimes you have to make moral compromises and realize that everyone, everywhere is capable of evil to some degree or another. Maybe you can do some good in your position at an individual level that your company isn't doing on a global. I work for a corporate behemoth I don't have a lot of respect for, but my customers are honest, hardworking people. I get flak from my coworkers for being more trusting and compassionate towards them than most people do, but I take that as a sign that I'm doing the right thing in my work. If you take the weight of the whole world on your shoulders, you not only end up being less effectual than you would like to be, you eventually can't do anything because of the bias and taint associated with it.

[GroovyCD]

I agree to some extent that "a person has to eat." But does that ever end up being simply a justification for not doing as much as you can to challenge the status quo? I think, for some people, their careers allow them to eat...and live more "luxurious" lives than they really need to.

[gennif]

How about the self-employed route and working from home?  Two jobs I can think of are virtual assistant (secretary) and bookkeeper.  There are probably a lot more besides these.

Also you avoid office politics and a lot of face to face contact.

gennif   

[Orion]

How about professional organizer?  That might be an interesting job idea.  Not necessarily in an office (you do have to go to other people's houses), but you get to put things in order.

I know I like to have things clean. Not a super neat freak -- but aware enough when things are starting to get on the messy side I will suddenly start organizing.

[Fran]

Orion, maybe I should hire you.

[GroovyCD]

I just resigned from my job yesterday, and I think my experiences may prove instructive for many highly sensitive introverts.

The main reason I quit was because I have a paralegal certificate and they were making me be a secretary. However, I don't think the administrative work would have bothered me as much if I had been in more introvert-friendly working conditions. Several aspects of the job environment annoyed me.

1) The fluorescent lights inundated me all day with their nausea-inducing brightness. If it were up to me, I would have draped a sheet over the ceiling.

2) My co-workers apparently forgot to take their ADHD medication every morning. The woman I reported to was always in a rush to do everything, regardless of whether this made logical sense. She would create deadlines even when the actual deadlines were several days away in order to provide herself with a "face-paced" work environment. Several of my co-workers seemed incapable of sitting still and doing their work for long periods of time, and consequently took frequent breaks to chatter about trivial topics such as gym memberships several feet from my desk.

This experience taught me that work environment is almost as important as the actual work you're doing. Now I know that if the job description says "fast-paced" or if anyone utters that dreaded phrase in an interview to steer clear of the position. Also, I think it may be worthwhile to ask prospective employers if it is possible to have my own workspace. This would make a job less exhausting and me more productive.

[Fran]

Groovy, that often seems to happen on jobs.  People are expected to do things that they weren't hired to do.  I think you were smart to quit.  A lot of people stay with jobs, even when they are totally miserable.  I hope you find something that works out better for you. 

[pammihsp]

I aint easy being HSP and finding work that fits!
Not all HSP's are created equal. Some of us are very introverted. Some of us are very poor at working with clerical details (moi) and have learning disabilities (again, moi). I can't do math-related work because of discalculea.

It isn' always only about the physical environment that makes a job a poor fit---although that is a big factor. It's also a matter of your personal abilities or disabilities.

Photography and screenwriting and improv comedy "call" to me. Yup, a funny introvert that likes to make people laugh. Just one little detail: how to survive financially whild doing these things---in a job that doesn' kill me from stress? (Most jobs have a lot of FPMT---fast paced multi-tasking...which I also can't do because of auditory processing learning disability.)