Right from childhood, your personality determines your interests and career options. You are born with a personality, and you don’t get to choose if you are introverted or extroverted.
Introverts feel drained when they have to deal with many people, and they prefer solitude. If you are one, pick your career wisely, and avoid the worst jobs for introverts.
Which Are Bad Jobs for Introverts?
The worst jobs for introverts are those involving frequent interactions with many people. They face anxiety with group activities and would rather work alone.
Even though introverts can be great team players, they are less noticeable and like working behind the scenes.
People with this personality type find it difficult to function in socially charged situations. They easily get worn out by people, and it’s normal to be an introvert, and 30-50% of Americans are born introverted.
Out of every people you know, one is introverted. It could even be you.
What Are Introverts Afraid of?
Some of the reasons introverts should carefully consider their job options are because they fear:
- Big Crowds
- Embarrassment
- Long Phone Calls (Telephonophobia)
- Long Social Engagements
- Meeting New People
- Small Talk with Colleagues
Introverts are afraid of becoming cranky or rude when they become worn out by social interaction. They only socialize when recharged by solitude and are always afraid of dealing with people when exhausted.
They refrain from making social plans because they don’t know how their mood will be in the future.
Unfortunately, introverts are often misunderstood and may come off as aloof and detached. Some are accused of not liking people, which is far from accurate.
Introverts can be friendly, but only when energized by some alone time.
Understanding the Personality Spectrum of Introverts
Not all introverts are the same; just the same way extroverts are different. The personality spectrum of introverts makes some shy. Others can be downright antisocial when exhausted.
Dopamine large determines where you are in the spectrum. Still, life experiences how anxious introverts get when socializing.
You can tell the extent of your introverted personality by evaluating how strong the following signs are:
- You can’t concentrate without quiet
- You are reflective and self-aware
- You take time deciding issues
- You work best alone
- You prefer writing to talking
Knowing yourself is important when picking your career path. Some jobs just aren’t meant for you, but others need someone just like you.
What Are the Worst Jobs for Introverts?
1. Attorney Jobs
Great attorneys rely on immaculate research from advocates. Their forte is deliberating for mediation or litigation.
They need to deal with many people and keep interviewing clients and witnesses. They also have to negotiate with other legal colleagues.
Law schools train rigorously on the people skills of attorneys. Debates, group discussions, mock cases, and conflict mediations are common. Most introverts strain with these kinds of engagements.
Introverts who make good lawyers are reversed and tactical. They try winning cases way before the trial date, and their research skills are impeccable.
2. Police Officer Jobs
Picture an interrogation scene. Are you the good cop or the bad cop? No matter which one you are, you’ll need to talk, observe, and apply social psychology.
Police officers deal with many people going through traumatic events. Policing people and enforcing laws is tough. Officers need outstanding communication skills and patience.
They deal with:
- Motorists
- Victims making complaints
- Victims appealing for first responder help
- Criminals
- Crime suspects
- Crime witnesses
- Attorneys
- Colleague officers
- Judges
- Politicians
- Protesters
An introvert can get exhausted fast by regular police work. They need to work on their temperaments with regular training and reflections.
3. Teaching Jobs
Teachers are the unsung heroes of every generation. These professionals spend every day of the week guiding and assessing the learning of multiple students.
They shaped you into the enlightened and skilled person you are today. Maybe you don’t know it, but it wasn’t easy to educate you.
Teachers impart knowledge, skills, and work ethic to form responsible citizens. They deal with multiple kids, other teachers, parents, and their supervisors.
Education has many societal stakeholders, and teachers must account for their audience with students. Often, they come across difficult kids, parents, and colleagues.
4. College Professors Jobs
Introvert professors go out of their way to cope with the social demands. Education is for society, and they must account for their time with students.
College professors are like teachers who are burdened with research duties. They don’t attend PTA meetings, but they contend with research panels and peer reviewers.
Dealing with college students is hard enough for an introvert. College professors need to instill knowledge, attitudes, skills, and ethics.
The research leading to published journals is painstaking. Still, professors must publish or become irrelevant in their competitive fields.
Professors must involve lab specialists, or interview people, for arts. Plus, they make community speeches report on impactful research.
5. Priests and Preachers
Members of the clergy and preachers tend to multitudes of faithful worshipers. You need outstanding humility and compassion to perform their roles. They intercede between people and spiritual realms.
Religion is the opium of the masses. Leading religious worship can wear out introverts. You have to listen to believers who come to confess and to testify. They need to reassure congregations and reaffirm their doubts.
Institutionalized clergy also deals with many members of the church. They must appease hierarchy and inspire peers. These positions are socially competitive, and the introverts must be extra patient.
6. Bartender Jobs
Bars make profits when packed with patrons, and bartenders need to be great with small talk. Alcohol stimulates emotive sentiments. Thus, people in bars get very chatty, even with strangers.
Bartenders make fortunes from tips, but they need a constant smile and listening ears. Total strangers often want to talk and feel heard, and bartenders are great with that.
Some bartenders can do pretty great blogs because of how people talk when drinking. They refrain because their regulars like to think there’s some secrecy.
7. Bank Teller Jobs
This is one of the most socially interactive jobs ever. You wake up early in the morning, rush to work, and earn credit for serving more clients than anyone else.
Such a workplace favors the extrovert who gets energized by dealing with people.
Bank tellers talk to strangers all day, and they still have to report to their bosses. Life is hectic for the anxious introvert who has to deal with rude clients daily.
Banks impose many bureaucracies that customers must follow. Customers keep asking for assistance over trifle issues, and tellers must guide them courteously.
An introvert has to work extra harder to keep up with extrovert bank tellers.
8. Sales Rep Jobs
Trust a sales representative to chat with an astronaut about the six-year voyage that revealed Jupiter’s secrets. They know you love painting, and they will tell you how interesting it’s to watch their paint dry.
Salespeople sell by appealing to multiple prospects. The pros customize every pitch they make to different people.
You have to be outgoing and sociable to strike the kind of deals they close.
How many times do you convince people to buy stuff they weren’t planning to get? Is it easy? If it is, do you think you are an introvert?
9. Politicians
Politicians are the most social creatures you’ll come across. Their careers are dependent on appealing to the masses and staying relevant. A politician will promise heaven and earth just for backing.
Politicians with introverted personalities often take long trips to recharge from social interactions. People are difficult to convince, and politicians are occupationally persuasive.
They bargain and campaign to all sorts of audiences, and they keep addressing media attention.
These people speak on behalf of others. They talk to their electorates and negotiate on behalf of many parties. They schedule their social engagements carefully to maintain public relations.
Introvert politicians are very tactful and refrain from snapping when worn out.
What Is the Best Job for Introverts?
The best job for introverts is any that allows them to work alone. Introverts make successful freelancers. They don’t do well in social contexts, but the gig economy favors them.
They can become writers, programmers, photographers, and designers. They can even become artists who sell virtual products.
How to Avoid the Worst Jobs for Introverts
Digital marketing techniques make introverts popular, and you can become an influencer without engaging directly with people. Still, it takes time and skill to do self-publishing. SEO calls for quality SEO writing and well-done ads.
Introverts can also do well with the remote jobs cropping up. You can become an administrative assistant to big brands and influence without socializing.
Remote jobs allow you to work from home, and you don’t have to keep socializing with clients.
Introverts are advantaged in the job markets as lockdowns linger, and more jobs become remote. Extroverts prosper in physical locations where shy introverts don’t talk.
With remote jobs, attention goes to the most productive workers. Introverts don’t talk much, but their hard work shows. The internet makes the worst jobs for introverts better.
Related: Best Jobs for Extroverts
If you find it difficult to interact with people and it causes you anxiety, then the job of a police officer is not for you. This is clearly the worst jobs for people with anxiety, as police officers deal with many people who are going through traumatic events and stress.
Jobs that involve high levels of stress, social interaction, and unpredictability are generally not recommended for people with anxiety. Some examples of jobs that can be especially challenging for people with anxiety include: Customer Service Representative, Emergency Service Worker, Salesperson.
