Best jobs for Extroverts?

[Geila]

I've put off looking for a job as long as I could and now it's time to make it happen. But I have a bit of a dilemma: I am an extrovert in an introverted profession. For the past 20 years I've been in administrative and accounting work. I had a lot of internal issues and this kind of job provided a sort of safe buffer for me and I did well in this field but never really enjoyed the work. Now that I've worked thru most of my stuff I find that I really enjoy being with people and would like to make that a bigger part of my job.

I'm willing to take a pay cut if necessary in order to have a job that I enjoy and which will utilize more of my natural strengths. I've been told that my biggest strength is my ability to connect quickly and easily with others. I also relate very well to children and young adults, especially college-age. This is something which I really enjoy so it makes sense to make this a priority or at least a major consideration.
But I don't really know where to start. :help:
What I really enjoy is meeting new people, getting to know them, putting them at ease, listening to them. Meeting new people and getting to know them actually energizes me. I just don't know what kind of job would pay me to do it! I also think I might do well in helping people cope with a serious illness or in hospice work but I imagine those type of jobs require formal training.
Any advice or suggestion would be very much appreciated. :thankyou:

[madgeylou]

sounds like you could do a really great job at helping people with their accounting needs -- like one on one, as opposed to being shut in an office with a stack of numbers.

is there a way to parlay your skills and your people-person-ness into a small business? i'm finding that my extroverted nature is a HUGE asset in running a business.

[Zoe Girl]

Here is one place to start, look for places like what we have here called Colorado Free University. Basically they have lots of classes at good prices in all sorts of areas. They are always looking for teachers to come up with a class and teach it. It would be a nice middle step and get you out and making connections.

My job is supervising several schools of after school care that is paid for by a grant. We get out, meet with parents, kids, make connections to the school staff, all that. Plus I usually get time to work with the kids. Of course being grant based we need people who are able to make sure all our accounting is prepared for scrutiny and we cover all our bases. The non-profit world may be a great place for your skills.

[redfox]

I'm an extrovert, and one the most fun jobs I ever had was as a graduate school recruiter. I did it while in grad school, and I was the only extrovert on the team! Crazy. I loved the big events and external recruiting gigs.

[flowerseverywhere]

If you think you might want to get involved in Hospice they have a volunteer group in my area called Family Caregivers. They do all sorts of stuff and if you tried that you could easily know if you were cut out for that type of work. Hospice is a wonderful organization but not everyone can do it. They also need people to do outreach displays, say at state fairs or malls and that seems like you would be a great asset. If it worked out and you loved it you would be in the position to figure out how you could transfer it into a paying job.

since you are in accounting have you ever thought about taxes on the side? It would give you a chance to work directly with people and do one on one teaching. My BIL works part time for HRBlock, he had to pass a test and basically was very shortly employed and during tax season has all the hours he can take. Not exactly a high paying job but if you could give that a try part time while keeping your paying employment it would give you a chance to test the waters.

The most extroverted man I know works in an upper end restaurant as a waiter. Although college educated, he rakes in the dough because of his winning personality.

[Tammy]

I would think that anything with managing people would be a good fit for an extrovert. I work both as a direct care nurse and as a nurse manager, depending on the day, and I like the management part better as it requires more communication, creative problem solving, negotiating, all those interactive extroverted things.

[Geila]

Thanks everyone! These are all great ideas. I've been having so much fun these past 6 months that I really waited too long to start the job search and now my health benefits will run out in a couple of months so I might not have the time to do volunteer work to test out a field. But I'll check out the insurance prices and see if it's doable for me to buy the insurance for a few months to give me a bit of a window.

After I posted yesterday I found a job on craigslist that would be absolutely perfect! I can see myself happily doing it for the next 20 years. I'm going to apply for it. I'm lacking a key requirement so might not get it but I'm going to go for it anyway!

ETA: I've been surprised at how excited I am at the prospect of this job. I think that's the most significant part of this. Even if I don't get this particular job, I now know that there are jobs out there that I would be excited about doing and I will look for others that make me feel the same way. And maybe I'll find a second career too, even if it takes a few years to get there.


:thankyou: