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.
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.