Plenty of jobs are a great fit for introverts who recharge when they spend time alone. Explore some of the very best jobs for introverts out there, with tips to shine brightly at work – your way!
If you’re an introvert, never fear – always remember you’re a huge asset to an employer, so you can just be yourself! You may work best when you have a little space and quiet, but you can still be happy, fun and great to be around.
5 reasons why it’s good to have introverts in the workplace:
- Introverts think through what they’re going to say and do. This can result in great communication skills.
- Introverts are independent, which often means they have fabulous self-management, initiative and organisation skills.
- Introverts be very creative and imaginative, which helps them find new and better ways of doing things.
- Introverts watch, listen and learn. Because they take a step back to observe what’s going on, they can spot issues and use their problem solving skills before everything gets out of hand.
- Introverts have lots more self-belief skills than they are sometimes given credit for. They watch themselves carefully, and that means they have the resilience to learn and grow from past mistakes.
- And, of course, introverts may feel shy and anxious socially but they can still have a positive attitude, enjoy banter and make fantastic friends at work!
How can introverts do well in the workplace?
- Share your knowledge with team members and managers – you can avoid the limelight but still help your team do well (and get acknowledged for your efforts!)
- Step up to leadership roles – a lot of people like your quiet, thoughtful management style because it doesn’t come across as arrogant!
- Use emails to communicate where possible instead of loads of phone calls and meetings. You may feel more comfortable, and actually lots of people prefer emails because too many meetings can really slow the workload down!
- Build quiet time into your working day – you know it helps you be more productive, so find methods to recharge, even if it’s just plugging yourself into headphones so you don’t get distracted by office background noise
- Speak to someone you trust if you’re feeling frustrated – even if they’re outside the office. You sometimes find it harder to vocalise frustrations, but that act of (safe) venting will help you avoid building too much pent-up energy.
- Prepare in advance for meetings, presentations, phone and video calls – write up key points you want to raise so you know exactly what you want to say beforehand
- Use your critical thinking and problem-solving skills to tackle challenges that other people have neglected because they seemed too complicated. These tasks might not be the highest priority (which is why they were neglected) but you can use your thoughtful nature to piece it all together and find new solutions. Et voila, improved workflow and processes!
- Explore the possibility of remote working once you’ve built up time and experience in your role. Some jobs lend themselves well to working one day a week from home. If you’ve established trust with your employer and they’re impressed with your output, occasional remote working could be productive and beneficial for you AND your employer.
Best jobs for introverts
Let’s be honest – just like extroverts, introverts can excel at any career they enjoy. And life isn’t all black and white – introverts can enjoy being social, too! It’s just that some jobs ( like working in sales or being a TV presenter, for example) might mean you need to work harder to create your space and recharge. If you need some career inspiration, explore our list of roles where you could play to your strengths as an introvert!
CAD technician
Do you like design and details and working quietly to create something beautiful and useful? As a CAD technician you’ll build your skills in computer-aided 2D and 3D design, creating detailed drawings and blueprints. You can get started when you leave school. CAD is an incredibly useful skill that can help you become anything from an architect or building surveyor to a civil engineer.
Database administrator
This is a behind-the-scenes IT role. Databases are digital information systems. Nearly all big companies and organisations have a database, whether it’s YouTube, hospitals or websites that sell gig tickets. You’ll help plan how those systems work, build them with code and then make sure they keep working. You rarely need to talk to clients and can just carry out activities assigned by your line manager. Of course, you’ll be building fantastic skills, knowledge and experience to grow into e.g. a project management position if you wish to.
Ecologist
Have you dreamed of being an expert on bats and getting an official Bat Licence? Maybe not, but you might be tempted now we’ve put the idea in your head! If you find that plants, nature and animals help you recharge in a way that big social crowds don’t, ecology could be a fascinating career choice for introverts. Ecologists can be research scientists or work for places like environmental organisations or zoos. They can work in offices, labs or the great outdoors. Although you will often work with people (yes, even clients) you’ll also do a lot of research and field studies out in the wild. The variety of work means you should be able to recharge your introvert batteries when you need to, and therefore enjoy the social company when you get it. You can get into ecology by taking the degree route or by undertaking an environmental conservation apprenticeship, and your job will be to make the world a better place for the environment, animals and – ultimately – people.
Food technologist
As a food technologist you’re engaged with science, technology and… you guessed it… food. Your work could involve inventing new flavours for sweets and savoury snacks, or blending ingredients for new recipes. It sounds like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, but there’s a serious side to this role, too. For example, you might need to ensure that food products are being honest about the nutrition information they’re presenting on labels. There are so many places you could work, from academic research labs to food manufacturers, local authorities and supermarkets. You’ll mostly be working in research labs, carrying out science-related activities or using digital skills to record and analyse data. For introverts, this is a fantastic role because you can control the amount of social activity you get, work in a relatively quiet environment, and be able to prepare in advance if you need to communicate your discoveries to other people.
Graphic designer
Introverts are often creative, imaginative people – maybe because they get to spend more time in their own head! A creative role in graphic design could be absolutely perfect for introverts with a high sense of aesthetics. Graphic design might involve craft and working with your hands, e.g. for collage, but usually it involves illustration skills and also digital skills, since so much graphic design is handled with software these days. Any business you can think of probably uses graphic design in some way to create a product or enhance its brand visibility. That means you could work for a huge variety of sectors, and also specialise in the kind of graphic design you feel most drawn to (pun intended). You could work for an employer or for an agency. You might work in a team, but since your work involves getting your head down and getting on with it, you may find a graphic design team environment a pleasant one to work with. You may have some meetings with clients, but you will be able to prepare in advance – and your beautiful designs will be in the limelight, not you.
Laboratory technician
A job as a lab technician might be perfect for you if you’re keen to work in healthcare but really don’t want to meet patients or treat people face-to-face. Lab work could take you into all sorts of fascinating career pathways. You could work in business or academic research laboraties. You could work for hospitals or charitable organisations. You could even get involved with niche careers like forensic science.
Remote worker (creative, digital or sales)
Many employers in the creative, digital or sales sector advertise for remote working positions where you can work from home either full-time or part time. Jobs like remote marking, copywriting or web design are very common.
Social media co-ordinator
Who would have thought it? A job with the word ‘social’ in the title can actually be a great career choice for introverts! That’s because the social aspect of the job is all online, and done through written communication. Your daily activities will involve planning, scheduling and carrying out social campaigns to build positive brand awareness for a client. You can schedule ten tweets a day for a client’s account which makes them look incredibly social without having to talk to anyone. You can spend time researching best practice, new technology and trending hashtags. You can craft tweets of few words with huge impact. You can release your creative side with imagery and relatable animated GIFs. You’ll probably be working in a team, but you can always aim to find a little quiet time to get your balance back. With time and experience, this is a role where you may be able to source remote working opportunities, too.
See also: marketing executive
Sub-editor
Words, words, words. Isn’t it great that words can say so much without you having to actually talk to people all the time? Any writing role is potentially a good fit for introverts because you have time to organise your thoughts before you say anything when it’s all done through writing. As a sub-editor you get to explore the flow and shape (and grammar) of other people’s words. You can think what title might have the highest impact for a feature. In this desk job you could work anywhere from an online magazine to a national print newspaper. You can spend quiet time poring over words at your leisure.
In fact, here’s a hot tip: editors and sub-editors often print off articles so they can go off into a quiet corner to edit them the old-fashioned way, with a red pen! It can help to aid the concentration, and you’ll be guaranteed some precious me-time, even in a big office environment.
Another great thing about sub-editor jobs for introverts is that you can potentially work freelance (so you may not get too close to your colleagues as you’ll be working elsewhere in a few months), full or part-time, or even work remotely from home in some instances.
Transport Planner
If you’ve ever walked down a street and wondered how someone figured out where to put the traffic lights and bus stops, you could make a great transport planner. Transport planners make sure a transport system is safe, environmentally friendly, financially sound and reliable. The job itself is all about understanding and analysing intricate data to report your findings and make the best transport planning decisions possible. You can work for private companies or the government and local authorities, and as there is a skills shortage in transport planning your skills could help you get places fast. People often come into transport planning through a science or engineering route. You’d be in an office environment, most likely surrounded by analytical minds who love puzzles and problem-solving. As an introvert, you hopefully won’t find social interaction levels too excessive or abrasive with all these thinkers around who are interested in things like pattern recognition.
Web developer
As a web developer you essentially create, design and look after websites and their features. You could work alone or in an office with a team. However, even if you’re in a team, this technical work means that people often have their heads down and listen to personal music on their headphones in order to get on with things. There are usually some meetings involved, but you don’t have to deal with clients until you get to a senior position. Even then, the nature of digital work is that a lot of the communication is done by email.
Don’t forget – as an introvert, you can be ANYTHING. You have the power, the skills and the passion. But if you’ve ever thought a job really isn’t for you, then it’s fine to explore your options. There are so many amazing careers for introverts out there where you can feel like your best self without having to try.
