So you hate people, and you’d rather not interact with them all day every day. Like at most jobs, right? Well, you’re in luck. You can still be a functioning member of society, hold down a proper career, be successful—all without having to spend too much time in the company of others.
So stop beating yourself up for not being a “people person.” Here are 10 of the best jobs for introverts, misanthropes, awkward people, and the antisocial among us who would prefer to do our work on our own, thank you very much.
1. Economics
Spend your work time conducting research, analyzing data, and formulating economic plans. Most of this requires you to be hunched over your computer in fierce concentration. No conversation necessary.
2. Pottery
If you have any talent for pottery, you can retreat to your studio, wheel, and kiln, and then make money off your wares. You could even get someone else to sell them, or set up a shop online.
3. Watch Repair
It’s just you and the cogs. Hide out in some back workroom fixing and cleaning and adjusting watches for a living.
4. Agricultural Equipment Operator
A big farm machine, the open field and sky, and no conversation required—it’s too loud to hear anyone talking anyway, even yourself. Plus, it’s vital work that feeds the world.
5. Animal Care
Like animals more than people? Spend your workweek taking care of them in a shelter, pet store, or veterinary office. It doesn’t pay terribly well, but it’s bliss.
6. Archivist
Hole up in a solitary corner of a museum or auction house and catalogue or restore items of immense value to a few scholars. You’ll spend your days in silence and make a decent salary.
7. Court Reporter
You’ll be in the middle of the action, but you’re a mere fly on the wall; you won’t have to interact with anyone. Just sit there and let your mind wander and your fingers fly.
8. Social Media Manager
It may seem ironic that you can conduct immensely social marketing business from a little cubicle somewhere and never have to speak to anyone. But it’s true! You’ll have to spend a lot of time online, just by virtue of the position, and you’ll hardly have much time in your workday to be, you know, actually social.
9. Tax Accountant/Actuarial Accountant
Your contact with clients will be infrequent. You’ll spend most of your day analyzing numbers, dealing with data, and researching. And there are subspecialties in the field that will carry you even further from daily human interaction.
10. Transportation Equipment Painters
You probably didn’t even know this was a job. But surfaces of transportation equipment like buses, trucks, trains, boats, planes, etc. all require painting. So put on your haz-mat suit and enjoy the sound of your own thoughts.
