Are you shy? Choosing a career path when you’re an introvert can be a bit of a challenge because so many jobs require regular interaction with others – whether you work in sales, customers service or as a pharmacy technician. Being shy doesn’t mean you can’t have a successful career, it just means, like anyone, you have to find a career that’s right for you. If constantly interacting with new people makes you anxious, consider these career paths:
Medical coding
As a medical coding professional, you would be responsible for using a special system to translate the diagnoses and procedures of health care providers into a series of letters and numbers. Medical coders look through health records to find the relevant information that they need. Although medical coders occasionally meet with physicians and other health care professionals to clarify diagnoses or get additional information, they do not have to interact with patients.1
Information technology
There are tons of different occupations within the field of information technology that are ideal for people who are a bit on the shy side. Network and systems administrators, for instance, use their IT expertise to enhance cyber security and update technology that businesses are using. Computer programmers and app developers may also be able to work from home, helping introverts avoid potentially uncomfortable situations at the office.2
Accounting
Accountants are largely responsible for preparing and examining financial records, which can be done without much interaction with other people. To become an accountant, you will need to be very analytical and detail-oriented, but you don’t need to necessarily be outgoing. As an accountant, you may be able to work from home and likely won’t have to communicate directly with clients unless you are in a management position.3
Graphic design
If you love art and computers, but don’t consider yourself to be an extrovert, graphic design may be for you! Graphic designers use their skills to create visual concepts, and often help companies select colors, images and logos that convey what their businesses are about. If you work for a large company, chances are you will get to work quite a bit on your own and won’t have to interact with too many people. You may also be able to work remotely because so much of graphic design is done on computers.4 1 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘Medical Records and Health Information Technicians,’ Aug. 7, 2012 – http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Healthcare/Medical-records-and-health-information-technicians.htm#tab-2 2 Bureau of Labor Statistics ‘Computer and Information Technology Occupations,’ March 29, 2012 – http://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/ 3 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘Accountants and Auditors,’ Aug. 31, 2012 – http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Business-and-Financial/Accountants-and-auditors.htm 4 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘Graphic Designers,’ March 29, 2012 – http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Arts-and-Design/Graphic-designers.htm
