Have you always been outgoing? It’s a good characteristic to have. Being more of an extrovert than an introvert can help you navigate social situations and easily interact with people. It may seem like outgoing people would be well-equipped to perform any job, but there are some positions for which they are better suited than others. If you’re outgoing, pursue one of these careers and you won’t even feel like you’re working.1
Registered nurse
With a nursing career, you’re required to interact with patients directly, caring for and educating them about their health conditions. Registered nurses may also need to interact with patients’ families and answer any questions they may have. As an RN, you give patients medicines and treatments, consult with doctors about their medical conditions and do your best to brighten their days and provide quality care.2
Human resources specialist
Human resources specialists recruit, screen, interview and hire workers. As a result, their job requires plenty of mingling with candidates and regularly communicating with coworkers as they manage employee relations. Human resources specialists are generally in charge of the interview process at companies, which means they will need to be comfortable meeting and speaking with new people on a regular basis.3
Salesperson
It probably comes as no surprise that salespeople need to be outgoing. This career can encompass a variety of occupations, including retail workers, travel agents and product promoters and demonstrators.4 As a salesperson, it is your job to convince people to buy the product or service that you are selling, so you’ll need to be able to charm a variety of different personalities. If you enjoy being around people, talking and socializing, sales may be for you.5
Dental hygienist
As a dental hygienist, your primary responsibilities include examining patients, cleaning teeth and providing preventative dental care, all of which involve direct and regular interaction with patients. To do this job well, you will need to possess good interpersonal skills because dental hygienists not only work regularly with patients, but also dentists and dental assistants.6
School counselor
School counselors work with students to help them be successful in school and in life. This means being friendly and helping students feel safe as they talk to you about their career goals, academic fears or concerns about things that are happening in their lives. When working directly with students, it’s important to have good speaking and listening skills.7 1 Dizik, Alina, CareerBuilder, ’10 jobs for extroverts,’ June 29, 2011 – http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-2413-Job-Info-Trends-10-jobs-for-extroverts/ 2 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘Registered Nurses,’ March 29, 2012 – http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Healthcare/Registered-nurses.htm#tab-2 3 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘Human Resources Specialists,’ March 29, 2012 – http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Business-and-Financial/Human-resources-specialists.htm#tab-2 4 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘Sales Occupations,’ March 29, 2012 – http://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/ 5 Kyle, Chris, Yahoo!Education, ‘Careers for Outgoing People,’ Feb. 2011 – http://education.yahoo.net/articles/are_you_outgoing.htm 6 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘Dental Hygienists,’ March 29, 2012 – http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dental-hygienists.htm 7 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘School and Career Counselors,’ April 6, 2012 – http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Community-and-Social-Service/School-and-career-counselors.htm
