[livelaughlove_94]

My work situation is having not had a great deal of experience due to a long-term health condition that took over my life both physically and mentally in the past. I still have this condition now but it isn't as bad as it was.

I have a diploma and work experience in admin but found out that office work seems to mean you need to be very, very extroverted to thrive and succeed in (and be kept in?). Sure, I can be extroverted if I make myself be but that's the point -I have to make myself, as being very much an introvert personality type, I get worn out from an overload of socializing -this seems to be necessary in work EVEN IN ACCOUNTS(?!)

I did have an accounts job but ended up being let go because I just couldn't get my head around the type of work -as any of you fellow accountants will know, you need to be a methodical and numerical sort of person to work well in accounts, and I am awful at maths (got a GCSE grade lower than an 'E' at school basically) so I don't think that helped -at all.

I think I'm stuck in office-type work because of my diploma and work experience (all admin based) so if I change career idea it'll just look like I can't stick to anything you know?

My issue is I'm not extroverted or brilliant with people. Yes, I can put it on as I said but after I've done it I end up needing time alone and can feel myself sinking into that depressed feeling and feeling 100% fed up with putting an act on and feeling 'different'. I used to smoke to feel more sociable when I was younger, but I am not willing to put my health on the line for the sake of being an extreme extrovert.

I love to read, write and research and got good grades at school for English. What sort of work do you fellow introverted folk do and what sort of advice could you offer me? I am from the UK and 22 y/o.

[Lolina]

I could have written exactly that. I work as an Executive Assistant for a huge team in a big open space. Honestly, I manage to do my job and interact when needed. Sometimes I do get lunch with other coworkers but I love at least twice per week to have lunch alone and go walking. I cope better and can charge my batteries otherwise too much interaction will drain me.
You are just 22, maybe you can look for something else or go back to school to get a new degree in something matching more your personality, or even create your own thing.

Iam thinking about all of these too.

Good luck with everything and do not hesitate to message me, we can support each other and help with advice and stuff...

Audit in a local authority or NHS organisation
Bid writing for a charity
Admin support to a research group at a university
Minute taking and Board support in the public sector
Working as an archivist
Admin in a museum
Virtual secretarial services
Back office work in a GP surgery (mostly letters)
Admin support for students (typing up a thesis)

Just some thoughts......

[seesaw]

Originally Posted by Little Cat

Audit in a local authority or NHS organisation
Bid writing for a charity

Bid writing for a charity (which I think is the equivalent to grant writing here in the US) is what I do professionally, and it does require a lot of project management and working with a lot of people. It's not just sitting at a desk and writing. That's barely half the job. So I wouldn't recommend that if you are VERY introverted. However, if you are just sort of mildly or average introvert, and can handle planned project meetings and managing an agenda, etc., working in teams, it isn't so bad. I am somewhat introverted and proposal writing has been a fairly good fit for me. You still have to work with other people, and it's a lot of detail work, but you're not with people all the time.

Originally Posted by Little Cat

Admin support to a research group at a university

Again, this will require working with other people and managing their notes, doing their data entry.

Originally Posted by Little Cat

Minute taking and Board support in the public sector

If you're not an extrovert this will be terrible. Boards of Directors are highly demanding people, and minute taking is usually done by an Executive Assistant whose job is to be a public face, and to manage a CEO's time. Wouldn't recommend this.

Originally Posted by Little Cat

Working as an archivist

I know some archivists; you'd work with probably a small team, but it's not a huge public facing gig. You'd have to interact at team meetings, but would probably largely work alone.

Originally Posted by Little Cat

Admin in a museum

This really depends on what kind of admin. If you did data entry, like office support, not a lot of interaction, but there's also admin at museums that answers phones a lot...so it would depend (I know because I worked at a museum).

Originally Posted by Little Cat

Virtual secretarial services

I'm not sure what this would be exactly?

Originally Posted by Little Cat

Back office work in a GP surgery (mostly letters)

Great idea. Also accounts payable or medical billing, very little talking to other people or meetings with other people. Just doing the paperwork and submitting the right forms to insurance to get the bills paid by insurance. This could also work for any kind of medical like physical therapy, rehab, a hospital. They all have accounts payable or billing departments that need people to do the data entry and submit paperwork. I used to do medicare billing part time after working as a PT assistant. I did it after the office closed because it was the only thing I didn't need to discuss with other people to do.

Originally Posted by Little Cat

Admin support for students (typing up a thesis)

Definitely a good idea. When I was in grad school, we all had to pay a typist to make sure our thesis papers were in the correct style and had the references and citations done correctly. You can do it yourself, but most grad students cough up the $200 bucks to have a pro do it so they get through their committee. You'd have to become very well-versed in different reference styles like APA or Chicago, etc., but that's not super difficult.

I think also like a legal secretary would be good. They do answer phones and deal with their boss regularly, but then they do filing, paperwork, research, data entry, might be okay for an introvert.

Maybe a copy editing job?

Trying to think of something that is largely done without working with other people or having a lot of interfacing with other people.

One thing could be prospect research for nonprofits/charities. This is using certain databases and reference tools online to identify potential big donors. You don't have to do the actual cultivation and solicitation of gifts, your job is solely to do the background research on prospective donors and supply that to the solicitor. This is done very much alone, and your only real interaction is to update your boss or send donor reports to the solicitor who needs them. With your background and research skills, you may be able to get an entry level or even an internship with a museum or other nonprofit to learn how to do this, then find a well-paying job. In the U.S. prospect researchers can earn very good money. I'm not sure about in the U.K., but I'm guessing at big universities and big nonprofits, they can earn good money too.

Good luck,

Seesaw

What are you doing, marking my homework?!!

[livelaughlove_94]

Cheers for all the thoughtful responses, I'll look into these
I do know of some of them but they seemed hard to get into
I'll get there eventually with help!

Try these websites

https://www.jobs.nhs.uk
http://www.lgjobs.com
https://www.charityjob.co.uk
Tender Writing, Bid Management and PQQ Help from Tenders UK
Academic or Research - Job Search - jobs.ac.uk

Ignore the American woffle above. She has no clue about the UK. Good luck with your search!