Good Jobs for Introverts

I'd have to disagree with the EE tech one for that is my position.

It depends on which shift you work.

If you work during the daylight hours, you are knee-deep in engineers who demand your attention.

Luckily, I work at night. I haven't seen my boss since September.

EDIT:
I'm now studying software engineering. Yes, I love working alone!

 

You left out farm hand. Not migrant farm workers, who do hand labor, generally in groups. But the guy who works on a family farm, mostly driving a tractor. You work alone most of the time, driving a tractor or fixing fence or shoveling manure. Typical pay is minimum wage, but you probably also get lunch for free with the family. Lousy pay, but you're out in the open where the air is clean. (Even the stink of the barn or the milk parlor is not as bad as the smog in a city.) I'm not saying it's a good job, but it has its points, and it's appropriate for introverts.

Just think, if Bill Gates had become a farm hand instead of a software mogul, we wouldn't have to put up with Windows or Microsoft software today. And we'd probably have only 1% of the spam we get, since it's all sent out via bot nets of computers taken over by exploiting the security flaws in Windows.

 

I worked as a farm hand on a dairy farm, so I know exactly what you're talking about. The family actually worked harder than I did. But I got minimum wage and they were very successful, continually expanding. They earned everything they had. But I think I was worth more than I got paid. I stayed on because the working conditions (fresh air and an honest and decent employer) were better than living in a city.

 

I'm willing to bet that the kids called your wife names far more cruel than "farm girl." However, your wife might not be willing to repeat the names they called her. Or perhaps you are not willing to repeat them on this forum. I wouldn't either. Many of the names that kids call each other are best left unspoken. But FWIW, kids call each other cruel names in all circumstances. If kids could kill just by thinking about it, the human race would have gone extinct long ago.

 

Dairy farming is probably the hardest type of farming. I grew up on a small sheep/beef cattle farm, but I knew dairy farmers. Having to milk cows twice a day every 12 hours the whole year is a little tough, particularly if you want to schedule a vacation. Even after-school activities like sports is hard to do. Hopefully you have good neighbors who can pitch in while you're gone. In our area we didn't have any hired help.
But to the point, I was definitely an introvert, and the farm was a friendly place for me to be. I went on lots of long walks out in the woods. Crop farmers spend more time alone on the tractor, that's a good place to do your thinking.

EE Tech does involve talking to people, but usually it's the same people, not strangers, and they treat you like equals (if not, find another workplace!)

I'm not sure about the graphic designers - don't you have to give pitches to your customers about what you created, or at least talk to them in the begining to get their input?

And car repair, I would think there'd be angry customers who'd want to talk to you on occasion (although usually they talk to the front desk and/or management).

I would think truck driving would be another good job for an introvert, not that you make a lot of money at it, but if you own your own rig you can do alright.

I had a friend who became a software engineer after working in the morgue. She preferred the morgue "because the people there don't talk to you."
(I am a software engineer, but not nearly as introverted as I once was).

There's a joke a lead engineer told me - "How can you tell if an engineer is extroverted?" "Because he looks at your shoes when talking to you."
(Instead of his own shoes).

 

My brother is the stores manager for Adelaide's main newspaper. The only thing he sees face to face most days are robot lift trucks and the security guard on the way in and out. He earns about $60K per annum and has limited high school education because he is introverted and had issues with his english teacher, but is a highly intelligent person.

 

An employed truck driver doing line haul work, that is interstate or shuttle driving can earn $1500+ per week with no loading or unloading and limited personal contact. This is in Australia and driving B Doubles.

I heard the pay rate is 30c per kilometre for single trailer and 37c per kilometre for 2 trailers. Open road speed limit is 100km/h so if a driver can stick to free flowing roads at 100km/h earn up to $37 per hour and drive up to 72 hours per week on standard hours but if they are in a fatigue management scheme they can drive 84 hours a week!

 

The dairy farmer I worked for, and his wife, worked 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, and did not have one single day off from the time they took over the farm from his dad, until the time their son was old enough to work the farm alone for a two-week stretch. I think he might have been 16 or 17 then.

But they only worked half days on Sundays: Milking and chores, but no field work. I'm going to take a rough guess that they "only" worked 4 or 5 hours on Sundays.

 

I think they should have included most of the traditional types of engineering. Yeah, we have to talk to clients and work in groups sometimes, but we don't have to like it!!