I’ve got a confession to make: I don’t really like people.
I act like I do, smiling when I meet someone new and playing the social butterfly at blogger conferences, but in truth, I’ve never been much of a people person.
I don’t hate people, ok, maybe some people, but I love working alone.
In an increasingly socially-connected world, finding a job for people who hate people is becoming more challenging. Employers expect you to play nice with customers, coworkers, and even that boss that doesn’t know what the h&*! he’s talking about.
You don’t even need to hate people to want to avoid them. Unfortunately, a lot of people are just natural introverts and want to work alone.
Introverts, as we call them, are people who thrive on their own and like it best when they’re alone. They often feel drained when they interact heavily with others. Well, misconceptions include thinking they are anti-socially, but not at all. Introverts just get more energized in quiet places than in loud and people-ey environments. Not all introverts are extremely shy and socially awkward. Most of them are good communicators and full of wisdom. That is also why they are better suited to careers that offer a high degree of self-reliance, independence, and organization. Most introverts are excellent at establishing rich connections. They only avoid exerting too much effort into social interactions and big gatherings because they only get more focused, productive, and energized when they are just within their personal space.
That’s why introverts search for opportunities that allow them to work with utmost flexibility when looking for a job. That way, they’re most likely to grow and emerge a success milestone after milestone. Working in a field that allows them to utilize their strengths best is a massive factor for the typical introvert. There are many ideal jobs for people who hate people out there, and when the proper guidelines are met, they will become the company’s greatest asset.
You don’t have to hate people to appreciate these jobs that you can do alone
Fortunately, there are still ways to make money with different levels of social interaction. Of course, you might not be able to avoid all people all the time but some jobs will avoid the most annoying people.
Before some of the new economy jobs online, I’ll first cover some traditional jobs without much personal interaction.
What Kind of People Do You Not Like?
Whether you hate people or dislike some people, just about anyone can appreciate a little space at their job.
Picking the best job for your personality means understanding what it is about people you don’t like and which people you want to avoid.
- Do you not want to mess with customers?
- Are you tired of office politics and the constant backstabbing among coworkers?
- Are you just tired of having to answer to an idiot manager?
Maybe you’re OK with all these people, but you can’t stand people during your commute to work.
Looking through the list of jobs for people that hate people, ask yourself what type of people you’ll avoid and what people you’ll still have to deal with daily. I used the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2016 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates data for average hourly wages.
Traditional Jobs for People Who Hate People
There are a lot of regular jobs that don’t involve a lot of social interaction. We’re not talking about anything in retail and probably not marketing, but there are many back-office jobs you might enjoy.
Actuary and corporate accountant: Both will still involve interaction with coworkers, but who wants to talk to an accountant? My first real job after college was as a Financial Reporting Analyst (yeah, I liked the title better than corporate accountant). I had a cubicle at the end of the row, and up against the wall, so nobody ever made it there unless they had something important to say.
You’ll need a degree for this work, but the median pay is around $55 an hour. If you don’t have a degree, you might look to some bookkeeping as an alternative which can still bring in nearly $20 an hour.
Archivist: is like a librarian but at a museum or records place not necessarily open to the public. You will process, catalog, and preserve records and documents. This will put you far away in the basement or stacks of records.
You may or may not need a degree for these, depending on the experience needed in a specific field. For example, for basic record-keeping jobs, you can get something with little or no experience and enjoy working alone all day long. Average earnings are between $17 an hour for librarians and records-keeping to $25 an hour for archivists.
Video editors: do their work after all the filming and in a little room where you can kick people out and say, “I need to concentrate.” You’ll need to know how to use video editing software like Apple Final Cut or Pinnacle Studio. Before applying, you can edit a few of your videos to use as portfolio examples. Average earnings are around $40 an hour.
Astronomers: have the ultimate job for people that don’t like people. Observatories are usually high up on a mountain; you’ll work at night when everyone else is asleep. Even if you don’t work at the observatory, you’ll be working in front of a desk full of computer screens.
Working as an astronomer can pay six figures with an average hourly of $53, but the downside is that you’ll need a degree and maybe even a higher degree.
Statisticians or anyone in a math-based occupation have all the workings of a great job away from others. I love math. It’s the language of science. Unfortunately, most people don’t share that passion and aren’t going to want to talk about those astounding statistics you’re working on.
You’ll primarily be working in front of a computer, running simulations, and checking back on the math you should have learned in school. Median wages run between $35 and $45 an hour.
Online Jobs for People Who Hate People
The online revolution has allowed people to build entire companies without interacting with others. While even the most solitary traditional jobs will still require you to work in an office and answer to a boss, many online jobs can be done from home and with infrequent contact with anyone.
Some online jobs can even be too solitary for people who hate people.
I love getting out of bed and being at the office within 30 seconds. I don’t have to sit through useless meetings or write an annual evaluation report. On rare occasions, I want to work around other people. So I join a co-working space for a few days.
The level of interaction with other people will vary depending on your online job or business. You might have customers or an editor that you talk to regularly. You might still have to answer emails, some relevant and some inane, but there are ways to manage your interactions, and you rarely need face-to-face meetings.
It’s not necessarily a job, but you can freelance just about anything in a traditional work environment. Employers are slowly opening to the idea of employees telecommuting a day or two every week, and some companies hire freelancers who work independently.
Website administration: is slowly shifting from an in-house job to one even larger companies are outsourcing. You can manage smaller pieces like SEO, security, content strategy, or the entire website for someone.
You’ll need different skills depending on which parts of the website you manage, which is why most newbies start with smaller sites or put together a team to manage large sites. Whatever you do, just don’t get stuck answering the phone as the IT person!
Software developer: can mean independently creating applications for consumer electronics, as a game developer, or working as part of a larger group of developers for a company. Median income starts around $30 an hour but can go well into a six-figure annual salary.
An independent developer will have much less interaction with other people. However, you’ll still need to talk to other developers to stay up-to-date and create in-demand apps.
I’m breaking writing out into two categories here because there are two very distinct jobs for people that want to work alone. Self-publishing books for sale on Amazon is the most solitary of the two forms.
I’ve self-published ten books and make an average of $2,000 a month through Kindle, paperback, and audio sales. Self-publishing means you don’t have to talk to editors, and you don’t have to go on marketing tours like you would a traditionally-published book.
For the first time, I’m revealing the entire strategy I’ve used to self-publish 12 books on Amazon and average over $2,100 a month in passive income. In Self-Publishing for Passive Income, you’ll learn everything you need, from getting a book idea to making writing easy and selling more books.
There’s an entire category on the blog devoted to self-publishing, so we won’t go into the specifics, but it’s an excellent job for people who don’t like to work with others.
Content writer or freelance writer: You can still do with relatively little interaction with others, but you’ll need to work with editors and sources. There are different types of freelance content writing with different levels of interaction.
- Web content writer: creating articles to publish on websites. The owner or editor will either give you content ideas, or you’ll pitch ideas yourself. You may have to reach out to get quotes from others for your stories, or it may not be required.
- Freelance journalist: will involve quite a bit more interaction because you’ll need to constantly manage sources and reach out to people to get fresh stories.
- Sales copy writer: involves writing marketing material for publication and won’t usually require sources for quotes, but you will have to talk with people in the company to get input.
- Ghost writer: usually involves somebody else getting input from other sources, and you write everything. You won’t get credit for writing the article, but you’ll still get paid.
Blogger or website owner is a little of many jobs, including writing and website administrator. I’ve had my sites for nearly three years now. It’s not the get-rich job many people imagine, but I make over $5,000 a month, and my income has doubled yearly.
Want to start making money blogging? Don’t know how to start? I want to set up your blog and get you started! Find out more here!
Technically you could do everything yourself, but most bloggers I know outsource some of their work. That means you’ll still need to work with other freelancers, and being active in a blogger group is critical to growing your site. So get started with this resource guide on 57 blogger mistakes and how to succeed.
Amazon FBA is like starting your own retail company but without having to rent a shop at the mall. I highlighted the work-at-home retailing alternative in another post, but basically, you contract with a manufacturer to produce your product and ship it to Amazon’s warehouses. Then, you manage your Amazon product pages and do some marketing to produce sales, with Amazon taking care of all the shipping and billing.
It’s a highly streamlined way to own your own company, and I know several people that have turned just a few products into $100,000+ annual incomes in less than a couple of years.
Even most of these online jobs will still have some form of personal interaction depending on how much of the process you outsource or seek outside help. However, even for people that don’t like to work with others, some of these online jobs can be so solitary that you’ll look forward to the infrequent conversations with others.
Not liking other people doesn’t make you a bad person. Nobody likes the endless meetings, meaningless coworker chatter, and other problems that come with forcing people to work together for eight hours every day. You may never find a job with zero personal interaction, but you might not want that. Finding something that suits your personality is just a matter of knowing what’s out there.
Read the Entire Making Money Online Series
- How to Make 100 Dollars a Day Online [5 Proven Business Ideas]
- 7 Secrets of Making Money Online Revealed
- What Jobs Can I Work On Upwork?
- How to Make $10,000 Online Fast
- 5 Best Websites to Make Money Online Without Spending a Dime