The Introvert's Guide to the Workplace by Thea Orozco

Author:Thea Orozco
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510754164
Publisher: Skyhorse
Published: 2020-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

The Tale of Three Introverts

For some introverts, minimizing energy drain may be one of their primary reasons for pursuing a certain career. For other introverts, there are more important factors than maintaining a full tank of energy. For instance, one factor may be feeling like they are part of a bigger cause; another may be having the ability to work with their hands. Let’s take a look at the career progression of three introverts and how they discovered which factors were important to them in a career.

My friend Margaret thought she was going to become a professional tutor. Tutoring was her first job in college, and she was good at it. Plus, she found meaning in helping others succeed. But when she pursued a job as a tutor, she discovered that the pay wasn’t great, and her energy was completely drained at the end of the day. To address those issues, Margaret could have started her own business and charged more money; she could have taken on fewer clients; she could have started a system to weed out the most draining customers. But at the end of the day, she realized a career in tutoring didn’t provide her with enough gratification to be worth the energy drain. She now works in a technical profession that involves minimal interactions with others, but volunteers as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher for two hours each weekend.

Tina thought she was going to be a film editor. Growing up in Los Angeles, she watched countless movies and TV shows as a kid, graduated with a degree in media studies, and interned at the production studios of a famous celebrity. Tina knew she was an introvert and didn’t want a job that required her being around tons of people in the glitzy movie scene. Plus, she loved it when her college classes required editing, so becoming an editor just seemed like the next logical step. But something was missing. Tina is an INFJ—in Myers-Briggs Type Indicator talk, that means she’s an introvert who looks at the big picture, strives for harmony, and avoids last-minute stress. She may have been good at editing, and the job would certainly have suited her introversion, but based on her Myers-Briggs Type, and after thinking about what she did during her free time in college (organizing campus events), she realized that being a full-time editor wouldn’t be fulfilling. She later found herself pursuing a career in college counseling for high school students, which eventually led to being a coach for introverts and a facilitator for workshops about the difference between introversion and extroversion. The work she does now may be more draining than that of a film editor, but she has a great deal of independence and fulfillment, and seeing the positive changes in people’s lives feels worth the drain. Tina, by the way, is my Starbuck alias (what I call my nom de coffee), which I use because I don’t see the point in extending my interaction with baristas just to spell out my real name.

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