What career for one who likes these things?

February 10, 2008 2:49 PM

Careerfinder: for one who enjoys the following, what career?

For someone who enjoys and is good at the following things:

-Asking lots of questions to understand topics or people
-Problem-solving and thinking quickly in the moment to find a solution
-Synthesizing bits and pieces of knowledge into a framework or creative solution over the course of a dialogue
-Being a highly focused and active listener
-Public speaking
-Doing research to find solutions to problems
-The joy of verbal competition in debate
-Helping people see things they hadn't seen before
-The challenge and rush of improvisation
-The magic of experimenting and finding something new; discovery

Possible subject areas of interest: philosopy, law, psychology, technology, but is open to other suggestions.

What career(s)?

posted by Malad to work & money (36 comments total)

lawyer
posted by caddis at 3:05 PM on February 10

Litigator
posted by c lion at 3:05 PM on February 10

Marketing for a smaller company or a start-up -- Perhaps a marketing assistant or marketing coordinator position. Marketing delves very heavily into psychology, technology and law. Not so much into philosophy, but you can cover that during Happy Hour after work!
posted by Ostara at 3:07 PM on February 10

Librarian. Any variety can do, but my wife is a law librarian and this description sounds like her average day.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 3:11 PM on February 10

Sell-side securities analyst. But you need to tinker with spreadsheets a lot, too.
posted by Kwantsar at 3:18 PM on February 10

Marketing.
posted by thomas144 at 3:21 PM on February 10

Career counselor: a one-on-one personalized approach, as well as imaginative presentations to groups, research to find the names and details of professions/occupations, and the never-ending flow of people, each with her own strengths, experiences, and preferences for you to ascertain and synthesize into ideas for her life's work.
posted by exphysicist345 at 3:24 PM on February 10

Legislation or public policy.
posted by gauchodaspampas at 3:28 PM on February 10

Management consultant
posted by blue mustard at 3:29 PM on February 10

What about acting?
posted by AmbroseChapel at 3:30 PM on February 10

Or I guess a better fit for what I had in mind would be a lobbyist.
posted by gauchodaspampas at 3:30 PM on February 10

journalist/reporter

i've been doing it my whole professional life (5 or so years) and although for about the first 5 years or so it pays peanuts, i wouldn't trade it for the world

i absolutely love what i do every day! and it includes all of the above!
posted by Salvatorparadise at 3:30 PM on February 10

Police.
posted by fire&wings at 3:33 PM on February 10

Seconding journalist. You'll spend the rest of your life learning and you'll never be bored. You can make a real difference in the world.
posted by Mrs Hilksom at 3:39 PM on February 10

Tech editor or factchecker, but there's no public speaking.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:40 PM on February 10

Software sales. If you have a stronger tech background, sales engineer. Every potential client is a new problem to solve.
posted by mkultra at 3:42 PM on February 10

You sound like a good trial lawyer. Prosecutor or public defense or plaintiff's side litigation.
posted by ohio at 4:01 PM on February 10

Seconding librarianship.
posted by Rykey at 4:19 PM on February 10

Public relations -- specifically, being a spokesperson for a company or university.
posted by Madamina at 4:20 PM on February 10

Mortgage broker or paralegal

http://orlando.craigslist.org/lgl/568190035.html
posted by tosteka at 4:20 PM on February 10

It sounds like you might make a good business analyst. In this role you'd talk to people, figure out what's bugging them, research their problem, come up with a solution and present it. The only item in your list that doesn't seem relevant is the verbal competition in debate part, but you could argue about your billing rate, I guess.
posted by taojones at 4:25 PM on February 10

DEFINITELY journalist. All those qualities are very important to have if you're in media.
posted by indienial at 4:26 PM on February 10

More specifically in the marketing field: qualitative research analyst
posted by Andy's Gross Wart at 4:27 PM on February 10

Corrected link: qualitative research analyst
posted by Andy's Gross Wart at 4:28 PM on February 10

Most jobs in BrainStore, a company whose main product is ideas, would suit you. I'm not sure about the verbal debates, but everything else is well taken care of.
posted by divabat at 5:07 PM on February 10

executive assistant
posted by parmanparman at 5:30 PM on February 10

Teacher.
posted by baho at 5:56 PM on February 10

Murder detective.
posted by kingtaj at 7:52 PM on February 10

Legislative aide ....state or federal level.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 8:22 PM on February 10

Television host? Webcaster?
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:42 PM on February 10

Oh, when I say host, I guess I mean host/producer, so you can research some of your own stories, rather than just reading off a prompter.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:43 PM on February 10

Tech support.
posted by slimepuppy at 4:02 AM on February 11

journalism / public policy
posted by Dr.James.Orin.Incandenza at 4:53 AM on February 11

Another vote for journalist.
posted by penguin pie at 5:39 AM on February 11

professor
posted by flaneuse at 9:59 AM on February 11

Try taking the Meyers-Briggs personality test and comparing your results with a book like this. The website actually lists some career opportunities there, but the book goes more in-depth. It was really helpful for me.

I should qualify this advice by saying that I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist. The above link looks like what I remember from the test in a college psych class, but I'm not totally sure it's the real one, but the results were roughly the same as when I took the test a year ago. It's difficult to take it online without paying for it because technically you're supposed to do it with a professional, which I am not.
posted by easy_being_green at 11:11 AM on February 11