Which Jobs Require Little Interpersonal Interaction?

Post Reply New Topic

I need a job that doesn't require regular interpersonal contact with people, including co-workers. I had settled on technical writing, because I have done it freelance at a low-skill level, but my research shows that technical writers regularly have to interview co-workers in the company to get the information they need to write about. I can't deal with that long-term. I don't like being around people and have trouble parsing speech. I don't know if I could get all the information in writing, that seems like too large of an accommodation to ask for.

I'm just about out of ideas. I need something that challenges me intellectually, otherwise I will get bored and frustrated, then hate my life or quit the job. I might be able to go to graduate school to get new job skills (I'm considering Statistics, Operations Research, or some type of Computational Math), but I need to think of something to do short term.

I have a B.S. in Physics, familiarity with programming in a few languages, half a Computer Science B.S., good writing and and editing skills, good math skills, research skills, and I'm a fast learner. Any suggestions?

How about a shepherd?

Cat Burglar?

Safe Cracker?

Counterfeiter?

Forger?

These are professions where lack of social contact is almost essential for a long and profitable career.

By the way, I read an article some time ago about Bosque shepherds in Idaho. According to the article, most of their living expenses when working were paid by their employer would bring food out to them on a regular basis and supply them with a wagon to move it in as well as help move the wagon when they needed. It said that a great many of the shepherds had pretty decent savings and retirement plans as a result of having such low living expenses.

By the way, I used to know a woman in Houston who had a degree in Biology from the mid 70s and who had worked in a medical lab in Houston for two years. After two years, she was so tired of doing the exact same lab procedures over and over and over and over that she quit.

What did she do instead? She washed windows. Not the ones high up on the skyscrapers but the ones at ground level and in many fancy houses. They didn't just soap the window and wash off the soap -- they polished every window until you could hardly see the glass at all.

The pay was apparently pretty good. I visited her at her house one night. It was a lot nicer house than mine.

Another friend of mine used to take care of swimming pools. The pay was okay, but too many of his clients were deadbeats and he gave up the business after a while because of that. He also washed windows with the above woman for quite a while. According to him, once you get a good reputation for being honest, many of the people in the expensive homes will seek you out.

Writer/Novelist?

You could probably forefit social interaction for days and still get paid, so long as you actually write the thing.

It's what I plan to do xD. And it's flexible - you challenge yourself based on your own intelligence.

Might be stressful near the deadline though.

Running away from people is not a good idea. I say better invest that time in trying to learn how to cope with them. No, it is not impossible.

Some suggestions might be to manage a fishfarm; be a game warden, or maybe a wildlife photographer.

Janitor but you still need to communicate to co workers and your boss.

The two jobs I had in my life required little to no interaction with people.

When I had my paper route I usually didn't see people and people mailed their payments in so I didn't have to collect.

When I had a cleaning job it was just me upstairs, my friend downstairs, and a guy that did the floor with a machine in the halls and gym and he didn't bother us. When there was a school break they had us do different things and had more people in there and I couldn't stand it and quit.

If you want to be a janitor, try being a janitor for a public school. Unlike many janitorial jobs, you would get benefits.

On a related note, there would also be someone doing building maintenance.

Another option would be night watchman.

Night cleaner in office blocks. Office workers have gone home. Each cleaner has their own section. Only interaction is with the boss, and not too often. Just you and a quiet office block.

There's a guy down here in Tasmania whose job is to walk supplies to isolated spots in the state. Basically, tours take people to isolated spots with limited carry capacity. So he spends several days carrying extra supplies through bush (the woods) via rivers, over mountains, etc. Isolated. Alone. Could suit some.

I would strongly caution you against technical writing. I was the manager of a technical writing department before I went back to school for sociology. It heavily relies on social skills and the way most IT/IS departments work now is through matrix organization structure, which is not very aspie friendly.

Working in that environment, with aspie programmers who I had to watch being discriminated against in some environments, as well as managing a probable aspie employee who I had a limited ability to help, was very demotivating for me and had a lot to do with my current research now in attempting to redefine how people on the spectrum are viewed academically.

I would recommend a math, science, or computer science environment and then more importantly make sure you go to work for an aspie friendly company, which will make all the difference. I heavily recommend even moving if this is required, to make sure you're working in a good environment. Working in a supportive environment where you can make a good living can make a tremendous difference in your well-being.