The 13 best jobs for people who hate people

If you're not one for water cooler chatter or other office pleasantries, these are the jobs for you

Rachel Gillett
Tuesday 17 November 2015 18:06 GMT
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Not everybody is a people person.

If this sounds like you, your best approach for finding a job could be searching for work where people skills aren't all that necessary.

To find these jobs, we averaged data from the Occupational Information Network, or O*NET, a US Department of Labor database full of detailed information on 974 occupations.

O*NET rates each occupation on a scale from zero to 100 on how much a job requires workers to be in contact with others and how much a job requires workers to be pleasant with others, where a lower rating signals less-required sociability.

While people who hold these positions aren't necessarily standoffish, the following jobs got the lowest average score and require minimal good-natured interaction with others:

13. Economists

Required sociability score: 57.5

What they do: Conduct research, prepare reports, or formulate plans to address economic problems related to the production and distribution of goods and services or monetary and fiscal policy.

12. Potters

Required sociability score: 57

What they do: Operate production machines such as pug mill, jigger machine, or potter's wheel to process clay in the manufacture of ceramic, pottery, and stoneware products.

11. Transportation-equipment painters

Required sociability score: 56.5

What they do: Operate or tend painting machines to paint surfaces of transportation equipment like automobiles, buses, trucks, trains, boats, and airplanes.

10. Forging-machine setters, operators, and tenders

Required sociability score: 56.5

What they do: Set up, operate, or tend forging machines to taper, shape, or form metal or plastic parts.

9. Fallers

Required sociability score: 56.5

What they do: Use axes or chainsaws to fell trees using knowledge of tree characteristics and cutting techniques to control direction of fall and minimize tree damage.

8. Hand-grinding and polishing workers

Required sociability score: 56

What they do: Grind, sand, or polish — using hand tools or hand-held power tools — a variety of metal, wood, stone, clay, plastic, or glass objects.

7. Geological sample-test technicians

Required sociability score: 56

What they do: Test or analyze geological samples, crude oil, or minerals to the detect presence of petroleum, gas, or mineral deposits.

6. Molding, core making, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders

Required sociability score: 54.5

What they do: Observe the continuous operation of automatic machines to ensure that products meet specifications and to detect jams or malfunctions, making adjustments as necessary.

5. Garment or textile pressers

Required sociability score: 53.5

What they do: Operate steam, hydraulic, or other pressing machines to remove wrinkles from garments and flatwork items, or to shape, form, or patch articles.

4. Craft artists

Required sociability score: 53.5

What they do: Create or reproduce handmade objects for sale and exhibition using a variety of techniques, such as welding, weaving, pottery, and needlecraft.

3. Poets, lyricists, and creative writers

Required sociability score: 52

What they do: Create original written works, such as scripts, essays, prose, poetry, or song lyrics for publication or performance.

2. Farmworkers and crop laborers

Required sociability score: 51.5

What they do: Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, and field crops.

1. Hunters and trappers

Required sociability score: 51

What they do: Hunt and trap wild animals for human consumption, fur, feed, bait, or other purposes.

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