Like any other person, a highly sensitive person needs to find a career where they feel comfortable and fulfilled.
Unlike any other person, however, an HSP faces certain challenges that make some jobs less-than-ideal.
Here’s our list of the five worst jobs for a highly sensitive person.
Sales and marketing
Whether it’s navigating the floor of a department store trying to make a sale, making cold calls, or knocking on doors and talking about a new product, the very idea of sales and marketing can make a highly sensitive person break out in a cold sweat.
This is for a few reasons …
- An HSP is highly tuned into the reactions of others.
- An HSP also reads body language and nuanced responses that others might not catch.
- They can easily spot when someone is not open to their words.
- The highly sensitive person will naturally translate this into rejection, the very thought of which can ruin an HSP’s whole day.
Now imagine having to deal with approaching strangers, giving a sales spiel, and hearing the words “No” (regardless of how politely they are spoken) … All. Day. Long!
For this reason, sales and marketing is an industry a highly sensitive person should likely avoid.
Customer support
A highly sensitive person feels things deeply and relates personally to problems they hear about or encounter.
Many HSPs are also empaths and they easily absorb the feelings of others.
In a customer support position, an HSP would have to hear about people’s problems on a regular basis. The problems might be technical or retail, but to a highly sensitive person, they’re personal.
Public relations
A person in public relations is perpetually on stage, at least during work hours.
A highly sensitive person regularly needs solitude and downtime, which would not be an option with a hectic Monday-Friday job in public relations.
Clearly, this would be one of the worst careers for a highly sensitive person.
Executive positions
Managers and supervisors need to take responsibility for other people. The proverbial buck stops with them.
However, a highly sensitive person already takes emotional responsibility for people around them.
An HSP in an executive position would have to deal with that doubly-strong sense of responsibility, internalizing daily problems and finding it difficult to disconnect from work troubles after clocking out.
Lawyers/prosecuting attorney
Conflict deeply disturbs the delicate equilibrium of a highly sensitive person.
And lawyers/attorneys make a living off of conflict, loosely speaking.
On top of that, they have to deal with the lack of justice they would face on a daily basis.
An HSP’s desire is to help people with their problems; therefore, having to face the fact that they can’t fix every unfair or painful legal issue would affect them more deeply than others.
Closing thoughts
If you are an HSP looking for a career, now you know the worst jobs for a highly sensitive person.
With this list of what areas to steer clear from, you can more easily narrow your job search and find something that works for you.
All the best in finding a career where you can find the support and balance you need as an HSP.
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The Highly Sensitive Introvert 