10 answers
Yoshi
Student
Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
7
Questions
Updated
1561 views
Which career would suit me based on the way I think and what I enjoy.?
One thing I've noticed is that I'm fairly good at reading people's emotions and picking up on how they're feeling, even when they don't say it directly. I'm also naturally curious about why people think and behave the way they do. If I could, I'd love to understand the mind of the person in front of me.
I love mythology a lot and love learning about different myths(got this love from Percy Jackson)
Another thing about me is that I rarely accept an idea at face value. Whenever I support a statement, I almost immediately start thinking of its weaknesses. After a minute or two of deep thought, I can usually come up with a convincing argument against it. Then I often find myself questioning that argument too, creating another opposing statement. And the series of contradictions goes on.
Plus, I love those high and mighty rivalry talks you mostly get to see between enemies and all. Makes me feel royal- and I love feeling royal.
I am fairly good at academics, but I tend to forget it easily. And I particularly don't like Science much. Because in physics and chemistry, most of the things aren't very clear; I am still unable to get the meaning of velocity(How does distance play a role in it...So I take it as speed in displacement)
Outside of academics, I love reading manga, manhwa, and books, especially fantasy, science fiction, psychological, and mystery stories. I also enjoy anime—both mainstream series and those with deeper psychological or philosophical themes. I'm drawn to stories that explore complex characters, moral dilemmas, and human nature more than series that only contain battles. Some of them I love are: Percy Jackson, A Song of Ice and Fire, One Piece, Tokyo Revengers, Naruto, Tomodachi Games and thousands of others.But, I am no good at drawing.
I'm especially interested in psychology, human behaviour, and understanding how people think. I would love to read the mind of the person in front of me.
One thing I know for sure is that I don't want a job where I spend the entire day sitting alone reading or reviewing long documents, reports or graphs(I hate statistics).
I have considered careers like a detective specialised in psychology, a forensic psychologist, an author and all. I would love a career with some adventure.
Based on this, what careers do you think would genuinely fit my personality, strengths, and interests? I'm looking for suggestions beyond the obvious ones like "psychologist,"(I could consider it, but it's not the best one) especially careers that involve analysis, investigation, strategy, behaviour, or decision-making. Also, the career should have a good salary. But please, try to recommend me a career that would be kind of adventorous for me, one that I would enjoy.
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10 answers
Jade Finley
Art Therapist & Communications Coordinator
4
Answers
Louisville, Kentucky
Updated
Jade’s Answer
You have a way of thinking that’s genuinely uncommon, and it points you toward careers where understanding people, analyzing motives, and navigating complex situations really matter. You naturally pick up on emotions that others miss, you question ideas instead of accepting them at face value, and you’re drawn to mythology, rivalry, psychological stories, and characters with depth. All of that tells me you’re wired for human behavior, investigation, and strategy rather than quiet, repetitive desk work. Careers like detective or investigator, behavioral analyst or criminal profiler, forensic psychology in the field, or human‑intelligence work fit your strengths because they involve reading people, solving mysteries, interviewing, analyzing contradictions, and making decisions in real time. If you want something more creative, roles like author or narrative designer also match your love of mythology, psychological depth, and complex storytelling. What matters most is that you’re someone who thrives in careers that feel dynamic, human-centered, and intellectually challenging—work where your curiosity, emotional insight, and strategic mind aren’t just useful, but essential.
Thank you so much for the advice. These answers really attract me, but it's hard to choose one. I will look more into them.
Yoshi
Brooke Kuppler
Recruiter
2
Answers
Austin, Texas
Updated
Brooke’s Answer
Law Enforcement & Public Sector
-Crime Scene Investigator (CSI): Processes scenes, collects forensic evidence, and photographs details. Usually requires a degree in forensic science or biology.
-Police Detective: Advances from patrol officer to investigate homicides, robberies, and assaults by interviewing witnesses and analyzing case files.
-Federal Special Agent: Investigates high-level federal crimes for agencies like the FBI, DEA, or IRS (e.g., financial fraud, cybercrime, and counterintelligence).
Corporate & Private Sector
-Fraud Investigator: Identifies and analyzes financial discrepancies for insurance companies, banks, or healthcare networks to prevent corporate loss.
-Private Investigator (PI): Conducts background checks, surveillance, and locates missing persons or assets for individuals and law firms.
-Field Incident Investigator: Inspects and reconstructs incidents—like vehicle crashes or product failures—for corporate regulatory and engineering teams (e.g., Tesla).
Tech, Intelligence, & Specialized
-Cyber Threat Hunter / Digital Forensics: Investigates breaches, traces digital footprints, and recovers compromised data for tech and cybersecurity firms.
-Investigative Journalist: Researches and reports on systemic issues, political corruption, or corporate misconduct for media outlets.
-Investigations Analyst: Reviews large datasets to identify patterns and trends related to criminal or fraudulent activity.
-Crime Scene Investigator (CSI): Processes scenes, collects forensic evidence, and photographs details. Usually requires a degree in forensic science or biology.
-Police Detective: Advances from patrol officer to investigate homicides, robberies, and assaults by interviewing witnesses and analyzing case files.
-Federal Special Agent: Investigates high-level federal crimes for agencies like the FBI, DEA, or IRS (e.g., financial fraud, cybercrime, and counterintelligence).
Corporate & Private Sector
-Fraud Investigator: Identifies and analyzes financial discrepancies for insurance companies, banks, or healthcare networks to prevent corporate loss.
-Private Investigator (PI): Conducts background checks, surveillance, and locates missing persons or assets for individuals and law firms.
-Field Incident Investigator: Inspects and reconstructs incidents—like vehicle crashes or product failures—for corporate regulatory and engineering teams (e.g., Tesla).
Tech, Intelligence, & Specialized
-Cyber Threat Hunter / Digital Forensics: Investigates breaches, traces digital footprints, and recovers compromised data for tech and cybersecurity firms.
-Investigative Journalist: Researches and reports on systemic issues, political corruption, or corporate misconduct for media outlets.
-Investigations Analyst: Reviews large datasets to identify patterns and trends related to criminal or fraudulent activity.
Thank you, these sure are helpful. I will look more into them.
Yoshi
Nate Brunk
Solution Engineer
1
Answer
Como, CO
Updated
Nate’s Answer
Hi Yoshi,
I love your question, and feel like I aligned very much with how you're feeling right now! When I was going through my undergrad studies, I was drawn toward debate and argumentation, but I also loved literature and history. These led me to studying Political Science and English Literature as I expected to go to Law School and end up as a lawyer, but the world had other plans!
I actually ended up working as a Retail and then B2B (business-to-business) sales leader immediately after college, finding a way to work my passion for technology into my job, along with the skill of CONVINCING people that our solution was the best. This helped scratch my "interesting" itch AND allowed me to focus on using my strategic/argumentation/debate skills to introduce customers to new products, services, and other offerings that they weren't aware of.
Eventually, I morphed my sales career into an even more technical side of sales: Solution Engineering (Solution Consulting). In this role, I'm specifically involved with LISTENING to potential customers about what their pains are, SOLVING their problems with technology through my deep knowledge of tech and software, and then STORYTELLING back to customers to show them how our solution(s) and software will work. It's allowed me to combine a number of skills that were really useful to me in school along with my personal passions. Now, I earn more than I ever thought possible - more than many lawyers I know - and I love getting to work my brain out every day designing, demoing, and explaining solutions.
TLDR: Explore the world of sales and solutions consulting; it sounds like it might overlap very well with your interests and skills!
Explore the PreSales Collective
I love your question, and feel like I aligned very much with how you're feeling right now! When I was going through my undergrad studies, I was drawn toward debate and argumentation, but I also loved literature and history. These led me to studying Political Science and English Literature as I expected to go to Law School and end up as a lawyer, but the world had other plans!
I actually ended up working as a Retail and then B2B (business-to-business) sales leader immediately after college, finding a way to work my passion for technology into my job, along with the skill of CONVINCING people that our solution was the best. This helped scratch my "interesting" itch AND allowed me to focus on using my strategic/argumentation/debate skills to introduce customers to new products, services, and other offerings that they weren't aware of.
Eventually, I morphed my sales career into an even more technical side of sales: Solution Engineering (Solution Consulting). In this role, I'm specifically involved with LISTENING to potential customers about what their pains are, SOLVING their problems with technology through my deep knowledge of tech and software, and then STORYTELLING back to customers to show them how our solution(s) and software will work. It's allowed me to combine a number of skills that were really useful to me in school along with my personal passions. Now, I earn more than I ever thought possible - more than many lawyers I know - and I love getting to work my brain out every day designing, demoing, and explaining solutions.
TLDR: Explore the world of sales and solutions consulting; it sounds like it might overlap very well with your interests and skills!
Nate recommends the following next steps:
Thanks a lot; that is something new. To be true, I also considered being a lawyer once(I like those self-centred and a bit adventurous ones). I would really consider it and look into it further.
Yoshi
Chinyere Okafor
Educationist and Counseling Psychologist
1420
Answers
Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria
Updated
Chinyere’s Answer
Hi Yoshi,
You gave a lot of detail, and one thing stood out more than anything else. You're fascinated by people. You enjoy understanding motives, questioning assumptions, spotting patterns in behavior, and looking at situations from multiple perspectives. That's a valuable strength.
That said, I'd be careful about choosing a career based on hobbies alone. Enjoying mythology, anime, or psychological stories doesn't automatically mean you'll enjoy jobs related to them. Careers are built around the work you do every day, not just the topics you like reading about.
You also mentioned that you don't enjoy physics, chemistry, or statistics, and you wouldn't want to spend all day reading reports or working alone. That's useful information because it rules out quite a few paths.
Based on what you've shared, here are a few careers I think are worth exploring:
- Criminal Investigator or Detective: If you're interested in understanding motives, interviewing people, gathering evidence, and solving complex cases. This can be intellectually challenging and often involves field work.
-Intelligence Analyst: In law enforcement, national security, or private intelligence. While there is research involved, much of the work is about connecting information, understanding behavior, and supporting decision-making.
- Negotiator or Mediator: These professionals rely heavily on reading people, managing conflict, and finding solutions that others may not see.
- Human Resources or Organizational Psychology: If you're interested in workplace behavior, recruitment, leadership, and team dynamics, these fields combine psychology with practical decision-making.
- Behavioral Consultant or Consumer Insights Researcher: These roles focus on why people make decisions and how organizations can better understand customers or employees.
- Law: One thing that caught my attention was how naturally you challenge ideas from different angles. That's a skill many successful lawyers develop. If you enjoy constructing arguments, questioning evidence, and debating different viewpoints, law could be an excellent fit. Depending on your specialization, it can also involve investigation, negotiation, and courtroom advocacy rather than sitting behind a desk all day.
One point I'd like to challenge is your idea of "reading people's minds." In reality, no career allows you to know exactly what someone is thinking. Even psychologists, detectives, and negotiators rely on observation, evidence, careful questioning, and experience rather than intuition alone.
Since you're still in school, don't feel pressured to decide on a career today. Instead, spend the next few years exploring. Read about different professions, talk to people working in those fields, and, if possible, take part in job shadowing or volunteer opportunities. You may discover careers you've never considered.
Finally, I'd encourage you to focus on developing transferable skills. Strong communication, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, and writing will serve you well in almost any career involving people. Those skills are often what separate good professionals from exceptional ones.
From everything you've written, I don't think you're someone who will be happiest doing repetitive technical work. You seem to thrive on curiosity, conversation, and solving human problems. If you can find a career that combines those elements with continuous learning, you'll likely find it much more rewarding than simply chasing the highest salary.
Best wishes!
You gave a lot of detail, and one thing stood out more than anything else. You're fascinated by people. You enjoy understanding motives, questioning assumptions, spotting patterns in behavior, and looking at situations from multiple perspectives. That's a valuable strength.
That said, I'd be careful about choosing a career based on hobbies alone. Enjoying mythology, anime, or psychological stories doesn't automatically mean you'll enjoy jobs related to them. Careers are built around the work you do every day, not just the topics you like reading about.
You also mentioned that you don't enjoy physics, chemistry, or statistics, and you wouldn't want to spend all day reading reports or working alone. That's useful information because it rules out quite a few paths.
Based on what you've shared, here are a few careers I think are worth exploring:
- Criminal Investigator or Detective: If you're interested in understanding motives, interviewing people, gathering evidence, and solving complex cases. This can be intellectually challenging and often involves field work.
-Intelligence Analyst: In law enforcement, national security, or private intelligence. While there is research involved, much of the work is about connecting information, understanding behavior, and supporting decision-making.
- Negotiator or Mediator: These professionals rely heavily on reading people, managing conflict, and finding solutions that others may not see.
- Human Resources or Organizational Psychology: If you're interested in workplace behavior, recruitment, leadership, and team dynamics, these fields combine psychology with practical decision-making.
- Behavioral Consultant or Consumer Insights Researcher: These roles focus on why people make decisions and how organizations can better understand customers or employees.
- Law: One thing that caught my attention was how naturally you challenge ideas from different angles. That's a skill many successful lawyers develop. If you enjoy constructing arguments, questioning evidence, and debating different viewpoints, law could be an excellent fit. Depending on your specialization, it can also involve investigation, negotiation, and courtroom advocacy rather than sitting behind a desk all day.
One point I'd like to challenge is your idea of "reading people's minds." In reality, no career allows you to know exactly what someone is thinking. Even psychologists, detectives, and negotiators rely on observation, evidence, careful questioning, and experience rather than intuition alone.
Since you're still in school, don't feel pressured to decide on a career today. Instead, spend the next few years exploring. Read about different professions, talk to people working in those fields, and, if possible, take part in job shadowing or volunteer opportunities. You may discover careers you've never considered.
Finally, I'd encourage you to focus on developing transferable skills. Strong communication, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, and writing will serve you well in almost any career involving people. Those skills are often what separate good professionals from exceptional ones.
From everything you've written, I don't think you're someone who will be happiest doing repetitive technical work. You seem to thrive on curiosity, conversation, and solving human problems. If you can find a career that combines those elements with continuous learning, you'll likely find it much more rewarding than simply chasing the highest salary.
Best wishes!
Thanks a lot for your advice. What you stated was true; I want a career that has some adventure in it. I think I will surley look more into Criminal Investigator or Detective and Law. Thank you once again.
Yoshi
You're welcome!
Chinyere Okafor
ANTHONY SYLVESTER
School counselor
33
Answers
Onitsha, Anambra, Nigeria
Updated
ANTHONY’s Answer
After reflecting on your interests and the way you think, here's what stands out:
Your strengths
- You naturally pick up on people's emotions and subtle cues.
- You're deeply curious about why people think and behave the way they do.
- You have an analytical mind,you rarely accept ideas at face value and enjoy examining different perspectives.
- You enjoy strategy, mystery, psychology, philosophy, and stories with complex characters and moral dilemmas.
- You prefer interacting with people over spending your day reading reports, reviewing graphs, or working with statistics.
- You're looking for a career that is intellectually challenging, adventurous, and financially rewarding.
Careers that seem to fit you best
1. Criminal Profiler
2. Human Intelligence Officer
3. Crisis/Hostage Negotiator
4. Behavioral Threat Assessment Specialist
5. Intelligence Analyst
6. Corporate Investigator
7. Forensic Psychologist
8. Diplomat
9. Investigative Journalist
10. Author (ideally alongside another career until it becomes sustainable)
Careers that may not suit you as much
- Research-focused psychology or other careers that rely heavily on statistics and data analysis.
- Jobs that require spending most of the day reading lengthy documents or working in isolation.
- Highly repetitive roles with little human interaction or variety.
One important point
Your tendency to question ideas from multiple angles is a real strength because it helps you think critically. The only thing to watch out for is overthinking. In many investigative and strategic careers, you'll need to know when you've gathered enough information to make a confident decision.
Overall conclusion
Based on everything you've shared, you seem best suited to careers centered on behavioral analysis, investigation, strategy, negotiation, and decision-making. More than anything, you appear to be motivated by understanding people, uncovering hidden motives, solving complex problems, and doing work that is both mentally stimulating and adventurous.
Your strengths
- You naturally pick up on people's emotions and subtle cues.
- You're deeply curious about why people think and behave the way they do.
- You have an analytical mind,you rarely accept ideas at face value and enjoy examining different perspectives.
- You enjoy strategy, mystery, psychology, philosophy, and stories with complex characters and moral dilemmas.
- You prefer interacting with people over spending your day reading reports, reviewing graphs, or working with statistics.
- You're looking for a career that is intellectually challenging, adventurous, and financially rewarding.
Careers that seem to fit you best
1. Criminal Profiler
2. Human Intelligence Officer
3. Crisis/Hostage Negotiator
4. Behavioral Threat Assessment Specialist
5. Intelligence Analyst
6. Corporate Investigator
7. Forensic Psychologist
8. Diplomat
9. Investigative Journalist
10. Author (ideally alongside another career until it becomes sustainable)
Careers that may not suit you as much
- Research-focused psychology or other careers that rely heavily on statistics and data analysis.
- Jobs that require spending most of the day reading lengthy documents or working in isolation.
- Highly repetitive roles with little human interaction or variety.
One important point
Your tendency to question ideas from multiple angles is a real strength because it helps you think critically. The only thing to watch out for is overthinking. In many investigative and strategic careers, you'll need to know when you've gathered enough information to make a confident decision.
Overall conclusion
Based on everything you've shared, you seem best suited to careers centered on behavioral analysis, investigation, strategy, negotiation, and decision-making. More than anything, you appear to be motivated by understanding people, uncovering hidden motives, solving complex problems, and doing work that is both mentally stimulating and adventurous.
Thank you for sharing your perspective.
Yoshi
Rebecca Tang
Banking
2674
Answers
Hong Kong
Updated
Rebecca’s Answer
Thank yiu for your question. I am glad to know you like adventures.
Below are my suggestions :
1. Would you like to ge a police officer, detective, travel agents, escort guide, travel planner, event organizers, journalists, etc You can find out more interesting careers online.
2. Find out more on these careers and determine what you interest
3. Speak to someone who are working in these careers. Seek guidance from your mentor, school careers counselor, your parents, etc.
4. Shortlist 1-2 careers you would like to pursue
5. Explore the entry criteria of relevant subjects in the colleges
Hope thus helps! Good luck!
May Almighty God bless you!
Below are my suggestions :
1. Would you like to ge a police officer, detective, travel agents, escort guide, travel planner, event organizers, journalists, etc You can find out more interesting careers online.
2. Find out more on these careers and determine what you interest
3. Speak to someone who are working in these careers. Seek guidance from your mentor, school careers counselor, your parents, etc.
4. Shortlist 1-2 careers you would like to pursue
5. Explore the entry criteria of relevant subjects in the colleges
Hope thus helps! Good luck!
May Almighty God bless you!
Your advice was so helpful!
Yoshi
Gladys Wong
UX Design
16
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Gladys’s Answer
You’ve shared a lot of thoughtful self-reflection, and that’s a real strength. One thing that stood out to me is your curiosity about people—why they think the way they do, how they make decisions, and what motivates them. You also seem to enjoy analyzing different perspectives instead of accepting the first answer you hear. Those are valuable skills in many careers.
Based on what you've described, here are a few careers that might be worth exploring:
--> Forensic psychologist, which combines psychology with the legal system and can involve working with investigations and criminal behavior.
--> Corporate investigator or fraud investigator, which mixes problem-solving, interviewing people, and uncovering the truth.
--> Criminal investigator or detective, especially if you're interested in the psychological side of solving cases.
--> (and my fav) Intelligence officer or analyst, where critical thinking and considering multiple possibilities are key skills.
One piece of advice: try not to choose a career based only on how it looks in movies, anime, or books. Real-life versions of these jobs can be very different. If a career sounds interesting, watch interviews with people who actually do the work or see if you can talk to someone in that field. Learning what a typical day is really like can help you decide whether it's a good fit.
ALSO, you don't have to decide everything right now. Keep exploring, stay curious, and remember that many people discover their ideal career after learning more about themselves. The fact that you're asking these questions now already puts you on a great path. I wish you the very best as you explore your future!
Based on what you've described, here are a few careers that might be worth exploring:
--> Forensic psychologist, which combines psychology with the legal system and can involve working with investigations and criminal behavior.
--> Corporate investigator or fraud investigator, which mixes problem-solving, interviewing people, and uncovering the truth.
--> Criminal investigator or detective, especially if you're interested in the psychological side of solving cases.
--> (and my fav) Intelligence officer or analyst, where critical thinking and considering multiple possibilities are key skills.
One piece of advice: try not to choose a career based only on how it looks in movies, anime, or books. Real-life versions of these jobs can be very different. If a career sounds interesting, watch interviews with people who actually do the work or see if you can talk to someone in that field. Learning what a typical day is really like can help you decide whether it's a good fit.
ALSO, you don't have to decide everything right now. Keep exploring, stay curious, and remember that many people discover their ideal career after learning more about themselves. The fact that you're asking these questions now already puts you on a great path. I wish you the very best as you explore your future!
John Woollard
General Manager
60
Answers
Orlando, Florida
Updated
John’s Answer
You gave a lot to work with, and one thing jumped out immediately. That habit you described of building an argument, then immediately attacking it, then attacking your own counterargument, is not just a quirk. That is a core mental skill of a trial lawyer. They do exactly that for a living, and the adversarial dynamic you enjoy is built into the job.
A few other recommendations that fit:
Negotiation work, either crisis negotiation in law enforcement or corporate deal work. Reading emotions people are not saying out loud is the entire job.
Investigative journalism if you want the writing and mystery angle. Just keep in mind this isn't the best in terms of salary.
Since you mentioned psychology and that you hate statistics, keep in mind that these two fields often go hand in hand. That is the main thing that would make it a rough fit, and it's better to know now than three years in.
Also, criminal profiling as fiction portrays it is a very small and difficult field to enter. Real behavioral analysis is more data than adventure.
If I had to pick one, law seems like a good fit for you. The counterargument reflex, the rivalry dynamic, and the salary all line up.
A few other recommendations that fit:
Negotiation work, either crisis negotiation in law enforcement or corporate deal work. Reading emotions people are not saying out loud is the entire job.
Investigative journalism if you want the writing and mystery angle. Just keep in mind this isn't the best in terms of salary.
Since you mentioned psychology and that you hate statistics, keep in mind that these two fields often go hand in hand. That is the main thing that would make it a rough fit, and it's better to know now than three years in.
Also, criminal profiling as fiction portrays it is a very small and difficult field to enter. Real behavioral analysis is more data than adventure.
If I had to pick one, law seems like a good fit for you. The counterargument reflex, the rivalry dynamic, and the salary all line up.
Carolyn Tweedy
Manager of a User Research team
2
Answers
Denver, Colorado
Updated
Carolyn’s Answer
Hi Yoshi!
That's a great question! It's nice to hear that you've already put some thought into what you really enjoy, and thinking through how you might be able to use your natural strengths and aptitudes in a career path.
I'm jumping in here because your interests sound roughly aligned with those I see / seek out in people on my team... I manage a User Research team in a large tech company. Many of the people on my team have gone to school to study "Human and Computer Interaction" or come from psychology, anthropology, or more technical backgrounds. I studied math as an undergraduate, and then went on to study Information Management in graduate school.
In corporate settings, you may consider looking at roles that are under the moniker "UX", "UX Research", and "UX Design"-- we study how people in specific contexts think, behave, perform specific tasks, and interact with technology and sometimes the built work around them. We try to understand what people need, what they're frustrated by, and what delights them, and then we summarize these datapoints and work with Designers and Engineers and Product Managers to build tools (think: apps, websites, digital tools, interfaces, etc.) to serve these needs.
It's fun, incredibly interesting, and can potentially expose you to a lot of different fields -- both the people that you're doing research with, and all the colleagues that you'll encounter in different roles.
Companies that typically employ UX Designers and UX Researchers tend to have digital products/experiences (think: phone apps, software companies, etc.)-- it's been a great career path for me, and keeps me learning and feeds my curiousity and natural aptitudes at empathizing and understanding people and quietly observing the people and environments that I'm around.
Good luck!!
- Carolyn
Explore the UX (User Experience) field and potential educational paths and career opportunities within it.
That's a great question! It's nice to hear that you've already put some thought into what you really enjoy, and thinking through how you might be able to use your natural strengths and aptitudes in a career path.
I'm jumping in here because your interests sound roughly aligned with those I see / seek out in people on my team... I manage a User Research team in a large tech company. Many of the people on my team have gone to school to study "Human and Computer Interaction" or come from psychology, anthropology, or more technical backgrounds. I studied math as an undergraduate, and then went on to study Information Management in graduate school.
In corporate settings, you may consider looking at roles that are under the moniker "UX", "UX Research", and "UX Design"-- we study how people in specific contexts think, behave, perform specific tasks, and interact with technology and sometimes the built work around them. We try to understand what people need, what they're frustrated by, and what delights them, and then we summarize these datapoints and work with Designers and Engineers and Product Managers to build tools (think: apps, websites, digital tools, interfaces, etc.) to serve these needs.
It's fun, incredibly interesting, and can potentially expose you to a lot of different fields -- both the people that you're doing research with, and all the colleagues that you'll encounter in different roles.
Companies that typically employ UX Designers and UX Researchers tend to have digital products/experiences (think: phone apps, software companies, etc.)-- it's been a great career path for me, and keeps me learning and feeds my curiousity and natural aptitudes at empathizing and understanding people and quietly observing the people and environments that I'm around.
Good luck!!
- Carolyn
Carolyn recommends the following next steps:
Sarah Cockrell, MBA, MSCM
Organizational Development
55
Answers
Atlanta, Georgia
Updated
Sarah’s Answer
Based on your interests, you may enjoy careers that combine people, investigation, debate, and strategy. Some possibilities include:
* Trial attorney: Analyzing competing arguments, questioning witnesses, reading a room, and persuading others
* Criminal investigator: Interviewing people, evaluating conflicting information, and solving cases
* Investigative journalist: Asking difficult questions, uncovering information, and examining human behavior
* Mediator or professional negotiator: Understanding different perspectives and helping people navigate conflict
* Foreign service officer: Working across cultures, solving problems, and potentially living or traveling internationally
* Narrative designer or fiction writer: Creating complex characters, rivalries, mysteries, and moral dilemmas without needing to draw
Trial law may be especially worth exploring because you enjoy challenging ideas, constructing opposing arguments, and engaging with people. Criminal investigation may offer more activity, but it also involves detailed reports, procedures, and evidence. Similarly, forensic psychology requires extensive education, research, statistics, and documentation, so investigate the actual work before choosing it based on how it appears in fiction.
No career will involve literally reading minds, and most well-paying analytical careers include some paperwork or data. Consider interviewing professionals, watching career presentations, joining debate or mock-trial activities, and trying related volunteer opportunities. These experiences will help you discover which type of “adventure” you enjoy in real life.
* Trial attorney: Analyzing competing arguments, questioning witnesses, reading a room, and persuading others
* Criminal investigator: Interviewing people, evaluating conflicting information, and solving cases
* Investigative journalist: Asking difficult questions, uncovering information, and examining human behavior
* Mediator or professional negotiator: Understanding different perspectives and helping people navigate conflict
* Foreign service officer: Working across cultures, solving problems, and potentially living or traveling internationally
* Narrative designer or fiction writer: Creating complex characters, rivalries, mysteries, and moral dilemmas without needing to draw
Trial law may be especially worth exploring because you enjoy challenging ideas, constructing opposing arguments, and engaging with people. Criminal investigation may offer more activity, but it also involves detailed reports, procedures, and evidence. Similarly, forensic psychology requires extensive education, research, statistics, and documentation, so investigate the actual work before choosing it based on how it appears in fiction.
No career will involve literally reading minds, and most well-paying analytical careers include some paperwork or data. Consider interviewing professionals, watching career presentations, joining debate or mock-trial activities, and trying related volunteer opportunities. These experiences will help you discover which type of “adventure” you enjoy in real life.