To think you can't really describe someone as 'an office type of person'

[Behindthepaintedgarden]

Someone I know was just discussing two of her nieces who will be leaving school this Summer. She said one of them isn't really 'an office type person' so she won't go in for a career that means working in an office.

Surely that's a bit sweeping? There's a million and one different types of jobs that entail working in an office, requiring a huge variety of skills and talents.

AIBU to think you can't really describe someone in those terms?

Some people prefer to be on the move or in the fresh air and don't do well sitting down. I wouldn't make a big deal out of that observation.

YABU. I know what she means. Some people aren't organised enough...or perhaps they're not sociable enough. Or perhaps they're not good at maths or English.

I'm not an office type person. I couldn't cope. Working in an office requires a degree of organisation and social skills which not everyone has.

Maybe she just means that she's an outdoors girl who wants to be a tree surgeon/dry stone waller etc...

I don't think it's a slight at someone who works in an office. But you heard the tone it was spoken in.

But lots of creative, unstructured types work in offices. It's not all filing, and organising meetings and updating spreadsheets.

Sociability is a good point - I am ok at the organisational so thought I'd be good in an office (I like sitting down indoors too!) but socially I just cba.

As others have said I would have assumed she meant more of an outdoorsy type person.

I like making stuff, I do have to do some office type stuff the dreaded tax return but I'm shit at it and hate doing it. I'm totally disorganised and can't make my brain work in a business like manner

I'm not really sure what you are objecting to - did she elaborate on her definition of 'an office type person' or are you imposing your definition on her and disagreeing based on that?

i agree with you OP, the person discussing with you is talking rubbish. How do you decide wether someone is office type especially at that age? never mind decide a career based on it. She needs to be more specific what exactly she means by 'office type', is dd a wandering spirit, doesn't like confined spaces? or not very academic? it could mean anything.

Most high flying careers are office based to a large extent.

I'm not 'objecting' as such. I just thought it was a rather sweeping statement which cut out hundreds of job options. I didn't get the impression that she meant she was outdoorsy, just that she's not as organised and mathematical as her cousin.

I think you can. While posters are saying there are 100s of jobs that involve being in offices, equally there are hundreds that don't. I can quite easily say non of my kids are office types, but maybe that is because myself and DH equally are not/have never been office workers. However my DParents and DSis plus her husband are office types and do/have always had that kind of work. We (office vs non office in our family) are very different types of people in all aspects of life and attitudes. And thinking about my close friends-non of them work in offices either. So yes-there is a type and YABU.

I know people who I certainly could never picture working in secretarial type jobs because they're not very organised; or in financial type areas because they're not very numerical etc etc.
But I could picture them working as journalists, or as copywriters, or in publishing because they're creative and artistic; and I would categorise those as office type jobs.

All I knew when I was at school was that I wanted to work in an office. When it was time to see the Careers Advisor I told her that and she said there are lots of office jobs and sent me out the door. I am an office type of person, I am much happier having a desk and computer as my space than a field.

I think people often use the term in a rather dismissive manner, to imply that they are such free spirits and couldn't possibly be a schmuck commuting to work five days a week.

Dh's niece has never worked a day in her life and I once heard her say, "Oh, I could never work in an office - it would crush me."

Brenda I think it's more through self defence that it comes out as dismissive. Because society is built in such a way that it caters for those with the skills to work with others. Many people don't have those. Some people are very introverted.

Maybe not often at such a young age, but yes I think you can tell. My dh is 'not an office kind of person'. Partly because he is dyslexic so doesn't enjoy anything involving reading and writing, but mostly because he is a guy who would hate sitting in one room every day. All his jobs have involved practical things, or driving to places. So mechanic, bus driver, long distance lorry driver, HGV driver on roadworks etc. He likes being out and about and doing his own thing. Whereas that would be my idea of stressed filled hell, but give me one room and a messy filing system and I'm in my element. Not being someone who would enjoy sitting in an office isn't a negative comment in my eyes, just an observation on what would suit them.

I guess I took it up the way Brenda described. I agree there are some people who just wouldn't be able to sit indoors all day and would prefer to be outside doing manual work, so I suppose that is probably what the person I was talking to and other posters such as darkforces meant.

I don't think the majority of office jobs are more suited to extroverts! There are plenty of jobs where one can keep oneself to oneself and/or consort with a small known group of people in a comfortable environment.

I agree that those who struggle with literacy probably would find an office job a challenge, and indeed I think it is a problem of the 21st century (and a few previous decades too) that traditional heavy work (factories, farming) has declined. This was work that suited some people far better than the jobs on offer in today's world. My grandfather employed about 50 people on his farm in the 1950s. Recently my uncle retired and he employed on the same farm - one person. The agricultural college near me has hundreds of students all learning about farm and associated work: I fear there are barely any "outdoorsy" jobs for them.

I think it's a lazy description because so many different "types" work in offices. However, I take the expression to mean those who work in offices and enjoy routine. So (wild generalisation here), many people working in Finance are "office type people". Many working in Sales use their office as a base but are happy with the unpredictability of sales cycles and are at their happiest in front of customers/prospective customers. For them routine activities are just unavoidable chores.

I'm not an office person.

I can't do immaculate. I'm disorganised and messy. And clumsy. I couldn't bear to be stuck inside in the same spot with the same people all day.

I work in a job where I can turn up in any old clothes, work outside and always somewhere different and usually end up covered in mud. Organisation is...a plus but being disorganised isn't frowned upon too much. I also don't work closely with colleagues which is good because I'm not really a people person either.

While it is a huge generalisation and the term "office person" has a lot of wriggle room I do still think it's vaild.

To me an office person will exhibit some of the following characteristics
Ability to dress relatively smartly
Attention to personal hygiene.
Good(ish) time keeping
Ability to concentrate indoors/with other people/ sitting down
Keen to be warm
Comfortable with reading and writing
Can cope with the complex social dynamics and hierarchies

An non office person would exhibit some of the following qualities.
Sensitivity to air conditioning
Need for environment that changes
Need for new faces or minimum social interaction.
Prefer to work independently
Concentrates better while outside/ in very prescribed environments.
Functions better during unsociable hours

I don't think it's an insult but I know it had been used as one.

I think you can. I work in a very outdoorsy field and you can spot the born and bred office types when they turn up for corporate work days dressed in high street fashions with suede brogues then don't like touching anything in case its wet/dirty/cold/bites.

Conversely, I know of several people who only come indoors to sleep.

Having said that, most people are somewhere b/w the 2 and many jobs have elements of desk and non-desk-based work.

LOL @ herrrena's post! Read it back through and note the majority of positive attributes in the office types and the underlying negativity through the non office! I could take a guess as to the environment you are happiest working in!
What people have to remember is that non office doesn't have to mean outdoors and isolated. Doctors, dentists, vets, teachers, shop workers... All non office but still found within towns and cities and indoors!

To be honest, I would have thought that it would be the 'non office' jobs that would require good social skills eg tradesmen, taxi drivers, door to door sales people, restaurant staff etc.
Whereas if you're an introverted, day dreamy, type you would be better off in an office type environment where you can often work on your own devices for long periods of time.

I can't imagine, though, that doctors, dentists, teachers and so on would have difficulty working in an office. They're indoor jobs with fairly set hours etc.

I'm an introvert. Have worked successfully in an office all my life. However my job is only 40% desk bound. I have very good social skills and spend a lot of time interviewing people gathering information and presenting. You can be introverted but still have good social skills when you need to.

There are office jobs that suit all personality types, and cutting out office type jobs from a persons list of possibilities is terribly limiting for any future career prospects.