Introvert seeking a fully remote job - what can I do?

[careerchange2022]

I'm almost 40 and am looking for a career change.

I'm very shy, introverted and don't have a lot of confidence and as such, a job that is fully WFH and doesn't involve much interaction with people would be ideal for me.

I'd really like to end up on a salary of £50-£60k in the next 10 years, although that might be ambitious.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Finance is fully remote in lots of places. It is quite easy to do basic courses. There is a shortage of finance staff - for years it has been said it will be automated but not much of it has been yet.

Your estimate of 50-60k is high though without qualifications.

Limited interaction with people over Zoom and maybe one or two days a month in the office would be okay.

I'm actually doing some CBT at the moment and have started on anxiety meds too.

If I could do any job then I'd probably like to try something in the tech sphere. But it sounds like it might not be suited to me as I'm not a natural maths or science person.

What skills and experience do you have?

@carefullycourageous I'm hoping to reach that level of salary in about 10 years - would that be possible in finance? When you say finance, do you mean accountancy?

my partner is a web developer and WFH and has done for years through choice. He takes much lower money than he could earn if he went back to working in london just to WFH, but if you were good, youd have no issue earning that much. He still has to do online meetings obviously. Im not sure you can opt out of all interactions, but the web developer world is full of socially awkward recluses.
Theyre actually crying out for developers too

I work from home, am I not working 'properly'?

I agree it is very difficult for the OP that they have anxiety but if a WFH job was an option why would that not be a beneficial step for them while they review the rest fo their life in their own time?

Historically people were allowed to be non-perfect. Now everyone has to be equally extroverted.

Finance includes accountancy but also there are other aligned jobs that don't require all the accountancy qualifications.

You could qualify as an accountant in ten years, it is hard to do and costs but you could do it. How much do you have to earn now?

@carefullycourageous

Nope, I fully WFH too

Maybe you can work on your rereading comprehension skills

Try these for advice..nationalcareers.service.gov.uk

DH is fully wfh, he much prefers it as he would definitely describe himself as introverted. Most of his communication is via email, the occasional meeting on Zoom.

He's a data/analytics consultant, fully self employed and earns around 70k a year if that helps?

@carefullycourageous Ideally I would like to start on around 25k-30k. I could go lower than that if there was a strong possibility of the salary going up fairly quickly.

What do you currently do for work?

@BlackandJello that sounds ideal! Again it's something I know very little about - how did he get into it and do you need to be very good at maths? I got an A in maths at GCSE but didn't take it beyond that.

Most jobs of that pay require experience / qualifications.

What experience/ qualifications do you have that you can build on to get where you want to go?

OP why are you skirting the issue of what you currently do, and your experience?

It depends where you are regionally, finance varies wildly across the country - but now you can WFH you could look for something in a higher paid area.

Do you have any relevant experience?

You either need relevant experience, qualifications or transferable skills.

No one here can really help until you say what qualifications / experience you have.

On all of these threads someone says data science or software as if anyone could do it. They can’t!

I've previously worked in low level copywriting and admin roles. So no great experience or qualifications.

This is key information.

Are you sure you want to hide from the world? Introverted doesn't mean you necessarily are shy or socially awkward.it just means you need time by yourself to recharge. Where as extroverts need company to get energy.

Are there other issues you have? I'm introverted but I can't stand being alone for long periods of time. Working at home can be very lonely and will allow you to avoid the jobs / tasks you fear. You need to face your fears - especially if you want 50-60k.

It is highly unlikely you’ll be able to do an analytics role with only maths GCSE. Did you do computing / programming at A-level?
I probably sound mean but it’s so frustrating that some can think they could do a highly skilled job like analytics / data science with no knowledge of the area

It's probably more accurate to say I'm shy rather than just introverted. I actually have social anxiety (which I'm currently getting help for through the CBT).

@ccareerchange2022

DH would say you don't need to be amazing at maths, he also has an A at GCSE but never took it further. His degree is in business.

I think your brain does have to be quite analytical though, lots of problem solving and analysing data (obv). He is mostly self taught and never short of work!

Do you have good it skills- ms word/ excel/ PowerPoint/ Wordpress/ etc etc?

@careerchange2022 what's your educational background? Do you have a degree or equivalent qualifications and how old are you?