What job would suit me?

[ElfShake]

I’ve been wanting to further my education for ages, but have been stumped on what to study. Can I get some opinions on what kind of career/field I should study?

I’m very ‘book smart’ and have an eidetic memory, so tend to be able to pass any written exam with top marks. I’m good at problem solving and often see things that others don’t, but my communication isn’t great as I have anxiety and get nervous about saying the wrong thing or coming across as a know it all. I don’t really have any passions that I could make a living from. I like numbers and finance but I don’t think that I have the people skills to make it to a high paying role in that sector, and I’d like a high salary. I really like hospital environments but I struggle to turn my empathy down so I’d probably take all the emotional baggage home with me at night if I trained to become a Doctor.

I don’t really know any other careers with a decent salary that don’t require a lot of charisma and self confidence. I am in therapy to try to gain some but I’ll never be that self assured, ruthless-when-necessary business woman that I’d need to be to get ahead in most jobs.

I’m just sitting random A-levels this year that sound like they’ll probably be useful for the future, feeling really aimless though.
Any advice?

I forgot to mention - I can’t get into computer science and coding. I’ve tried many times, I just find it incredibly boring to sit at a computer inputting data and tweaking codes all day long and I’d hate to do it full time.

Problem solving would be good in community occupational therapy.

Medical research, or academia in another field.

I do sympathise with the problem of anxiety nullifying the options that might
be assumed to come with cleverness!

What about biomedical scientist, forensic scientist or toxicologist? Or maybe radiographer?

I would think about what sort of Youtube videos you watch in your spare time as a clue to what you might be interested in and see if there is not a way to steer towards a job involving that.

What A-levels are you about to finish?
What other qualifications do you have?
How many years of training can you contemplate doing next?

Are you simply shy, or are you needy & need a lot of hand-holding & reassurance?

Sorry if I sound like a cow, but how good you are at independent working or teamwork is part of finding the best start place.

Actuary? Needs good maths & statistics @DadDadDad might be able to say what level of people skills are required. I think they are relatively well paid due to the high maths skills required.

Actuary - need a numerate degree. If you haven't got a grade A at A-level for Maths, then you are likely to struggle with passing actuarial exams. Did this a few years ago:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/AMA/3419589-Im-an-actuary

There are careers to be had in finance if you don't enjoy dealing with people and prefer to work on data, spreadsheets and reports. But as you have suggested, the best paid roles require people skills - leading a team, communicating with other parts of the business, presenting results to non-financial colleagues / senior management.

When I read your post my first thought was intelligence service but not sure how well paid it is. Good luck wherever you land up.

Have you tried doing the Myers’s briggs personality test . Suggests careers suitable for your personality ?

Train as an accountant/study finance and work for an NHS Trust? There are well paid jobs in Tech that don't need coding, like IT architecture and design (e.g. designing computer systems and processes for businesses, making them more efficient, cost effective, user friendly, less likely to break down, more compatible with new stuff etc). Any science degree is usually fine to get on a graduate scheme for non-programming tech jobs, or there are quite a few apprenticeships leading to degrees or professional qualifications. Any kind of expert role in a larger organisation usually pays well and has limited need for people skills. May I ask, are you autistic or have ADHD? You can usually expect that employers make reasonable adjustments to support employees with any disability/neurodifferences. If you are just shy, I wouldn't worry too much, you'll likely to gain confidence with experience.