What Job is Best for a Highly Sensitive Person?
What is the best job for a Highly Sensitive Person? You’ve probably asked yourself this question often. If you search online, you’ll find countless lists such as the ones here, here, and here which include jobs that are creative, intellectual, solitary, or based in the helping professions as best career choices for HSPs. Work such as being a therapist, accountant, graphic designer, professor, massage therapist, writer, landscaper, or chef are often highlighted. Do any of these appeal to you?
There are so many of these lists because Sensitive folks are constantly seeking a way to make work more manageable and meaningful without all the overwhelm that creeps into the rest of your life. The dream is that finding the right career that’s aligned with being Highly Sensitive will solve that problem and you’ll finally have enough energy to enjoy your time off without needing to recharge so much.
When you think about the biggest source of stress in your life, where does work fall on that list? Probably at the top, if you're like most HSPs. Work tends to be something to survive, instead of enjoy, with weekends being spent in recuperation mode rather than being able to spend time with loved ones or engage in hobbies.
Why is work such a struggle for folks who tend to be conscientious, creative, and perceptive when you have so much to offer? There are many reasons:
Long hours without proper breaks to process and recharge
Overstimulated by the environment or pace of the work
Poor communication and expectations from supervisors
Not enough vacation time
Pressure to constantly engage or attend social activities after work
Lack of work-life balance and difficulty setting boundaries
Work lacks meaning or is misaligned with your values
On top of all that, employers often fail to recognize and celebrate the strengths of their Highly Sensitive workers. Instead of cultivating their creativity and insight which are an asset to any organization, they focus on conformity and mismatched metrics such as hours worked or social output. Being expected to show up as a non-HSP would in the workplace only robs you of the ability to process, problem-solve, innovate, and develop more quality relationships. Everyone loses.
How can you find sustainable work? You may think you just need to pick a job off of one of those lists, but honestly, there's no one right fit for every HSP. Even in the same field, it's going to boil down to who you work with, the values of the company, the environment, how meaningful and interesting the work is to you, and your ability to maintain a work-life balance. Often this will involve some level of advocating for yourself and leveraging your skills in order to get your needs met.
For instance in my field as a therapist, I work in private practice where I control my schedule, income, who I work with, and have the flexibility to take off when I need to for self-care. You may think the field of psychotherapy sounds like a perfect fit for an HSP and it can be, but not always. I have colleagues who work in agencies who don't get paid well, have limited vacation time, and see 4-5 times as many clients as I do per week. They are always struggling with burnout and feel emotionally exhausted. This version of working as a therapist doesn't look like a good choice for someone who is Highly Sensitive. Also, there are HSPs who would not be interested or satisfied with this work, even under ideal conditions.
You could apply this same reasoning to any line of work. Before becoming a therapist, I worked for many years in the natural foods retail space. Most of that time was spent at an independent, family-run store where many of my coworkers were my closest friends and I got to know the “regulars”. I loved going to work and felt very invested. Then I relocated to a new city where I worked at a corporate natural foods chain. Although I was doing similar work and applying the same skills and knowledge, I didn’t feel the same level of engagement, enjoyment, or balance. Instead of having a set schedule, guaranteed days off, and close relationships with coworkers and customers where we connected on similar interests, I found myself working an unpredictable schedule with high employee turnover that took the joy out of the work for me. As you can see by my two examples, the conditions and people are just as important as the type of work itself to determine if a job will be right for you as an HSP.
Although I would love to tell you the magic answer of what work is most ideal for you, the truth is, it's a very subjective choice depending on your interests and circumstance. What I do know is that you'll need these essentials at work:
To feel engaged and interested in what you’re doing
Find the work meaningful to you and aligned with your values
Have a supportive environment where you can manage the stimulation and have space to process and reflect
Receive clear expectations and communication from coworkers and supervisors
Achieve a work-life balance where you’re able to disconnect on evenings and weekends as well as take vacations
Be adequately compensated for your time, skills, and knowledge
No matter what type of work you choose to do, the most important factor in whether or not this is the right job for you is how you feel while doing it. Do you feel fulfilled or drained at the end of the day? Do you feel excited or resistant to the thought of going to work in the morning? Does the actual work itself inspire or deplete you? Even when you are in alignment with what career you have chosen to pursue, there will be days when you would rather stay curled up in bed, but overall you want to feel content with how you’re spending the majority of your day/week/life.
