Are you a “people person,” enjoying and getting energy from working with others, face-to-face, up close and personal? Do you hate sitting down, by yourself, surrounded by quiet — is working with people, helping them and making sure they get what they need, providing great service more your style?
You might be a great fit for a more people-facing job, anything from a receptionist to an office assistant, a cashier to an account representative, positions that have you working directly with people and responsible for helping them solve their problems and providing a positive interaction.
Do you have these characteristics?
- Empathy – you can understand a person’s feelings, frustrations, excitement, nervousness, etc., even if you’re not directly feeling them yourself.
- Compassion – you can feel a kindness and gentleness toward a person going through a difficult time
- Patience – if someone is taking a while to sort out their complaint, get their feelings or thoughts in order or is short-tempered, you can remain calm and easygoing, not getting frustrated yourself and conveying a sense of understanding
- Positivity – the world around you might be stressful, annoying, frustrating and difficult, but you maintain a sense that everything will work out just fine
- Calmness under pressure or high-stress situations – you have the incredible ability to keep your wits about you when everything seems to be falling apart, or the people around you are incredibly stressed and short-tempered
- Friendliness and cheerfulness – you love making new friends, talking to new people, reaching out to those who look like they need a little cheering up
- Extroverted – at least, to some extent, being with and around people energizes you, makes you happy and helps you feel good
If so, these jobs might be great for you!
Receptionist
Be the face of a company, greeting clients, customers, your team as they come in for the morning, delivery people, etc. You’re the one answering phones, providing a welcoming, kind, cheerful voice, helping get them to the person they need to speak with, answering questions and providing reassurance that all will be well.
Office Assistant
Why help one person out during the day when you can help several? From organizing and filing to placing orders and helping everyone stay on task, you’ll be your team’s most valuable person, as everyone knows they can rely on you to keep things running smoothly. They also know you’re the one who has all the answers and knows where everything is hiding!
Administrative Assistant
Your team knows you’re the one running the show. You connect phone calls, send important emails, schedule meetings, all the while making sure everything is covered and that communication within the team is strong, reliable and consistent. You might also be the one who organizes the little niceties, like monthly birthday celebrations or fun activities to help boost morale.
Medical Receptionist
When things get stressful or tense, you’re ready to be a steady, reassuring presence. You like to keep things organized and efficient, but you’re also prepared to walk someone through a complicated or difficult time with kindness, compassion and clarity. You respect a patient’s privacy and want to help guide them through their appointments and get their information as quickly as possible.
Looking to work with people? Sterling Personnel can help you find the right job!
Of course, as with all jobs, there are pros and cons to consider. The pros of people-facing jobs include getting the direct satisfaction of being able to help someone, whether that’s finding the right information, making a sale, making a refund, clearing up a mystery, fixing a problem, etc. You get to hear the joy in their voice when things they felt were impossible are possible, the wonder that comes from realizing they’ll get to speak with a real person who can provide answers in real time.
The cons? People are sometimes impatient and more than happy to take their frustrations out on you. You’ll be expected to suck up your own emotions, annoyances and anger in order to keep up a good appearance, no matter how many people fail to listen to you on a given day.
But working directly with people can be incredibly rewarding. You get the immense satisfaction of knowing you’ve made a real difference! And is there any better feeling than that?
If all of this sounds good to you, it’s time to call Sterling Personnel. We work directly with candidates who are looking for outstanding people, especially those who like to deal with the public, and they’re eager to bring those brilliant personalities on board. Take a look at our jobs site and see what we have available, then give us a call.
