Top 3 Careers for Highly Empathetic People
Empaths are compassionate individuals who can sense what people around them are thinking and feeling. Psychologists may use the term empath to describe a person that experiences a great deal of empathy, often to the point of taking on the pain of others at their own expense.
A few character traits of empathetic people include being very sensitive to their environment, introverted and intuitive, and absorbing the emotions and feelings of others.
Finding a job that suits your personality type is a great way to develop a highly satisfying and successful career. And empathetic people often enjoy careers where they can use their ability to understand others and view situations intuitively.
The following are the top three careers for highly empathetic people.
Teacher
Being a teacher is one of the most demanding yet rewarding career paths. Generally, teachers are kind, caring, empathetic, and passionate about helping children and young adults grow. Teachers are responsible for preparing lesson plans and educating students on various subjects.
Science finds that students with an empathetic learning environment have a higher capacity for learning.
Empathy drives a student to learn. Educators who practice empathy while teaching indirectly teach empathy to their students, helping them feel safe and welcomed by building a strong classroom community.
Counselor
Professional counselors help clients identify goals and potential solutions to problems that cause emotional turmoil, seek to improve communication and coping skills, strengthen self-esteem, and promote behavior change and optimal mental health.
Empathy allows therapists to appropriately communicate with clients by understanding their perspectives, goals, unique personality styles, and preferences. And yet, “you must experience empathy before you can express it,” writes counseling experts Jeff and Nancy Cochran (Cochran & Cochran, 2015, p. 48).
Grasping clients’ experiences, triggers, and behaviors is essential to counseling. It encourages them to dig deeper, strengthen the therapeutic alliance, and boost the likelihood of a successful treatment outcome.
Veterinary Technician
Veterinary technicians care for animals at veterinary clinics. They take blood samples, administer medication and assist the veterinarian in medical procedures. These experts assist veterinarians in their daily duties by interacting with animals and their owners.
The research is evident in human medicine: patients have better outcomes when their physician demonstrates empathy.
Patients of empathic doctors communicate more openly, follow doctors’ orders more closely, and have improved outcomes. Unsurprisingly, the same applies to empathic veterinary caregivers.
Veterinarians and technicians express empathy by identifying with the pet owner or animal. In turn, the pet owner will be more trusting and more likely to follow the advice given.
If you identify with the characteristics of an empath, consider the jobs well suited to your personality type to help you find the most workplace satisfaction.
