Author Topic: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?  (Read 37140 times)

Pangolin

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Wise mustachians,
I’m looking for career suggestions that suit my skills and interests. I hope to turn up some ideas that might be missing from career sites and books.

I have an aptitude for searching for the right resources, gathering relevant data, compiling it into a spreadsheet, list, or report, and then determining the best option or changes to be made. I’m good at seeing how details affect the big picture and making connections. I do well at hands-on, detailed creative work (ex. sculpting miniatures). I like organizing things. My Myers-Briggs personality type is INTJ.

Ideally, I'd rather not report directly to multiple clients/customers, I'd prefer doing my work, then turning it over to coworkers or supervisors. I'd also rather not manage many underlings.

For the past 7 years I’ve had a job doing billing and scheduling for an equipment repair company. Before that, I worked as a retail assistant manager. I have an associate’s degree in anthropology. I had seriously considered becoming a conservator (preserving artifacts for museums), however education availability and costs and lack of job opportunities in the field have held me back.

Do my interests bring to mind any job descriptions? I’m willing to go back to school/get training. Thanks for your advice.

 

thephantomqueen

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2014, 11:02:10 AM »
Have you thought about becoming a professional indexer? There is an American Society for Indexing that you can google for more information.


phred

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2014, 11:14:14 AM »
librarian comes to mind.  While you will have many clients, you may only have them for a minute or two.  Not just public libraries, but also corporate libraries

LucyBIT

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2014, 11:44:20 AM »
I'm an INTP with an anthropology degree. I was an archaeologist for a while, and enjoyed it for the most part, but left because the industry climate had translated into stalling me out as a temporary employee with bare-minimum salary (not minimum wage, just the lowest the industry could get away with). I'm in IT now, doing a mix of systems administration and implementation, volunteer management, and business intelligence. I very much like coding and am working to get more into that. I also like the business intelligence side (and thought about pursuing more education in that area, but the programs I've found all require business school, which I don't have and am not interested in, so I'm not sure doing all the foundation work would be worth it).

I've found my research capabilities to be really handy in my current job. Granted, it's not quite your typical IT gig, but research skills and creative thought/ability to synthesize information are useful in the kind of problem-solving I do.

Silvie

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2014, 12:48:24 PM »
Market research

Christiana

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2014, 12:57:27 PM »
Strategic planning is frequently mentioned as a good career for INTJs.

birdman2003

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2014, 01:05:25 PM »
I immediately thought of a machinist.  They are highly organized and detailed with their work.  It's creative and technical since you could visualize and attempt different methods to arrive at the same destination.  You would need to create an index for your tools and keep track of what needs to be replaced/upgraded.  Don't become a button-pushing CNC machine operator.  Take the time to find an employer who will get you into a journeyman position and you can work your way up to a skilled craftsman.  In the meantime, you'll get a solid $50k - $60k income as you learn.

jpo

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2014, 01:18:38 PM »
Our company employs several Data Analysts who do almost exactly what you're describing.

adesertsky

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2014, 01:22:05 PM »
+1 for data analyst... We have a few (I used to be one) and they are highly valued.  The pace can be hectic but most of the time is spent compiling/reviewing data and making suggestions.

sparklebunny

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2014, 02:40:21 PM »
Probably not what you're looking for, but I'm an INTJ and an attorney.  I focus on estate planning and elder law.  The elder law side especially if very strategic and keeps my brain happy.  It's like an ongoing chess game almost and the board for each client is never the same and the pieces (law and strategies available) change frequently.  I also own my firm and that itself is very strategic and rewarding. I basically hated all other types of law I practiced before, but this was a good fit for me.

MDM

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2014, 02:51:51 PM »
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_mining (along with the things it's "not to be confused with" in that article.

totoro

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #11 on: April 16, 2014, 03:23:06 PM »
Probably not what you're looking for, but I'm an INTJ and an attorney.  I focus on estate planning and elder law.  The elder law side especially if very strategic and keeps my brain happy.  It's like an ongoing chess game almost and the board for each client is never the same and the pieces (law and strategies available) change frequently.  I also own my firm and that itself is very strategic and rewarding. I basically hated all other types of law I practiced before, but this was a good fit for me.

Ditto, but I'm not in elder law.  A niche practice in law with a lot of control over the work and environment suits an INTJ imo.  Can be totally engaging because of the strategic issues in particular.

momoneymama

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2014, 07:52:15 PM »
Account planning for a marketing agency. While senior level often has client interaction, junior and mid level may not.

thesinecure

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2014, 08:10:20 PM »
how about actuary?

analyze the data, see what different changes and scenarios do to effect different returns, etc. etc.  you generally don't have to interact much with anyone, other than maybe explain different assumptions used in the calcs/analysis but even that could be done in documentation, versus face to face interaction

there are training/certifications that you can get as well, similar to other professions (like CPAs, CFAs, that sort of thing)

obviously need a bit of a head and enjoyment for math, particularly statistics, but sounds like maybe you've got some of that anyway

hoyahoyasaxa

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2014, 08:14:06 PM »
Sounds similar to my skills and interests - check out Prospect Research - digging into public records to try to identify individuals who might be able to give a major gift to a school or non-profit.

begood

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #15 on: April 17, 2014, 07:31:56 AM »
I’m looking for career suggestions that suit my skills and interests. I hope to turn up some ideas that might be missing from career sites and books.

I have an aptitude for searching for the right resources, gathering relevant data, compiling it into a spreadsheet, list, or report, and then determining the best option or changes to be made. I’m good at seeing how details affect the big picture and making connections. I do well at hands-on, detailed creative work (ex. sculpting miniatures). I like organizing things. My Myers-Briggs personality type is INTJ.

Ideally, I'd rather not report directly to multiple clients/customers, I'd prefer doing my work, then turning it over to coworkers or supervisors. I'd also rather not manage many underlings. ...


I'm following this because my 12-year-old daughter is a big researcher/compiler of information. She's also an introvert. She's probably still too young for a true M-B assessment, but if pressed, I'd say she is definitely an I and a J; her N/S and F/T may still be in flux. Library Science seems like a natural spot for those skills/interests. I have an INFJ friend who's a research librarian for a university and loves her job.

Rebecca Stapler

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #16 on: April 17, 2014, 07:43:02 AM »
Probably not what you're looking for, but I'm an INTJ and an attorney.  I focus on estate planning and elder law.  The elder law side especially if very strategic and keeps my brain happy.  It's like an ongoing chess game almost and the board for each client is never the same and the pieces (law and strategies available) change frequently.  I also own my firm and that itself is very strategic and rewarding. I basically hated all other types of law I practiced before, but this was a good fit for me.

Ditto, but I'm not in elder law.  A niche practice in law with a lot of control over the work and environment suits an INTJ imo.  Can be totally engaging because of the strategic issues in particular.

Tritto ;)  Your interests and skills sound like they are very well-suited to an attorney in a financial field like estate planning, tax, or finance. Plus, in the bigger firms you will have a lot less client interaction.

The problem with law is that getting a degree can be very expensive, but if you go into it aware of that possibility, you may be able to strategically get out of school without *too* much debt (if you're interested in law school, and are willing to give out details about cities where you want to live and your LSAT scores, I'm sure the MMM community could come up with a good plan for you -- eg, you can go to a less prestigious school on a scholarship, but this may only work out well in certain cities or communities)

That said, if you don't want to go to law school, maybe you would be interested in being a CPA or a financial analyst? I'm not in those fields, so I'm not positive about it aligning with your skills and interests, but I suspect it might; especially if you're working in a big firm.

Pangolin

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #17 on: April 17, 2014, 10:58:06 AM »
Thanks for the great suggestions! I’ll look into several of these.
If anyone can give details of the following jobs, I’d like to hear it. How to get a foot in the door, is a 4 year degree necessary and what major, suggestions for networking. Career websites are helpful, but picking the brain of someone who does the job every day is better.
Indexer
Data analyst
Market research
Strategic planning
Prospect Research

I’ll check into system administration and coding/programming as well; I’m sure I can find plenty of info and people to talk to about those.

High five to my fellow INT* anthropology majors! Much as I’d love to continue my education in anthropology or possibly library science, it seems the college time + cost compared to salary isn’t very favorable, at least for a 34 year old with a mortgage, full time job, blah blah. I’m not completely ruling out library work, though.

This forum is one of the most helpful and civil that I’ve ever come across. It’s motivating me to get out of my rut.

mozar

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #18 on: April 17, 2014, 05:08:42 PM »
My cousin is a market analyst for a large firm in nyc. She explained to me that she does SEM which is paid SEO (Search Engine Optimization). She also puts together presentations on how clients can use social media. She does a lot of research but she does present. She might have  people on her team who just do research. Anything social media oriented there is a lot of research.

CarDude

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #19 on: April 17, 2014, 06:21:04 PM »
Car crash investigator : D

MissPeach

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #20 on: April 17, 2014, 07:41:12 PM »
Here are some that come to mind...
Tax accountant
Auditor
Business systems analyst

NewStachian

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Re: Careers for people who like to research and compile information?
« Reply #21 on: April 18, 2014, 07:25:54 AM »
Here's my 1 recommendation: build up your technical skills enough to implement your ideas. Having a good analyst who can also go write the code to prove their point is infinitely more impressive than someone who can work with a spreadsheet. I work with a team of PhD researchers, all with leading research in their fields, all who can rapidly code up any new idea they have and get results on small datasets in a matter of hours. Compare them to the people who just think up new solutions and it's a world of difference.

If you have specific problems you're interested in solving as practice (imagine if you had a website with a portfolio of projects before a job interview), hit me up and I'll be happy to point you toward some good, free tools you could use.

 

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