How can I profit from being thoughtful and considerate?

What do you mean “profit”? You’ll feel better about yourself, and that could be considered a profit.

@Dutchess_lll Money. A career where being thoughtful and considerate is a plus.

If you mean profit in a monetary sense, when you do business with people and you are reliable and hard working, they will want to work with you again.

If you mean profit in a general sense, I like the line from the Beatles. “And in the end, the love you get is equal to the love you give”

Make yourself a good partner. Being productive and valuable is one part. Being pleasant to deal with is another. Both are important.

Customer service. But never forget the company’s bottom line.

Being thoughtful and considerate isn’t very compatible with profit.

Being thoughtful and considerate isn’t very compatible with profit.

Sure it is. Don’t kill the golden goose.

I used to work in retail. I bought lots of stuff, I sold lots of stuff.

The best suppliers were really helpful and generous. I was helpful and generous to my customers.

Nobody willingly gives repeat business to a jerk.

I agree with customer service.
Retail sales clerk.
Mortician.
Professional photographer, caterer or other personal-service provider, personal shopper.

Lots of ways, you just have to choose one that plays to your personal interests.

How about work at the information center in a mall near you? Tell people where the stores are, give out strollers for the babies, that sort of thing.

Or, work for the tourist bureau answering calls asking about the city or province. Mail out brochures for people who request information who will be touring.

Any sort of information center that is very unlikely to have unhappy customers and you get to help them with quick answers and they are satisfied is a nice job I think.

Another vote for a customer service job. Having worked in the hotel industry for 30 years, it needs more people like you. The challenge is that when a customer becomes irate, it cannot be taken personally.

The same is applicable to a care giver job. Each client has individual needs. Pick up on those and cater to them, then the emotional reward becomes the bonus.

One thing is for sure, Tallman. Thoughtful and considerate people won’t hang with people who aren’t—unless they’re just plain masochists and martyrs. So, that’s how you profit. Nice people hang with nice people. The opportunities are endless. Just consciously being a good guy to the people you run into on a day to day basis will do it. It becomes habitual. I was once offered a date by a great woman simply because she liked the compassion I showed a busy, flustered waiter. Good stuff happens sometimes.

Another vote (again) for customer service and information center staff.

And how about a job as a nurse? You can work at the elder’s nursery house. The elders need someone to care for their daily stuff or just a companion to ease their loneliness. Lots of spaces for being thoughtful and considerate there.

As for the second question, it’s hard to find someone like that. Some people can take advantage of your good nature for their own gain. The only way to find one is just to be nice with people and hopefully someone nice will come to you.

Those are essential traits for anyone whose job requires dealing with the public.

There’s no personal feeling quite so sweet as doing something nice for someone else. Even sweeter when it’s done without seeking profit or quid pro quo.

Working with handicap, or veterans affairs, social services, elderly, hospital (nursing or doctor), and hospice care, are all work that requires some sort of selflessness and people who work in these areas can be pretty selfless. But I will have to say I have known people in hospice who are angels of mercy, and people who do volunteer work with the elderly or building homes or who volunteer during crises.

Just throwing this out there, how about a 911 dispatcher? Being kind and in control as people call with emergencies?

Teacher, counselor, social worker? In any job working with people, being thoughtful and considerate is a plus. You could also consider a medical job, like being a nurse or EMT. Being a librarian is a people-facing job where being thoughtful and considerate could really make a difference.

A number of people in this thread mentioned retail, and having that demeanor is helpful in the service industry. If you can make people feel welcome, and are friendly and helpful, you can definitely get ahead.

For a long time I’ve prided myself on being helpful and considerate. It helped me go from entry-level cashier type jobs to retail management over the last several years. But having a long-term career in retail is not for everyone. Staying calm, patient, friendly, and helpful in the face of every kind of unreasonable behavior, standing all the time and working nights, weekends, and holidays, totally wears you down after a while.

Long-term retail employees need a plan for recharging their batteries- delegating tasks at work, setting boundaries about your work hours, and spending your free time on activities that are relaxing and meaningful. And even then, it doesn’t hurt to think of the next thing. Can a retail job lead to a job with a vendor? In a warehouse or offie? etc.

I think there’s a difference between being cordial because your job requires it and being truly thoughtful and considerate.

@talljasperman You wouldn’t happen to be a serial killer that is looking for job where you can be employed full time and at the same time find your victims? Just wondering. heh.heh, oooh.

@Pandora no.