The 13 best jobs for people who hate people

Not everybody is a people person.

If this sounds like you, your best approach for finding a job could be searching for work where people skills aren't all that necessary.

To find these jobs, we averaged data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), a US Department of Labor database full of detailed information on 974 occupations.

O*NET rates each occupation on a scale from zero to 100 on how much a job requires workers to be in contact with others and how much a job requires workers to be pleasant with others, where a lower rating signals less required sociability.

While people who hold these positions aren't necessarily standoffish, the following jobs got the lowest average score and require very minimal good-natured interaction with others:

- Economists

Required sociability score: 57.5

What they do: Conduct research, prepare reports, or formulate plans to address economic problems related to the production and distribution of goods and services or monetary and fiscal policy.

- Potters

Required sociability score: 57

What they do: Operate production machines such as pug mill, jigger machine, or potter's wheel to process clay in manufacture of ceramic, pottery, and stoneware products.

- Transportation equipment painters

Required sociability score: 56.5

What they do: Operate or tend painting machines to paint surfaces of transportation equipment like automobiles, buses, trucks, trains, boats, and airplanes.

- Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders

Required sociability score: 56.5

What they do: Set up, operate, or tend forging machines to taper, shape, or form metal or plastic parts.

- Fallers

Required sociability score: 56.5

What they do: Use axes or chainsaws to fell trees using knowledge of tree characteristics and cutting techniques to control direction of fall and minimize tree damage.

- Hand grinding and polishing workers

Required sociability score: 56

What they do: Grind, sand, or polish, using hand tools or hand-held power tools, a variety of metal, wood, stone, clay, plastic, or glass objects.

- Geological sample test technicians

Required sociability score: 56

What they do: Test or analyze geological samples, crude oil, or minerals to detect presence of petroleum, gas, or mineral deposits.

- Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders

Required sociability score: 54.5

What they do: Observe continuous operation of automatic machines to ensure that products meet specifications and to detect jams or malfunctions, making adjustments as necessary.

- Garment or textile pressers

Required sociability score: 53.5

What they do: Operate steam, hydraulic, or other pressing machines to remove wrinkles from garments and flatwork items, or to shape, form, or patch articles.

- Craft artists

Required sociability score: 53.5

What they do: Create or reproduce handmade objects for sale and exhibition using a variety of techniques, such as welding, weaving, pottery, and needlecraft.

- Poets, lyricists, and creative writers

Required sociability score: 52

What they do: Create original written works, such as scripts, essays, prose, poetry or song lyrics, for publication or performance.

- Farmworkers and crop laborers

Required sociability score: 51.5

What they do: Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, and field crops.

- Hunters and trappers

Required sociability score: 51

What they do: Hunt and trap wild animals for human consumption, fur, feed, bait, or other purposes.