Being detail-oriented is a prized skill in our highly organized society, but not everyone has the ability to deal with the nitty-gritty on a daily basis. If you’re better at seeing the forest than the trees, then consider a career in which the big picture is more important than the fine details or a job in which intuition trumps paperwork.
Whether its helping with career choices, marital strife or mental health issues, being a counselor requires an ability to step back from the situation and display mature judgment. You must have excellent active listening skills, you must be able to draw out a client and you must employ discretion. Being detail oriented takes a secondary role in this type of job because paperwork and appointments can be handled by support staff. The core of the job is to create time, space and a relaxed atmosphere to help the client.
While some parts of the writing profession, such as technical writers, require an eye for detail, many writers can be more idea oriented. Synthesizing the whole picture or dreaming up a good story engages the creative right-brained types more than the left-brained minutia types. Even writing for a corporate job may require more brainstorming and idea flow than you might think.
Being a personal trainer is a job in which communication and personal qualities win out over obsessing over details. How well you can motivate your clients and how well can you understand their individual needs when it comes to a fitness program are key attributes for a personal trainer. These qualities have more to do with intuition and helping people make long-term changes to their lifestyle than with day-to-day mundane trivia.
Being a management consultant requires the ability to see the big picture as your best attribute. You must have excellent communication skills along with good creative ideas and analytical abilities. You must be able to think out of the box, see solutions for clients and present them in an effective manner. You will usually work as part of a team and detail work associated with your big-picture tasks usually can be delegated.
