How do you know that you should become a professional organizer?
You live and die by your perfectly color-coordinated planner.
Your favorite show is about home organizers on The Home Edit, and your closet looks like a curated boutique. Your idea of a fun Friday night involves rethinking the jars in your pantry setup and other organization projects. The idea of fresh new school supplies makes you giddy—even as an adult.
In short: you love to organize any and everything. While it might be hard to find a job that pays you to browse the Target school supply aisle or tidy your own physical space, there are actually lots of roles in which you can tap into these organizational skills and get that “feels-so-good-to-have-everything-in-place” feeling (you know what I’m talking about).
Today, we’re listing out the jobs that are great for people who are good at—and find intrinsic value in—keeping things organized and creating an organized system. Whether you are interested in applying these skills to a nonprofit organization or you want to use your skills to help new clients one-on-one, there’s a role heavy in organization for all sorts of personalities and interests.
Transferable Organizational Skills
First things first, let’s talk about the skills you have that are transferable to many different roles. Whether or not you choose to do something as niche as being a professional organizer or join the ranks of productivity consultants, recognizing these skills in yourself—or strengthening them as you learn and grow—can help you hone in on the role that’s right for you and your career path.
Professional Organizers Are Detail-Oriented
No surprise here. If you like organizing, being detail-oriented is probably one of your biggest strengths. Being detail-oriented means you pay in-depth attention to details, you ask thoughtful, critical questions, and you are likely to hone in on the exact parts of a project or situation that really matter. All of these attributes will serve you in any work experience.
Professional Organizers Are Communicative
We talk a lot about the importance of communication here at Career Contessa—and for good reason. Effective communication is one of the most important aspects of any job—and really most parts of your personal life as well.
If you’re a clear communicator, you’re likely paying close attention to those who speak to you through active listening, and you’re paying attention to how you’re coming across to others, whether this means through your body language, expressions, or your written communication style.
Organized people are often quite effective at written communication. They’re easily able to spell out (literally) what they’re meaning. They have a knack for grammar and know how to clearly get their point across.
Professional Organizers Are Problem-Solvers
Organizing is kind of like figuring out the solution to a puzzle. Whether you’re working out the best organizational system for your home office desk or you’re mulling over the most effective solution for a problem your client is facing, you’re likely able to think outside of the box and come up with solutions that truly work.
Organized people are often a mix of both strategic-minded and creative, which means you’re able to think of interesting solutions for all sorts of issues.An example is your unique ability to style shelves or rework the entryway without much work while your whole family still lacks the motivation to even think about solving these space issues.
Professional Organizers Are Critical Thinkers
Like problem-solving, critical thinking requires you to, well, think critically about problems to figure out the most effective solutions. This requires active listening, creativity, and strong communication skills.
Being a strong critical thinker is a boon to any and every job you might have. Under the circumstances of organizing, this skill serves the unique needs of the work and helps you be more efficient.
Best Jobs for People Who Love to Organize
There's a reason the professional organizing industry is booming right now. It's satisfying to watch people take actionable steps to better their lives, even if it's in a simple way. How much better is your day when you can actually find what you're looking for in the long run?
We all know the feeling of irritation from opening the junk drawer and digging through to locate a pen while you're frantically taking down a number. If you've seen The Bear, you know what I'm talking about ("Where are the Sharpies?!?").
If you relate, we’ve rounded up a few of the roles that require lots of the credentials we mentioned above. If you’re a naturally organized person who enjoys the challenge of ensuring others stay that way, too, here are some great career options for you.
A note: We took the salary data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics for most roles, with a few exceptions.
1. Professional Organizer
We’re starting with the most obvious path for people who love to organize: a professional organizer career. If you’re constantly tidying up your space and figuring out the best way to keep your things organized, you might try this out for others and their spaces as well with your own organizing business.
There’s a reason things like Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and The Home Edit go viral—there’s something so satisfying about seeing things put in a designated space that can be used efficiently to genuinely make people’s lives run more smoothly.
Interested in starting a professional organizer business? In addition to your desire to organize and a sense of compassion, you’ll need an entrepreneurial spirit and can-do attitude for business development and to build up your clientele.
You can even become a certified professional organizer by completing a number of organization hours, passing a certification exam, and compiling a portfolio of your work.
Salary: $59,970
2. Housekeeper
While housekeeping may have less to do with figuring out organizational systems, it does scratch the itch of allowing you to tidy up for others, taking on challenging disorganization, and ensuring that their homes are clean and free of clutter.
If turning a podcast on and listening while you clean your home on the weekends is your method of de-stressing, it’s worth considering this role. Housekeeping is also a nice weekend or part-time gig where you can earn some decent cash.
If your friend runs an Airbnb, consider using your organization skills as a side hustle to help her clean between guests.
Salary: $28,780
3. Event Planner
Event planning comes in a variety of forms. From wedding planning to parties to corporate or team-building events, event planning requires extreme attention to detail and organizational skills.
Events require so many logistics—venue coordination, materials and supplies, invitations and paperwork, and attendee tracking, the list goes on. A clear organizational system can make it less daunting and more efficient. Plus, it can be fun to plan events, especially when you see attendees enjoying something that you worked hard to put together.
Salary: $49,470
4. Project Manager
Hear us out: Project management is basically a professional organizer's first cousin. Rather than dealing with items in someone’s home or office, you’re applying those same strategic and organizational skills to a specific project.
Like event planning, project management roles can encompass all sorts of things. They might be short-term, long-term, involve a small team, involve a huge group of people—there’s variety in this role that makes it ideal for just about anyone who is organized and thorough.
You’ll need people skills for this one as well—this role often requires lots of interfacing with others who are contributing to the project.
Salary: $94,500
5. Account Manager
The same aspects that would make you an ideal project manager would likely make you a strong account manager. Account management is also a broad role that might be focused in sales, marketing, or other similar areas.
Account management often requires delegating tasks to others on your team and then overseeing the processes or sales for your account(s) as a whole. Lots of people deal with chronic disorganization, so you'll likely use your skills to keep your team in check. Account management requires people management and clear communication and organizational skills to help the bottom line for a successful business.
Salary: $133,380
6. Sales Manager
It’s understood that sales roles are great for people who are naturally charismatic and extroverted. One thing that is mentioned less frequently, however, is that sales requires a heavy dose of organizational skills.
Whether you’re managing a team or dealing with sales for various accounts or customers, sales management is a job that taps into those inherent organizational qualities.
Salary: $127,490
7. Administrative Assistant
If you’ve worked in any office environment, you likely already know that administrative assistants and executive assistants are like the monarchs of an organization. They’re the go-to person for just about anything office-related, whether it’s where the extra supplies are stored or helping to manage bookkeeping.
While administrative assistants may help the entire organization, other similar roles like a virtual assistant or personal assistant may help smaller groups or even one person stay highly organized. From managing a calendar and appointments to helping with tasks that run the gamut, these roles require really strong organizational skills.
Salary: $39,680
8. Travel Agent
You can’t be a successful travel agent without being highly organized. If you’re managing the planning and implementation of travel for various clients, there are *so* many things that you have to remember.
Love daydreaming about traveling? Are you the go-to person for creating the perfect weekend getaway for your friends and family? Are you the one who holds the passports and boarding passes so your group doesn’t lose them? This job may be for you.
Salary: $43,810
9. Real Estate Agent
Selling real estate encompasses a lot more than showing homes (though if you love architecture, design, and sales, that part’s pretty fun).
It also includes staying up to date on real estate laws and policies, being an expert on things like flood insurance, and even understanding aspects of construction. The real estate sales process itself includes so. many. documents. That part alone requires you to be highly organized for your clients.
Salary: $61,480
10. Archivist + Librarian
These roles are a little less public-facing and a little more history-forward, but archiving in a library or museum setting is clearly a cool job for the highly organized among us. You’ll return archived documents where they go, reshelve books, help ensure that the intake and checkout process is working efficiently, and more. A bibliophile and organizer’s ideal situation.
Salary: $50,120
11. Data Entry Clerk
So many businesses need data entry clerks. Whether you’re organizing tax returns for an accounting firm or helping keep track of merchandise for a store, there’s no lack of roles available for this kind of work. Data entry requires a keen eye for detail so that you don’t make mistakes after staring at software or spreadsheets for a long while.
Salary: $35,940
12. Editor + Proofreader
As an editor or proofreader, you’ve got to be detail-oriented to the max. You’re thinking about tiny details like comma placement and where to use an emdash. But you’re also thinking about the message holistically to ensure that it makes sense and portrays the meaning that is intended. If you love to read or write and you find yourself silently judging other people’s grammar, here you go.
Salary: $46,010
How to Expand + Grow Your Organizational Skills
We realize we might be preaching to the choir here, but if you’re looking to get even *more* organized, we have lots of organization and productivity tips. Here are some of our favorite resources:
- Use the perfect planner or bullet journal.
- Consider these uncommon to-do lists.
- Keep a master calendar.
- Conduct a weekly self-evaluation.
- Declutter your desk.
