I lost my job and have been hunting for the next opportunity/career change. I’ve been fortunate enough to receive two offers, but I’m torn because they’re in very different industries and I’m not sure which career path is best for me.

One is as a recruiter at a staffing agency, working off of a base salary plus commission, which I’ve never done before. The other is as a copy editor with a salary comparable to the recruiter base salary. I was an English major in college–I like both writing/editing and interacting with people, so I don’t know which career would be the better choice.

Some of my friends have said they don’t see me as a salesperson type, and I’m not sure if that’s what recruiting really is. I’ve never worked off commission before, and I hate the idea of cold calling constantly, but I had other jobs with presentations and phone stuff/customer service and I didn’t mind that so much. I’ve been described as a friendly, people person, though I give a first impression as introverted. On the other hand, I’m not sure how I’d handle a job that had no people interaction, even if it involves writing. I love language though, and in my free hobby time I wrote a novel and short stories. However, the copyediting job sounds like it could get monotonous.

What do you think? Is recruiting really just pure sales in disguise? And is copyediting soul-killingly boring? Any help would be great! (I am looking more at the enjoyment of the career path though than just money, because these two jobs are pretty comparable in salary. Also, I would ultimately like to work in marketing or possibly copywriting, but I’d be open to recruiting/HR type stuff too).

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