One of the many things that I've learned during my time at Prime Digital Academy is that there is no "typical" UX researcher/designer. I've met with many people in the field over the past four months, from newbies like my fellow classmates to seasoned pros who were practicing UX before it was UX, and nearly every individual's path is different. Even the work that they do under the umbrella of user experience varies wildly. However, I think there are a couple of key traits that we all share:
Curiosity
One of the common threads that runs through the stories I hear from UXers is a natural curiosity, especially when it comes to people. The core of user experience is solving problems, and you need this curiosity to guide you toward answers.
Empathy
Another key trait for anyone practicing user experience research/design is empathy. In order to create meaningful experiences for users, a UXer needs to be able to metaphorically put themselves in the users' shoes.