Introverts are sticklers for authenticity. When it comes to their jobs and careers, they strive to “do what they are.” Despite the beauty of this ideal, they often run into difficulties when it comes to its real-world actualization.
When a member of the rock band he played in during college hung the nickname “Spench” on Michael French, it never occurred to him that this moniker would have an extended lifespan. But after its resurrection a few years later at the hands of friends, the name stuck. Now, almost everyone who knows Michael well refers to him as Spench.
Most of us were encouraged to be artistic when we were children. From drawings and dioramas to noodle jewelry and collages, art is an integral part of a child’s life and no school day is complete without time for arts and crafts. As we grow older, however, we are counseled to settle into practical careers and to confine our artistic impulses to hobbies, if we pursue them at all. There is definitely some wisdom to this advice, as it is very rare for the average person to support oneself as a full-time artist. Therefore, if you feel that you are an artist at heart, it is likely that you also feel torn between pursing your passion for art and finding a well-paying and stable career.
INTPs are driven by a deep yearning to understand systems and what makes them work. They're analytical people who prize knowledge and love to come up with theories as to how systems can best operate. They are the masters of the Thought Experiment. While they seem to live very much in their minds, they get excited about innovation, devising theories about how things work, and testing their ideas. Hot careers for INTPs are those that put their talent for creative problem-solving to good use.
Office politics is an umbrella term that encompasses many things. On one hand, it can refer to behavior whereby coworkers step on their colleagues in the interest of getting ahead at all costs. On the other hand, office politics at its best can describe a dynamic of cooperation, not competition. When colleagues vary in their personality types, understanding and empathy are the keys to cooperation, which enhances office productivity. Introverts and extroverts differ starkly in how they communicate and resolve disputes. Learning about personality typology can be a solid step toward promoting a greater sense of team spirit in an office environment.
Judgers and Perceivers differ significantly in how they make decisions and approach their lives. Where Judgers prefer structure and routine, Perceivers thrive on spontaneity and possibilities. These differences in style can cause clashes in the workplace. Office politics often gets a bad rap for amounting to nothing more than a collection of cut-throat behaviors, whereby some people try to advance themselves at the expense of others. It needn't be that way, however. Office politics can be conceived as a system in which people work together to accomplish goals, and understanding personality typology as it applies to Judgers and Perceivers constitutes a great start.
Large amounts of stimulation from the outside world, including in-person socializing, can feel draining to introverts, and the prospect of job interviews often reinforce that feeling. In job interviews, introverts must put themselves in the spotlight, beat their own drums and engage in small talk. For extraverts, those activities are second nature. Introverts, however, have their own strengths which are equally important and which can help them succeed in job interviews. Are you an introvert? These job interview tips for introverts will help you take stock of your strengths and consider how they can help you get hired.
Today, we have the second installment of our series on communication and personality type. Each week, we’ll look at two personality types and how best to communicate with people of these types. We’re taking on two types with opposite preferences in each post, to highlight the wide variation in how different personality types define “good communication.” If you missed the first installment, have a look at our tips for communicating with ESTPs and INFJs.
Whether your interest in a job change has been prompted by dissatisfaction with your current role or rumors of impending layoffs, the prospect of identifying and jumping into a different career can definitely feel overwhelming. However, this is a challenge that most professionals will face at least once in their working lives – data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that American workers change jobs an average of seven times over the course of their careers.
THE FINE PRINT:
Myers-Briggs® and MBTI® are registered trademarks of the MBTI Trust, Inc., which has no affiliation with this site. Truity offers a free personality test based on Myers and Briggs' types, but does not offer the official MBTI® assessment. For more information on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator® assessment, please go here.
The Five Love Languages® is a registered trademark of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, which has no affiliation with this site. You can find more information about the five love languages here.