Whatever your personality type, you’re probably surprised to see Introverts—especially Introverted Perceivers—suggested as not just entrepreneurs, but the best entrepreneurs. And if you are an INFP, you may be shocked to see yourself in this position, unless you’ve already discovered you have what it takes to fly solo and have gone out on your own.
If you’ve been caught singing in the shower lately, cheering on The Great British Bake Off, or out with a girlfriend at one of those “sip n dip” enterprises where you paint a scene on an actual canvas with actual paint while drinking wine, then you, my fellow ISTJ, could be in actual denial. Or tears. Either way, you have discovered that somewhere inside your tidy, alphabetized life, you have room for a little creative flair.
ENTJs are typically goal-driven and ambitious, making them ideal candidates for a range of leadership roles. They are strategic leaders whose assertive and outgoing nature allows them to excel at motivating a team. Truity’s Personality Type and Career Achievement Study indicates that ENTJs are more likely to be found in leadership positions than other personality types, with the highest average number of employees reporting to them.
I have a confession to make: I haven’t always been a big believer in personality or career aptitude tests.
That all ties back to an experience I had in the seventh grade. As part of a class assignment, we were required to take a personality assessment to guide our career choices. I sat in that dark computer lab, doing my best to answer each prompt as honestly as possible.
When I got the results? Well, let’s just say I was disappointed.
Obviously, your personality type has affected your career. For many, it determined what that career would be. It’s common knowledge that most ENTJs prefer to find success by taking on leadership roles and helping to organize projects, whereas an introverted perceiver may be less interested in that type of role.
But how, specifically, once you land that job you got by taking account of your personality, does it change where you go on the corporate ladder?
So you're bored at work and planning your next move. You've taken a personality test, read up on the type of careers that are perfectly aligned to work style, and made a list of all the different options. You may have spent a fair chunk of time researching those options, matching them up to your strengths, interests, passions and hobbies, and a few have really captured your interest. In fact, you're currently having a love affair with so many different career paths that you just can't pin down a single option to go after.
Almost every personality typing website out there likes to list science-related careers as a good fit for ENTPs and INTPs. We are said to have an inherent aptitude for and interest in scientific fields. The INTP type has been nicknamed the “Scientist,” “Engineer” or “Architect”, while ENTPs have been dubbed the “Inventor,” “Visionary” or the “Mad Scientist”.
The Enneagram can help uncover stress and growth areas to guide you on a career journey tailored specifically to your strengths. Personality type and career preferences have a strong connection, and personal satisfaction plays a huge factor in this equation.
You’ve made it to the interview stage of your job hunt, which means that employer thinks you might be a good match for their open position.
But now ask yourself this: Are they a good match for you?
It’s easy to forget that the hiring process is a two-way street. As much as companies are weeding through applicants to find the best fit, candidates are also sussing out organizations to find ones that are most aligned with their values and desires.
As a manager, it’s easy to put your direct reports into boxes. There’s the creative one, the empathetic one, the one who likes autonomy and the one who like clear boundaries and set routines. There’s also another special breed of worker in the world, and that’s the person who has borderline manic levels of productivity yet spends a lot of the time kicking back and doing...well nothing. Someone who is lazy and a hard worker, all at the same time.
How do you manage someone when you’re never quite sure where they’re at? Here are some tips.
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.