Personality and Careers

Abstract

Many students do not know the best career choice for their personality. Therefore, they waste time and money on obtaining a career they are not adept at and are incompatible with. The presenter combines the Myer’s Briggs’s (MBTI) personality test results, the Holland Codes (RIASEC) test results, categories from O*NETonline.org, and compatibility from Dr. A.J. Drenth on personalityjunkie.com to find the best career match for a person’s personality. The presenter uses her personality, INFP (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceptive), from the MBTI as an example. The research shows: realistic careers, such as mechanics and plumbers are best matched with the IST (Introverted, Sensing, Thinking) personality types. Investigative careers, such as engineers and psychologists are best suited with INT (Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking) types. Artistic careers, such as writing and dancing are best with NFP (Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving) types. Social career categories, such as teachers and nurses go best with EF (Extroverted, Feeling) types. The enterprising category, such as marketing and business goes best with ES (Extroverted, Sensing) types. Finally, the conventional category, such as accounting and administration is best with STJ (Sensing, Thinking, Judging) types. The presenter will also explain the findings of another study at a university in Finland which shows different results than this research paper. The presenter will give a rebuttal to the Finland study and suggest potential further studies needed. The shadow function is a person’s least used unconscious function. The presenter will explain how the shadow function tricks people into choosing a career where they use their fourth function the most, and why they should avoid this. The presenter will show how she arrives at her conclusions on March 23, 2023, and how all personality types can better reach their full potential.

Introduction

I have been studying and researching personality and career choices for many years. I understand how confusing it can be when there are many different professional opinions. Well, I have discovered more specific career choices for the INFP with ASE (Artistic, Social, Enterprising) for their Holland Code.

How did I Find a More Specific Career Ideal?

If you still need to do so, you can take the Myers-Briggs personality test and the Holland Code test free online.

I took the Holland codes, combined them with the Myers-Briggs personality test, matched Holland Code with the job, and produced a more specific result. I used the process of elimination and analysis. For example, I have tested Artistic as number one in the Holland code, Social as #2, and Enterprising as #3. Creative writing shows the Holland code of Artistic 1, Investigative 2, and Social 3, which is the best choice compared to the others:

• Artistic- 33% drawing, 32% writing, 25% teaching
• Investigative- 23% writing, 14% teaching, 3% drawing
• Enterprising- 17% writing, 16% drawing, 11% teaching
• Realistic- 24% drawing, 13% teaching, 8% writing
• Conventional- 11% teaching, 9% writing, 5% drawing
• Social- 26% teaching, 11% writing, 10% drawing

Caution

Ironically, you may not be attracted to your ideal career. If this is the case, then your least functioning part will try to assert itself subconsciously by tempting you to pick a career that uses that function most. The reason is its' need to express itself. That is the "shadow function" doing the person a disservice. This same problem will occur not only in careers but also in relationships. That is what happens when a person is attracted to someone through the "opposites attract" philosophy. Here is a general guide that may help:

Realistic- ISTP, ESTP, ISFP
Investigative- INTP, INTJ, ENTP, ENTJ
Artistic- INFP, INFJ, ENFP, ENFJ, ISFP
Social- ENFP, ENFJ, ESFP, ESFJ, ISFJ, ISFP
Enterprising- ENTJ, ESTJ, ESTP, ESFP, ENFP, ENFJ
Conventional- ISTJ, ISFJ, ESTJ

Recap of Steps to follow

1. After one has found his/her four-letter personality, the personality sites should give the person his/her function.

2. Take a free Holland Code test. Ensure the least used function is not misleading when one finds the Holland code.

3. Use the bullet list above since those are the top three choices for INFPs.

Career Plan for the INFP

As a career plan, one can take English literature courses in college. I know it is not easy to find a creative or freelance writing job. However, the person could teach English as an alternative. Teaching is another decent pick for an INFP. In the person’s spare time, he/she could work on creative writing with a play, a song, a comedy, or a novel, either freelance or for a company.

Extra

As an extra, I am giving statistics on how a person’s type is distributed in the population. From the most significant population to the smallest population:

ISFJ 13.8%
ESFJ 12.3%
ISTJ 11.6%
ISFP 8.8%
ESTJ 8.7%
ESFP 8.5%
ENFP 8.1%
ISTP 5.4%
INFP 4.4%
ESTP 4.3%
INTP 3.3%
ENTP 3.2%
ENFJ 2.5%
INTJ 2.1%
ENTJ 1.8%
INFJ 1.5%
Data source: "MBTI Manual”

Testing sources: Humanmetrics and Holland Codes test

Works Cited

Drenth Dr., A.J., "Personality Junkie." https://personalityjunkie.com/holland-code-riasec-career-interests-myers-briggs-types/. 25, Nov. 2022.

"O*Net Online." Department of Labor, 22, Nov. 2022, https://www.onetonline.org/

"A New Perspective on You." https://www.mbtionline.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiA7IGcBhA8EiwAFfUDsV4M-DoGjea3H9wDFxudqhQvtd_NHWaG8--l1kUPYJmRwaT5wr24dxoCEwYQAvD_BwE. 25, Nov. 2022.