Does your job constantly make you feel like a square peg in a round hole? Do you feel stuck in a career that's not fulfilling? That’s probably because you don’t derive as much satisfaction as you should!
Finding a career that aligns with your personality, passions, and financial desires all at once can be challenging. According to a recent survey, 67% of U.S. employees feel disengaged and uninspired by their work. With so much of our lives spent on the job, this statistic highlights the importance of thoughtful career planning.
One popular tool for career planning is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It is a personality assessment that categorizes individuals into 16 different personality types based on their interactions with the world around them. Since employers often rely on personality tests when selecting the best fit for job roles, the stakes are even higher, and you should know all you can about your personality to boost your chances.
While the MBTI is primarily a guide to self-discovery, this assessment can help you make meaningful relationship, lifestyle, and career decisions. In this article, we’ll look at how to use the MBTI to find a career path, whether you're fresh out of college or considering a career change.
Let's get started!
Myers Briggs Type Indicator: Quick Overview
If you are new to the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), we recommend you start with our beginner's guide.
As a refresher, the MBTI is based on the theory that we all have innate preferences across four traits: Extraversion vs. Introversion, Sensing vs. Intuition, Thinking vs. Feeling, and Judging vs. Perceiving.
The key characteristics of the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types resulting from these combinations are as follows.
- The ISTJ Inspector is known for being practical, orderly, and fact-minded.
- The ISFJ Protector is known for being warm, conscientious, and committed.
- The INFJ Advocate is known for being idealistic, contemplative, and growth-oriented.
- The INTJ Architect is known for being innovative, insightful, and determined.
- The ISTP Crafter is known for being action-oriented, logical, and problem-solvers.
- The ISFP Artist is known for being gentle, artistic, and someone who goes with the flow.
- The INFP Mediator is known for being imaginative, empathetic, and guided by values.
- The INTP Thinker is known for being innovative and logic-focused.
- The ESTP Persuader is known for being a spontaneous, pragmatic, and skilled negotiator.
- The ESFP Performer is known for being outgoing, spontaneous, and enthusiastic.
- The ENFP Champion is known for being imaginative, passionate, and people-oriented.
- The ENTP Debater is known for being enterprising, inquisitive, and innovative.
- The ESTJ Director is known for being efficient, decisive, logical, and organized.
- The ESFJ Caregiver is known for being friendly, conscientious, family-oriented, and community-focused.
- The ENFJ Giver is known for being supportive, a team player, and insightful about others.
- The ENTJ Commander is known for being a strategic leader and driven to achieve.
An MBTI test assesses where you fall on each scale while highlighting your overall personality inclinations.
However, it's important to know that our personality types exist on a spectrum — your preferences may be strong in some areas and moderate in others.
Is There a Myers-Briggs Career Test?
The original MBTI was not designed as a career assessment tool but can offer helpful information when exploring potential career paths. For example, if you are Introverted, you may find more satisfaction in roles that involve independent work or limited social interaction.
The MBTI does not measure skills, interests, or practical considerations directly tied to specific careers. However, when used strategically, it can help you better understand the ideal career path that complements your natural tendencies.
Further in this article, we’ll look at how to plan your career strategically with MBTI. But first, let’s talk about how exactly the MBTI test can offer you career advice.
How to Use MBTI to Find a Career: What Can the MBTI Personality Test Tell You?
One of the biggest benefits of using the Myers-Briggs assessment for your career planning is the self-awareness it provides.
Your unique MBTI traits may affect what you perceive as success, your motivations for job roles, and how you interact at work. All these factors influence your potential career satisfaction and success.
Let’s look at some of the ways the Myers Briggs type indicator can help you explore suitable career options:
Understanding Your Work Preferences
The MBTI provides insights into your preferred work styles. For example, do you thrive when working independently or as part of a team? Are you more fulfilled focusing on tiny pieces of work, or do you have a big imagination? Do you prefer concrete tasks or working with abstract ideas?
Understanding these tendencies helps you identify roles and environments that resonate with your natural inclinations.
Highlighting Your Values and Motivations
Your MBTI type can reveal core values and motivations that may influence career satisfaction. For instance, those with Feeling (F) traits may value opportunities to help others directly. Intuitive types could prioritize creativity and innovation over the practical application of skills. This awareness allows you to seek out work that aligns with your values.
Insights on Your Ideal Work Environment
The MBTI sheds light on the type of atmosphere you may find most productive. If you have the extraversion traits, you’d most likely prefer busy, social settings, while Introverts may appreciate quieter, lower-stimulus environments. Judgers tend to thrive with structured routines, whereas Perceivers embrace flexibility. The more you learn about your personality traits, the better you understand your ideal workplace.
Communication and Decision-Making Style
Another way the MBTI assessment helps you in your career exploration is by helping you understand your natural communication style. If you lean towards a logical style of reasoning and communication, you may want to explore analytical roles that require little or no emotional effort.
You can also gather information that can help you improve your prioritization and time management skills, as well as how you handle stress. Overall, the MBTI is a powerful tool providing insights into your strengths. These factors help you discover careers you’d most likely find fulfilling and excel at.
5 Tips for Effective Career Planning with MBTI
While the Myers-Briggs test provides helpful pointers in your career choices, it is most effective when used as a part of a more extensive strategy than alone. Here are some of the ways you can use the MBTI personality test effectively for career planning:
1. Combine with other assessment tools.
The MBTI is often more effective with other career and personality type assessments. Two complementary tools are the Holland Codes Assessment and the Big Five Personality Test.
- The Holland Codes categorize personalities and careers into six types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. By identifying your top codes, you can explore careers that match your interests and preferences.
- On the other hand, the Big Five personality traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism) offer insights into one's work habits, interpersonal styles, and motivations—all important factors in career satisfaction. Unlike the MBTI, Big 5 traits are viewed along a spectrum, not a dichotomy.
By combining the MBTI with these assessments, you can better understand your personality type, interests, and work-related needs, better positioning you to make informed career decisions.
2. Focus on preferences, not limitations.
The MBTI highlights your natural tendencies and preferences, not restrictive limitations. While your results suggest you gravitate more towards certain styles or environments, you can develop abilities outside your dominant areas through focused effort and experience. Awareness is key. Knowing your inclinations allows you to stretch beyond them thoughtfully.
3. Explore careers within your type and beyond.
Use your MBTI results as a launching pad by looking at careers that align with your personality preferences. However, remain open-minded and explore other options that pique your core interests, values, and goals, even if they aren't archetypal matches for your type on paper. The assessment provides insights, not a binding career decision.
Consider looking at different aspects of your personality; for example, using the Enneagram may identify career paths you may not have thought of.
4. Take a well-rounded approach.
The MBTI provides powerful self-discovery insights. However, it should be just one data point, not the sole determinant of your career path. Combine its revelations about your personality type with other assessment results, thorough career research, and an open perspective on your own growth potential for a truly comprehensive approach.
5. Develop areas of growth.
While knowing your preferences is extremely valuable, don't treat your Myers-Briggs personality type as the complete definition of your abilities and potential. Many highly successful professionals excel in areas that may be contrary to their personality type results by consciously developing those traits over time. Capitalize on your strengths, but embrace a growth mindset.
MBTI Careers: Can My MBTI Personality Type Help Me Find the Right Job?
As we have discussed, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator can be a valuable tool in career planning, helping you align your personality type with a suitable job. Understanding your MBTI type can guide you toward roles that match your strengths and preferences.
For example, the MBTI can provide valuable insight into the work environment needs of each of the 16 personality types.
-
ISTJs seek structure and clear expectations in their roles → learn more.
-
ISFJs thrive in supportive and collaborative environments → learn more.
-
INFJs need meaningful work that aligns with their values → learn more.
-
INTJs prefer independence and problem-solving opportunities → learn more.
-
ISTPs enjoy hands-on tasks and practical solutions → learn more.
-
ISFPs value creativity and personal expression in their work → learn more.
-
INFPs look for work that aligns with their ideals and passions → learn more.
-
INTPs need intellectual challenges and autonomy → learn more.
-
ESTPs excel in dynamic, fast-paced environments → learn more.
-
ESFPs seek engaging roles that involve interaction with others → learn more.
-
ENFPs thrive in innovative and flexible work settings → learn more.
-
ENTPs enjoy roles that involve big-picture thinking and new challenges → learn more.
-
ESTJs prefer leadership roles with clear objectives → learn more.
-
ESFJs value teamwork and helping others in their work → learn more.
-
ENFJs need roles that allow them to inspire and support others → learn more.
-
ENTJs excel in strategic planning and leadership positions → learn more.
These brief insights can help you identify the right career path based on your MBTI type.
Related: Best Medical Career Paths for the 16 Personality Types
Using the MBTI Career Test: A Holistic Approach to Career Planning
The MBTI, developed during World War II by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs, was not originally designed as a career test. However, its insights into psychological types can be invaluable for career planning and making a career change.
Understanding your Myers-Briggs personality type can help you process information, identify your preferences, and determine which work environments suit you best. For instance, big-picture thinkers and those who enjoy abstract concepts can find their right career by focusing on roles that match their strengths. The MBTI can also help you understand your leadership style, including your strengths and weaknesses.
The MBTI test is a powerful tool for self-discovery, but it should not be treated as a stand-alone, definitive career test. While your MBTI personality type can provide clues about potential career paths, it's just one piece of the puzzle.
To truly harness the power of the MBTI for career planning, use it as a catalyst for self-reflection and combine it with other assessments, research, and practical considerations. By taking a holistic approach and leveraging multiple online resources, you'll be better equipped to find a career that aligns with your unique personality, work values, interests, and goals.
Remember, the MBTI is just one of many tools available. Combine its insights with other personality assessments, career interest tests, self-reflection, and advice from subject matter experts to make important decisions about your career path.
Embrace the journey of discovering the best careers for your unique psychological type, and use the MBTI as a guide to explore, identify, and develop your potential in the world of work.
