MBTI® Test and Careers: Personality Strengths and Career Obstacles

In Careers, MBTI, Strong Interest Inventory by Jonathan Bollag, Owner and Founder

Searching for a career can be anxiety provoking and frankly quite intimidating. For those of you who have been unemployed or in a career that does not suit you, you can relate to these feelings. The Combined Strong and MBTI® Career Report was invented to help people understand their career preferences and interests in order to help people like you find the career that best matches your personality type

With any career search or career change there are complexities and each of the 16 different MBTI Personality Types are confronted with different obstacles. At the same time, every person has their strengths they rely on during a career search.  Allen H. Hammer explains in the text entitled Introduction To Type and Careers potential obstacles, and potential strengths for each of the 16 personality types.  For example purposes, we will review two opposite types, first The INFP Personality Type (Introverted-Intuitive-Feeling-Perceiving) and secondly The ESTJ Personality Type (Extraverted-Sensing-Thinking-Judging).

The MBTI INFP Personality Explained

The MBTI Introverted-Intuitive-Feeling-Perceiver Type is known for their compassion and grace. They care a great deal for what is morally important to them and will rarely sway from this moral aptitude.  Relationships matter to INFP’s as they make decisions by considering how their choices will affect others and most importantly the relationships in their lives. They also are most comfortable without formal closure on issues and tend to trust their instincts a great deal. They can be known to at times “shoot from the hip.”

The INFP Type may run into the following Obstacles during a career search as detailed by Allen H. Hammer:

  • They may have trouble with long-term direction
  • They may wait too long for the perfect job
  • They may overlook vital factual data relating to jobs
  • They may get overwhelmed with too many options
  • As a result of their introversion preference they may miss opportunities due to their reluctance to network
  • They may struggle a bit in interviews by coming off too quiet, hesitating to sell their strong points
  • During interviews they may also focus too much on possible or potential performance
  • They might appear task-oriented to interviewers who have a Thinking Preference Personality Type.

 Strengths for an INFP during a Career Search

If you hold an INFP MBTI Personality Type and have just read the previous section of obstacles, do not become discouraged as you hold many strengths and here are a few as explained by Allen Hammer:

INFP’s have:

  • A great sense of purpose
  • Creativity
  • People Skills
  • Adaptability
  • Gentle Persuasion

It is important when searching for a career that you focus on your strengths. Explain who you are and how these strengths can add to your potential career when interviewing. To help you INFP’s get started here is a list of occupations that are mostly populated by your personality type. Remember that by completing a Strong and MBTI Combined Career Report or MBTI Career Report on careerassessmentsite.com will greatly improve your chances at finding the right career.

The Most Popular Occupations For An INFP Are:

  • Commercial Art Director
  • Social Science Research Assistant
  • Psychiatrist
  • Veterinary Assistant
  • Musician, Singer, Music Director, Composer
  • Technical Writer
  • Writer
  • Artist/Visual Artist
  • Craft Artist
  • Graphic Designer

(Hammer, A. P.23. CPP)

The MBTI ESTJ Personality Type Explained

 The Extroverted-Sensing-Thinking-Judging Type person lives in a logical place, one of objectivity and sensibility.  Individuals exhibiting The Extravert personality energize themselves by being around other people, socializing, networking and working in medium and larger sized groups and teams. The Extravert’s energy points outward to the outside world, while The Extravert’s counterpart, The Introvert, points his or her energy inward towards a reality of inner ideas and thoughts. ESTJ Personality Types have little patience for disorganization and are known to be thorough, pragmatic, and realistic.

 The ESTJ Type May Run Into The Following Obstacles During A Career Search:

  • They may have trouble with unexpected opportunities
  • They may have trouble with unscheduled, by chance, events
  • They may overlook the long-term potentiality of a career
  • They may waste time by over-networking
  • They may come off as impersonal, “cold” or “standoffish”
  • They may do too much of the speaking during an interview

 Now that you have heard the ESTJ obstacles, let’s focus on a bit of positivity on what strengths you ESTJ’s can rely on. ESTJ Personality Types have a vast array of strengths that go above and beyond what will be listed here and are in high regard in business and management communities. Here is a list of ESTJ strengths as explained by Allen Hammer in the text Introduction To Type and Careers:

Strengths in Career Exploration

  • Ability to organize people and tasks
  • Analytical skills
  • Problem solving at a functional level
  • Setting up and running effective procedures
  • Decisiveness

(Hammer, A. P.17. CPP)

 The Most Popular Occupations For An ESTJ Are:

  • Top Executive, Food Preparation and Food Service
  • Sales Manager
  • Manager/Supervisor of Mechanics or Repairers
  • Financial Counselor
  • Industrial Production Manager
  • Electrical Power Installer/Repairer
  • Building Grounds/ Maintenance Worker
  • Infantry Member
  • Civil Engineering Technician
  • Manager/Supervisor of Agricultural Workers

(Hammer, A. P.17. CPP)

As you can see, a career search is not  an easy task. Getting to know yourself with an MBTI Career Report can help to best prepare you for the career action steps needed to succeed. Interview preparation and narrowing down career options are just two ways learning your MBTI Personality Type can steer you in the right direction. For more information on The MBTI Career Report and The MBTI and Strong Combined Career Report or to purchase these reports visit our Home Page at careerassessmentsite.com.