With the average person now spending around 90,000 hours at work during their lifetime, being able to enjoy a fulfilling career has never been more important. An internship can be the golden ticket that opens the door to your dream career. It’s a great way to accrue the skills and network you need to land the perfect job, especially if you have hopes of one day becoming a successful entrepreneur. However, if you don’t actually know what your dream job is, this could prove difficult. Understanding your personality type could be the key to finding out.

Career Aspirations

When you were a child, you may have decided what you were going to be when you grew up. But as you get older, your interests, likes and personality changes to and you may only have a vague idea of what you would like to do. Your personality, however, can be a powerful indicator of what you are passionate about, what motivates you, and what makes you the person you are. Understanding your personality and specific personality type can be a helpful tool in pointing you in the direction of a suitable career path.

Assessing your personality

One of the most popular personality type assessments is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It asks you to select your preferred choice between a series of statements and breaks down your personality across introversion (I), extroversion (E), sensing (S), intuitive (N), thinking (T), feeling (F), perceiving (P) and judging (J). This will then lead to one of 16 four-letter combination that best represents your personality type. For instance, you may discover you are an INTJ personality type. These people are also known as the masterminds of the personality types, since they have considerable depths of perception.

Matching Personality To Career

People with personality types such as INTJ, ENFJ, ENTJ and ESTJ can often find themselves working in roles within technology-orientated organisations. ENTJs, ESTJs and ENJs may also take on leadership roles. However, ISFP, ISFJ and ESFJ personalities can often be found working in people-focused industries such as social services, counselling and healthcare. Interns with an ISFP, ESFJ and ISFJ personality type may be particularly comfortable working in roles that enable them to have direct contact with clients, providing personal and practical assistance. Similarly, ENFJ, ISTJ, ESFJ and INFJ types of personality will likely enjoy management and leadership roles in these fields.

Making Your Career Choice

The information you take from your personality profile should not be the sole factor to help you decide on your dream career. As you know, two people can be very different, even if they have the same personality type. For instance, if you have a preference for analysing data, that doesn’t mean you won’t be successful in a people-helping field. However, you may naturally find job roles that require an intellectual challenge to be more attractive. Understanding your personality type should be used as a reference point and help you learn more about yourself.

Understanding aspects of your personality can help you identify work environments that are well-suited for you. While no single personality type is more advantageous over another, being aware of your personal preferences is an important step in making a satisfying career choice. If you are unsure about your career path, a good place to start is by learning more about your personality, you may even discover something new about yourself.

 

Katlyn Hudson