FINDING A CAREER THAT FITS YOUR PERSONALITY

A sales manager position opened at work, and the boss inquires if anyone knows of a potential candidate. Immediately you think of Sally, your bubbly friend who can make buddies with just about anyone – even pets. To your surprise, after a few weeks into the job Sally mentions how the sales position just doesn’t fit her personality. How could this be? Sally is friendly, social, and energetic – the perfect fit for the sales manager position we’ve been seeking to fill.

There are many intriguing aspects to an individual’s personality. Although it may appear irrelevant, personality types influence work fulfillment, productivity, longevity, and general satisfaction in career choices. Before presenting job recommendations for each personality type, let’s explore four common types of temperaments.

4-BASIC TYPES OF TEMPERAMENTS AS DEFINED BY WIKIPEDIA:

1. Sanguine- Playful, lively, carefree, talkative, and social characters. These individuals are warm-hearted and can make friends easily, yet many have difficulty following tasks, keeping appointments, and can be a bit forgetful.

2. Choleric- Egocentric, extroverted,strong-willed, impulsive, and aggressive personalities. These are task-oriented individuals who like to be in charge, and receive recognition for their accomplishments.

3. Melancholic- Serious, cautious, and introverted temperaments. Such individuals are focused and sympathetic, yet can be prone to depression and changes in mood.

4. Phlegmatic- Private, calm, patient, caring, and tolerant personalities. These individuals often have a rich inner life, enjoy quite settings, exhibit consistency, yet may appear somewhat clumsy.

Using Carl Jung’s Theory of Personalities, Truity Psychometrics developed a questionnaire and provided it freely to the public. Truity’s findings lead to their development of 16-personality types, outlining common characteristics within each personality. By understanding personalities types, we can narrow job options to bring about excellence and fulfillment with various temperaments. You may resonate with more than one of the categories listed below, which explains how some people experience a passion for multiple job roles.

16-PERSONALITY TYPES PROVIDED BY TRUITY & COMMON JOBS OF INTEREST:

1. The Inspector: Neat and orderly, abide to rules, traditional, predictable, hardworking, and reliable personality traits. Hobbies include chess, trivia, and solitary sports.

Career ideas: Management, accounting, administration, golfers, and law enforcement.

2. The Protector: Practical, compassionate, grounded, conventional, and traditional personality traits. These individuals are hard workers, appreciate traditions, value relationships, and maintain a devotion to family.

Career ideas: Chefs, education, healthcare professional, and religious positions.

3. The Counselor: Nurturers,strong personal integrity,quiet, caring, intuitive, and ethical personality traits.

Career ideas: Counselors, coaches, teachers, artists, writers, and musicians.

4. The Mastermind: Problem-solvers, introverted, analytical, perfectionist, and strategically driven personality traits.

Career ideas: Computer occupations, technical fields, and legal professions.

5. The Craftsman: Troubleshooter, independent, adaptable, value stability, attentive to details, and logical personality traits. These individuals are good with their hands and enjoy working with others to solve problems.

Career ideas: Technicians, law enforcement, criminal justice, agriculture, military, mechanics, comedians, and aviators.

6. The Composer: Cheerful, flexible, spontaneous, quiet, friendly, supportive, loyal, nonjudgmental, modest, and sensitive personality traits. Such individuals are sensitive to color, texture, and tone.

Career ideas: Artist, interior designers, wedding planners, musicians, healthcare workers, and business.

7. The Healer: Imaginative, pursue truth & meaning, optimistic, caring, ethical, compassionate, self-expressive, and sensitive personality traits.

Career ideas: Counselors, coaches, therapists, writers, and artists.

8. The Architect: Philosophical, analytical, explore concepts, innovative, independent, and nontraditional personality traits. These individuals may come off as unconventional, as may offend with their precise speech and communication style. Many enjoy activities like meditation, hiking, writing, and computers.

Career ideas: engineers, technicians, scientists, architects, writers, and computer experts.

9. The Dynamo: energetic, practical, active, silly, and playful personality traits. These individuals are very energetic, funny, and adventurous.

Career ideas: Sales representatives, marketing, brokers, business owners, aviators, and racecar drivers.

10. The Performer: Entertainers, spontaneous, centered, enthusiastic, and playful personality traits. These individuals enjoy the pleasures of food, nature, animal and people.

Career ideas: Chefs, teachers, actors, musicians, and childcare occupations.

11. The Champion: Innovative, creative, passionate, warm, energetic, unconventional, skillfulness with language, changeable, and self-expressive personality traits. The champion is often bored by repetition, explaining the wide range of friends and experiences.

Career Ideas: Writers, composers, musicians, counselors, educators, and artist.

12. The Visionary: Curious, open-minded, influential, lack patience, re-inventors, friendly, confident, creative, and charming personality traits.

Career Ideas: Travel guides, stewardess, writers, educators, artists, also careers in science and technology.

13. The Supervisor: Hardworking, traditional, orderly, logical, conventional, and practical personality traits. Such individuals value ground rules, and like to be in control of things.

Career Ideas: Bankers, managers, administrators, financial executives, business owners, and other leadership positions.

14. The Provider: Giving, sensitive, dedicated to helping others, loyal, strong moral character, and caring personality traits. Routine and organization are highly welcomed by these individuals.

Career Ideas: Charity organizer, positions in religious affiliations, teachers, nurses & other healthcare professions, and cooks.

15. The Teacher: Good communicators,charismatic, idealist, persuasive, focused, optimistic, forward thinking, storytellers, and compassionate personality traits.

Career Ideas: Educators, social workers, gourmet chefs, event planners, artists, and tour guides.

16. The Commander: Ambitious,strategic, problem solver, solution oriented, objective, blunt, decisive, and assertive personality traits. These individuals are focused on results having clear action plans.

Career Ideas: Managers, supervisors, administrators, business owners, and other leadership positions.

The key to finding an occupation that suits your personality is to first have a thorough understanding of your preferences and character traits. This requires introspection and time, but prevents the dread of entering a career path that doesn’t express your strengths and talents. People who report high work satisfaction are often those who “love what they do”. Take some time today to see which personality type best describes you. It may be that you connect with multiple types of characters, which is an advantage for more options in job-fulfilling roles.

WORK-RELATED STRESS: HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

Thriving in today’s fast-paced society calls for excellence and quick turn around. Employees are faced with multiple job tasks and thinner and thinner deadlines.  Experts agree that a healthy level of stress known as eustress can yield productivity and enhance work performance. Unfortunately, poor management can push employees beyond healthy stress, leading to physical and/or mental burnout.

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

Each person has his or her own stress threshold. It’s important to keep this in mind when taking on new job responsibilities or promotions within the company. Share with your employer areas of strengths and the areas you are working to improve.  It’s just as important for leaders to examine job assignments, workloads, deadlines, competency & skills, and employee availability before designating assignments. Stepping into new job roles is a great opportunity for success, yet it can add stress as employees are in the process of learning new skills and responsibilities. Proficient leaders are mindful of such circumstances, allowing ample time for deadlines during periods of training and transitioning.

The World Health Organization (WHO) compares the difference between healthy and unhealthy work stress mentioning the following:

  • Healthy stress motivates employees to work and to achieve their highest potential. This type of stress is healthy and productive. It keeps individuals alert and interested in their job roles.
  • Unhealthy stress places demands and expectations that are beyond the ability or timeframe, which the employee can offer. This stress is unhealthy and can lead to occupational stress.
  • Factors include poor management, and lack of support from supervisors and colleagues.

WHO comments on work stress stating, “A healthy working environment is one in which there is not only an absence of harmful conditions but an abundance of health-promoting ones.”

TIPS FOR EMPLOYEES:

1. Do not overcommit. Before accepting a project or job tasks examine your comfort level with any given job assignment.

2. Express realistic deadlines when given time sensitive assignments.

3. Suggest ideas for decreasing stress in your workplace.

4. Communicate with your employer if you are feeling overwhelmed.

TIPS FOR MANAGERS:

1. Set realistic deadlines for projects and job tasks.

2. Encourage teamwork, and provide assistance if needed.

3. Put into account competency & skills, experience, and employee availability before designating assignments.

4. Encourage quality improvement and employee meetings for feedback and support.

5. Promote a stress-free environment with periodic luncheons, and other employee incentives.

6. Provide strategies to decrease work-related stress, and allow for workers to share areas of concern.