Does your personality type match your current job/career?

[tld221]

i was skimming through this book on jobs and personality at Borders and at another attempt in "figuring out what i want to do with my life," i said what the hey and took the little personality assessment, based on the six Holland personality types.

Turns out im overwhelmingly I and C (investigative/conventional). I always thought i was A and S (artistic/social) and figured i would end up in a career that reflected that. Anyway, as i flip through the book to see which jobs these authors think would be the best fit for my personality, i get (and these are a few)

--pharmacist
--system analyst
--actuary
--financial analyst

snore, snore, snore. Ok, my question: does your current job/career match or oppose your personality? more importantly, does your personality HAVE to match your job/career? or is it best to leave your personality at the door, perhaps as a hobby? i say this because, as i mentioned, i've always thought i was the artistic type, but i scored the lowest in that category. so does that mean my half-baked dreams of being a writer are best as a hobby?

or is all this a crock of crap and i should just run wild?

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by tld221

i was skimming through this book on jobs and personality at Borders and at another attempt in "figuring out what i want to do with my life," i said what the hey and took the little personality assessment, based on the six Holland personality types.

Turns out im overwhelmingly I and C (investigative/conventional). I always thought i was A and S (artistic/social) and figured i would end up in a career that reflected that. Anyway, as i flip through the book to see which jobs these authors think would be the best fit for my personality, i get (and these are a few)

--pharmacist
--system analyst
--actuary
--financial analyst

snore, snore, snore. Ok, my question: does your current job/career match or oppose your personality? more importantly, does your personality HAVE to match your job/career? or is it best to leave your personality at the door, perhaps as a hobby? i say this because, as i mentioned, i've always thought i was the artistic type, but i scored the lowest in that category. so does that mean my half-baked dreams of being a writer are best as a hobby?

or is all this a crock of crap and i should just run wild?

I think you should do what you enjoy. If you end up doing something you hate, then you're gonna be so miserable. I'm not in my field yet, but I do work in the environment and I love it. It doesn't feel like a chore going to work, ya know. Yes, I would say my personality fits my future goals.

[ForeverRoses]

Hmm. My "career" was in Marketing Research- which I loved. I could be really creative at times and just watch something build from nothing. So it did match my personality.

Then I had my first child and decided I wanted something with less stress, fewer hours, and less money (okay didn't really want the last one, but it came with the switch).

Now I am in HR for a small tech company. Doing HR work is kind of like being a Mom to a bunch of grown-up kids, so it fits the Mothering that I do at home. I am also a bit of a smartass, so that part doesn't always mesh well with HR, but I make it work!

[Still BLUTANG]

by nature, im an introvert; by habit, im an extrovert. so i needed to choose a career path that allowed me to (1)create my own day and (2)have enough autonomy and variety that i didn't go crazy. working as a librarian provides fantastic balance.

i work at the reference desk and thoroughly enjoy working with the law clerks. attorneys, not so much. pro se - even less... so when i need "quiet time" i go in my office, shut the door and do some cataloging or create research guides or do something else that doesn't require me to interact face to face with patrons.

[Scandia]

I must have been SO mistyped back in high school. Who in the world came up with the oh so brilliant idea that the right field for me would be biomedical research? Needless to say, working in a lab did not work out for me. I do appreciate the knowledge my major brought me- I now maintain the science collection and answer the science reference questions at my job. So it was not useless or a waste.

Out of those, I am not sure which one I am highest in- but lowest would be realistic and conventional. My current job seems to fall in the "social" category- but I would be no good in most other helping/service professions. The "enterprising" adjectives fit me now- but not back in high school when I was the class nerd. Investigative may have fit back then- but certainly not now. Artistic may be the winner- and I do use my art talent and skills A LOT at my job.

In other typing systems, I would be ENTJ 3w4 sp/so/sx.

[SAEalumnus]

My job definitely matches my personality. I found a fun little quiz that's supposed to indicate what type of career field you should pursue. My top result describes what I do, which I suppose is a good thing.

[preciousjeni]

I enjoy working for a public service non-profit, but I don't really like what I do. I'm responsible for making presentations, "selling" my organization, networking with other professionals, etc. I'm very friendly and comfortable with people, but being around them all day wears me out a lot. I'd rather be working with computers or be in a finance or investigative job.

[KSUViolet06]

This is really interesting. I actually took a course last semester that focused specifically on career counseling using Holland's types. I discovered that I'm an ICS (Investigative/Conventional/Social), and my career of choice (counseling) is (if I remember) SAI (Social/ Artistic/Investigative).

From what I learned, most people are reasonably happy in jobs where 2/3 of the codes match.