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Name: Do What You Are
Rating: 4.3 (174 reviews)
Author: Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron & Kelly Tieger

Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron & Kelly Tieger

Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Types

4.3 (174 ratings)

29 mins

Topics

Personality Job Hunt

Table of Contents

Do What You Are
Summary of 10 key ideas

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What’s in it for me? Find out why you may be better suited for a different career.

If you’ve ever struggled with a job only to realize that your coworker is doing the same thing with complete ease and a smile on her face, then you’ll realize how your personality can affect your work. The truth is, no two people – not even identical twins – will share a personality. Likewise, what one person finds enjoyable and to be rewarding work the next person might find tedious.

It’s also safe to say that it’s much easier to know what you don’t like to do than what you do like to do. Fortunately, knowledge of your personality type can help steer you to work you’ll likely enjoy and away from work you’ll hate.

Thanks to research into the likes, dislikes and behavioral traits of people around the world, we have a nuanced idea of different personality types. And while no two people are alike, we share certain commonalities based on preferences for how we interact with the world, take in new information, make decisions and structure our lives. To find out which personality type you have and what kind of work would suit you best, read on.

In these blinks, you’ll also learn

how the wrong job is like writing with the wrong hand;
what separates a Traditionalist from an Idealist; and
how you can benefit from having an “encore career.”

The notion of personality types is enduring, and it could be the reason you’re unsatisfied at work.

Do you dread having to drag yourself to work every morning? Does getting through a typical day feel like a monumental struggle that requires every ounce of your effort and leaves you feeling like an empty husk of a human being by 5 p.m.? Then there’s a good chance that your personality just isn’t suited to the job you’re doing.

The notion of different personality types isn’t some newfangled gimmick. It’s a tried and true concept that goes back to ancient Greece and was perhaps most influentially refined, in 1921, by the esteemed psychoanalyst Carl Jung.

Not long afterward, an industrious American woman, Katherine Briggs, along with her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers, developed this concept even further. Following years of research and testing, in the 1940s they developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®), which relies on four preference scales and includes 16 different personality types, which we will go into more detail in later blinks.

But how does this history lesson relate to your career?

To begin with, personality types highlight the fact that everyone has their own set of preferences for interacting with the world around her. Therefore, your most satisfying career is going to be a job that suits your preferences and specific personality.

Working at a job that doesn’t suit your personality type is like trying to write a sentence with the hand you don’t naturally use for writing. Sure, you’ll eventually finish the task, but each letter will likely be an uncomfortable and poorly executed struggle.

The truth is, work doesn’t have to be an unpleasant chore. When your job suits your personality, you’ll look forward to doing it and even feel energized by it!

Let’s look at two people, Arthur and Julie, who were working as placement counselors at a job recruitment firm, a competitive job that required making dozens of calls a day and getting rejected by most of their targets. Arthur was a talkative, high-energy, thick-skinned person, while Julie was slow-paced, disliked conflict and preferred to focus on the minute details.

Since Arthur liked jumping from one conversation to the next and didn’t take rejection personally, he thrived at this job, while it wasn’t long before Julie quit. This just goes to show how critical your personality type is for professional success and fulfilment.

To find your personality type, start by determining how you interact with the world and take in information.

So, how do you find out which of the 16 personality types is closest to you? As mentioned in the previous blink, the MBTI® involves four preference scales, essentially asking you to put yourself on a spectrum between two choices.

The first scale involves your preference for how you interact with the world and asks you to place yourself on the spectrum between Extraversion (E) and Introversion (I). Extraversion can be described as looking at the world and asking yourself, “How do I affect this?” While Introversion asks the question, “How does this affect me?”

The last two pieces of your personality type concern decision making and whether you’re structured or spontaneous.

At this point, you have a good idea of whether you’re an extravert or introvert, and more of a sensor or an intuitive. Now, let’s put together the last two aspects of your personality type.

The next preference scale is between two styles of decision making: Thinking (T) and Feeling (F).

Piecing together your personality type can bring helpful insights, but remember that no type is inherently superior.

Now it’s time to bring all your choices together to find out your personality type. Next to each choice was a letter, so your type should look something like this: INFP for introvert-intuition-feeling-perceiving or ESTJ for extravert-sensor-thinking-judging. Altogether, there are 16 possible types that can help you become more aware of your potential strengths and pitfalls when it comes to finding a satisfying career.

For example, ENFJ, or an extraverted-intuitive-feeling-judging person, is usually what you’d call a people-person, as one of their biggest concerns is the well-being of others and forming strong relationships. This makes them well-suited to being leaders, as they also tend to be charismatic and good at negotiating. However, they can also become too involved in drama and get immersed in problems that aren’t worth their time and effort.

Personality types fall into four basic temperaments, the first two being traditionalists and experiencers.

Of course, no two people are exactly alike, but in a general sense, those with the same personality type, or even just two or three of the same preferences, can have a lot in common – especially when it comes to work. So, while there are 16 personality types, those who share specific preferences will fall into one of four Temperaments.

The first Temperament encompasses traditionalists, who are people with S and J in their personality type. In other words, they are sensing judgers. Some will be extraverts and some introverts, so there will be significant differences among them, but you can think of Temperaments like instrument sections in an orchestra – you’ll find a lot of differences among the instruments in the string section, but there is a fundamental commonality to them as well.

The other two temperaments are idealists and conceptualizers. Various temperaments can make a well-balanced team.

Next on the list of Temperaments are the idealists, otherwise known as the intuitive feelers since they share N and F in their personality types.

The motto for this group is, “To thine own self be true,” since idealists are all about personal growth, gaining knowledge and finding satisfaction in authenticity and integrity. Idealists are drawn to meaningful work that explores new possibilities and often deals with the philosophical or spiritual aspects of life.

Knowing your Dominant Function can help you find satisfying work.

Knowing your personality type is great, but it’s just the start! With every personality type, you’ll find a Dominant Function, or the strongest aspect of your personality, and an Auxiliary Function, as well as a third and fourth function that are less influential in your day-to-day life.

It pays to be aware of your Dominant Function because when you’re using this function at work, you’ll find it easy and pleasurable. In other words, it’s like being aware of your natural talent.

A good career path should anticipate changes in your interests as you age.

Unfortunately, there’s more than one way to end up with an unsatisfying career. Due to expectations placed on you from an early age, you may have been pushed in a direction in which you had no interest. But many people end up going down the wrong path because most traditional educations put us in the position of choosing a career when we’re barely out of our teens.

Our skills and abilities are always developing and changing, and to form a well-rounded personality and stay satisfied, we should plan on a career that changes along with us.

Match your personality to your ideal career by taking everything into account when conducting a job search.

The perfect career path is one that brings together two things: what you’re good at and what you’re interested in. And the only way to combine your strengths with your values and interests is to have the kind of self-awareness that comes with knowing your personality type and everything that goes with it.

Of course, there’s little chance someone’s just going to suddenly email you to offer a dream job. Instead, you’ll need to do what can feel like a job in itself: a job hunt. Here, an effective search brings together everything you can gain from knowing your personality type.

It’s never too late to shift careers and start experiencing truly fulfilling and satisfying work.

As health care costs and life expectancy rates rise, older people are increasingly hanging on to their careers for longer periods of time. In fact, 40 percent of Americans are planning to “work until they drop.”

Whether you want to keep working past retirement age or are just looking for a fresh start, it’s never too late to find new work that better suits your personality.

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What is Do What You Are about?

Do What You Are (1992) is a classic career guide, updated in 2014 to even better suit today’s constantly changing job market. By becoming more aware of their unique personality types, millions of people have found more fulfilling and satisfying careers doing work that better coincides with their natural strengths, interests and temperaments.

Best quote from Do What You Are

The goal is to find the right match – the career that will let you do what you do best and enjoy most, one that corresponds with your personal interests...

—Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron & Kelly Tieger

Who should read Do What You Are?

Anyone looking for a job
People eager for a new and more fulfilling career
Baby boomers who’d like an “encore career”

About the Author

Paul D. Tieger is a widely recognized expert in personality types, and he uses his knowledge to help individuals, teams and businesses thrive

Barbara Barron uses her insight into personality types in her career as an advancement consultant, where she works with nonprofits and private schools in areas such as program development and fundraising.

Kelly Tieger has gone from an editorial assistant for her parents, Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron, to being an integral part of researching and developing material for the newest editions of Do What You Are.

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