On Day 2 of the COPE program, I learned I was an INFP in the Myers-Briggs personality assessment – Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Perceptive. I did an online version awhile back and apparently I’ve changed from a thinker to a feeler since then. Not sure how I feel about that (or what I think of it, for that matter…)
Anyway, here are some of the careers an INFP should AVOID:
Police Detective
Management Consultant
Corrections Officer
School Bus Driver
Coal Miner
Social Services Worker
This is interesting, because a lot of them involve being an authority figure, and the idea of being an authority figure makes me squeamish. I wasn’t even comfortable being an authority figure to my own child.
Apparently, we INFPs are much more suited to nice, civilized, non-authoritarian career pursuits such as art, counseling, writing, editing, and architecture.
Coal Miner?
I’m so glad you’re sharing this process with us. When I did the Myers-Briggs test, the results said I was an INTJ. Except that my I and E were almost exactly balanced and it was pretty close for the others. Except the J. The J was pretty clear. I thought it was pretty interesting but don’t know that I learned much. Maybe just that I was undergoing some major changes at the time. Which I was.
Two other major reasons not to be a coal miner:
1) Coal is full of awful stuff, like arsenic, and particulate emissions are extremely harmful to human health.
2) You would be digging up the fuel with the most potential to cause catastrophic climate change.
Seriously, coal mining needs to go the way of the dodo – before a lot more species end up like those unfortunate birds.
I love personality tests – I always find out a little more about myself just because it makes me think about things in a new way. (For example, last time I was laid off, I did a test that told me that my management style is dictator. This is very true – I will consider suggestions, but when it comes right down to it, I like making the decision and being able to count on people to do it. It’s probably good I’m not a manager.) Of course, I’m an ISTJ, so I’m almost your complete opposite.
I can’t be a cop because my body can’t handle shiftwork. (Nor 12-hour shifts)
Spy, maybe.
– RG>
I’m an INFP too, and when I was a camp counselor leading canoe trips into the “wilderness” we all took the Myers-Briggs test as a part of staff training at the beginning of the summer. The percentage of INFPs and their close relations was like 75%. The guy running this part of the training said he’d noticed the same percentage at other camps, and also noted that in the general public, we’re about 25% of the population. I think it’s interesting that even though it’s a leadership position, it attracted so many of that personality type. I, too, don’t like to lead – no supervisory or management positions for me, please! But Camp Trip Leader was one of my favorite jobs.
I’m an INFP at home and more of an ENFP at work. (Messed up apparently we put it on at work.) From what I’ve read it’s not so much the autority that is the issue, it’s how regimented it is. As a camp counsellor, you’re asked to be creative and amuse kids. As a cop for instance, you’d have to toe the party line. Something I know I can’t do.
Why is coal mining even mentionned?
Tom, I know, I kind of raised an eyebrow too at the coal miner.
Laurie, I think it’s mostly a good thing if you’re close to the middle of the continuum on the four dimensions. I was pretty close on three, but my iNtuitive was much stronger than my sensing.
Milan, do we even HAVE coal miners anymore? It’s not obsolete yet?
Colette, I’d make a terrible manager too, because I don’t like making decisions or telling other people what to do, which are both key aspects of being a boss.
RealGrouchy, I could handle the shift work, and I think I’d be a pretty good cop, actually. Except for not liking to tell other people what to do…I guess that’s an integral part of the job.
Jenny, that’s interesting. In the group I was in, I was the only INFP out of nine people. Maybe the Feeling part attracted you and so many of your INFP peers to working in a camp?
Nat, wouldn’t the regimentation have more to do with the last dimension (judging vs perceptive)? (The dimensions are named so weirdly – this one’s more about organization than about either judgement or perceiving.)
Milan, do we even HAVE coal miners anymore? It’s not obsolete yet?
We sure do. Most American and Chinese electricity come from coal, and it is also key to steel production and other industries. Several Canadian provinces depend on coal for a large chunk of the energy use, also.
The potential consequences of that are terrifying.
I have always been fascinated by the whole Myers-Briggs thing. I got the chance to do some career counselling a few years ago, and did the full test. Apparently I am an ENFP, and my ideal occupation would be in damage control type of PR. As in, I get to go on national tv and explain why, despite so many people dying, you should still eat deli meats with confidence. Ha.
Any scoop on what an INFJ should avoid . . . cough, bookkeeping, cough, cough.
Grace, I looked it up for you today. Unfortunately bookkeeping wasn’t among your avoidables. But don’t even think about being a factory supervisor, childcare worker, corrections officer, farmer, police officer, school bus driver, social services administrator or bank manager.
On the other hand, you might enjoy being a rabbi, psychodrama therapist, pathologist, architect, biologist, special education teacher, or pharmacist.
How interesting. I only read as far as being uncomfortable as an authority figure in one’s child’s life. That is one of the reasons I didn’t have children. Also, I never got knocked up.