For my seminary class on Servant
Leadership this summer, we’re taking a lot of self-assessments to better understand
our spiritual gifts, aptitudes, temperament, etc. This is in hopes of understanding our ideal
areas of ministry service, but also to develop an awareness of how to interact
with others who are and aren’t just like us.
One of these tests is the Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator (MBTI). I took this back
in my freshman and junior years and FPU.
Both times I registered as an extreme ISTJ (Introverted Sensing Thinking
Judging). I remember so well because a
fellow ISTJ at FPU that I also ended up working with in our first job out of
college was shocked at how extreme my scores were in comparison to hers.
MBTI really seeks to avoid
pigeon-holing people into a certain temperament type, but rather give general
tendencies of one’s temperament, and that includes a list of potential careers
that might suit that MBTI profile.
I took the test again last week. I was just barely still an ISTJ per that
test. My “I” (introvert vs extrovert)
and “T” (thinking vs. feeling) scores were still pretty weighted, but I was
just off the center line on the other two categories. The book we’re reading recommended following
up the assessment be reading the eight classifications to affirm our calculated
MBTI profile. Surprisingly, my “I” and “T”
scores were the ones I wasn’t so sure on anymore. The descriptions of the other two (that calc’d
in the middle range) seemed to describe me pretty well.
So I decided to look up the “what-if?” MBTI offers a lot of descriptions on the 16
various profiles that exist.
Portrait
of an ISTJ – Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging – The Duty Fulfiller
ISTJs have one character trait which puts them at a definite
advantage in terms of career success - Perseverance. An ISTJ can do almost anything
that they have decided to do. However, there are areas in which they will
function more happily and naturally. An ISTJ will do best in a career in which
they can use their excellent organizational skills and their powers of
concentration to create order and structure. ISTJs seem to fit extremely well
into the Management and Executive layer of the corporate business world.
Possible Career Paths for the ISTJ:
|
Business Executives, Administrators and
Managers
|
Accountants and Financial Officers
|
Police and Detectives
|
Judges
|
Lawyers
|
Medical Doctors / Dentists
|
Computer Programmers or Systems Analysts
|
Military Leaders
|
Portrait of an
ESFJ – Extraverted Sensing Feeling Judging – The Caregiver
The ESFJ has two primary traits which will help define their
best career direction: 1) they are extremely organized and enjoy creating
order, and 2) much of their self-satisfaction is gotten through giving and
helping others. Accordingly, they will do well at tasks which involve creating
or maintaining order and structure, and they will be happiest when they are
serving others.
Possible Career Paths for the ESFJ:
|
Home Economics
|
Nursing
|
Teaching
|
Administrators
|
Child Care
|
Family Practice Physician
|
Clergy or other religious work
|
Office Managers
|
Counselors / Social Work
|
Bookkeeping / Accounting
|
Administrative Assistants
|
I know that no temperament test is a complete or true picture of whom one is, but I
found it pretty interesting that I’m probably more attracted to the breadth of
the careers in the ESFJ list than the ISTJ list. Blew my mind a little. Maybe I have more extrovert tendencies in me
than I thought.
