Career Assessment Series: Using MBTI for Career Success
Mar 26, 2024Episode 37
Armine & Maria Jose
Join us in our latest episode to examine how the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) can illuminate the intricacies of our personalities to help us in finding career fulfillment. We share our journeys through the MBTI, shedding light on the importance of using such tools to gain self-awareness with the guidance of career counselors.
We delve into the dynamic interplay between extroversion and introversion, sensing and intuition, and all the ways our natural inclinations can shape our work lives. It's about embracing your detailed planner or your adaptable maverick—recognizing that every trait has its place under the office lights. By sharing our own experiences, we hope to reveal just how transformative an awareness of our personality can be in aligning our careers with our true selves.
Finally, we recognize that not everyone can access the official MBTI, which is why we look at alternative personality assessments like 16 Personalities and Truity. They offer a different lens through which to view ourselves, without the price tag. As we tease future episodes on assessments like the Strong Interest Inventory and CliftonStrengths, consider this an invitation to join us in the quest for career clarity. These tools are more than just quizzes; they're stepping stones to finding where you belong in the grand tapestry of the professional world.
Join us in our latest episode to examine how the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) can illuminate the intricacies of our personalities to help us in finding career fulfillment. We share our journeys through the MBTI, shedding light on the importance of using such tools to gain self-awareness with the guidance of career counselors.
We delve into the dynamic interplay between extroversion and introversion, sensing and intuition, and all the ways our natural inclinations can shape our work lives. It's about embracing your detailed planner or your adaptable maverick—recognizing that every trait has its place under the office lights. By sharing our own experiences, we hope to reveal just how transformative an awareness of our personality can be in aligning our careers with our true selves.
Finally, we recognize that not everyone can access the official MBTI, which is why we look at alternative personality assessments like 16 Personalities and Truity. They offer a different lens through which to view ourselves, without the price tag. As we tease future episodes on assessments like the Strong Interest Inventory and CliftonStrengths, consider this an invitation to join us in the quest for career clarity. These tools are more than just quizzes; they're stepping stones to finding where you belong in the grand tapestry of the professional world.
Happy March. End of March, oh my gosh, spring. Spring is here. The sun is out for an hour longer. I'm actually really excited for the warmer weather. I actually hate summer and stuff because of the heat, but I'm excited this time.
Speaker 1:
I'm ecstatic. I just take it to the next level. No, I really am. You guys have no idea. Spring is my favorite season. It is, and the fact that it gets dark later, it just it. I feel like a whole new person. I don't know how to explain it, I just love it. I wish it was like this all the time. I hate winter with the passion. Ouch, it's okay. Sorry, it's okay. Sorry, it's okay. I know I know a lot of people who love the rain and the cold weather. It's just not me.
Speaker 2:
I think I love it to a point. I'm now over it and I want to dress for spring. I want to feel spring. I got you yeah.
Speaker 1:
All right, well, we're here now, yeah.
Speaker 2:
And I hope you, listening, and you, arminia, are using that extra hour in your day for some sunlight, to be present and be mindful, like we're talking about in our last episode. So I hope you're using that extra hour and not working.
Speaker 1:
Yes, thank you and I hope that for all of our listeners. Well, MJ, why?
Speaker 2:
don't we tell our listeners what we're talking about today? Yeah, so we're going to be talking about the Myers-Briggs type indicator, or known in society as the MBTI. We do want to note that this episode is part of a assessment series, a career assessment series. We're going to be doing a few of these within this month, and well, I mean it's the end of this month, but within the next couple of months. So be on the lookout for those. But this is the first of our series and we're going to be going over the MBTI.
Speaker 1:
How exciting. If you know me, you know I love the MBTI and I love self-assessments. I'll tell you what Self-assessments are important in the career development process, because they really allow us to, of course, reflect on ourselves and get to know ourselves better, so that we can make a better informed career decision. What do you think, mj? Why are self-assessments important?
Speaker 2:
So the first time I took the assessments, it was like my first week of career counseling grad class, so I was being introduced to the topic and what I remember and what has stuck with me since is it's really not an indicator of what you should be doing with your life and your career. It's an opportunity for you to dive deep into some of the thoughts and some of the results that come out, for you to analyze, to see if they're more aligned with your personality, your likings, your choices. But they're also a great opportunity for you to see if they're more aligned with your personality, your likings, your choices. But they're also a great opportunity for you to see who you are in that current moment and see if you agree with these, because you don't always have to agree with the results.
Speaker 1:
Yes, definitely. So I love that you said that Assessments are definitely not meant to tell you what to do in your career. They're not meant to define you either. I hear a lot of times folks talk about assessments that like, oh, they box you in. That's not their intention, because the idea is to give you new perspectives on yourself and new things to think about. So when we dive deep into the MBTI like the things that the MBTI assesses you don't really think about that on a daily basis. Or if you didn't have that assessment as a context, you probably't really think about that on a daily basis. Or if you didn't have that assessment as a context, you probably wouldn't think about yourself in that way right Very true.
Speaker 1:
So that's really all that it's for is to just give us new insights on ourselves, and then we can. One, disagree with the results. Right, because you know yourself best and at the end of the day, it's an assessment, so it's in the way that you answer. The questions is how the results are going to come, so it could be wrong, you could disagree with it. And two, it's an opportunity to explore those things further, which is why the MBTI specifically, you don't get the results yourself, the real assessment.
Speaker 2:
It has to be interpreted by a career counselor, because you need to talk about the results and what they mean for you and all of that, yeah, when we share the assessment with our students, we usually tell them please come back, and not that you analyzing or going over the results can be harmful to you, but they could just be misinterpreted and really impact the way in which you view yourself and some of the career choices you may make. So it's to avoid all of those scenarios. We always are encouraging individuals to come and sit with a career practitioner, someone who knows about these assessments, to be able to analyze them with you and see what's really coming out of them.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, definitely so. If anybody out there is interested in self-assessment, there are some free resources that we will get to today. But the official assessments from the company, those need to be actually provided to you by a career counselor with the specific code and then it needs to be interpreted by that counselor. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely put it by that counselor yeah, absolutely, absolutely, yeah. So let's kind of talk a little bit more about self-assessments in the career development process. Mj, so you said that the first time you took it you were in grad school. Do you remember your reactions to your results?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I am an ISFJ and I remember thinking like what does that mean? What does that have to do with me? And I remember getting my results even before it was explained. So when I was reading into, kind of what it was, it didn't really make a lot of sense. There were a lot of charts, um, different things like that. But I having been explained the results, it really resonated with my personality. But, I will tell you, it really resonated with who I was in that moment, right, um, having grown, having grown since then, I do feel like maybe I've I've been able to sway on the other side of the spectrum for some of the different dichotomies. But in reality, in that moment when I took it and received the results, I it aligned perfectly with who I was and where I was in my life.
Speaker 1:
Awesome. So it's interesting that you say that, because the whole concept of the MBTI, specifically the way that it was developed, so a little history on it. It was developed by a mother and daughter duo back in the World War II days when they wanted to assess what people who were in the war they wanted to help people find job satisfaction or actually place people in jobs, and so that's when it was developed and it was originally for that purpose of just getting people into jobs. But the idea for that assessment was that it's true to who you are naturally, that it doesn't change over time, if the, if the results are accurate and in the way that you answer the questions, that it um, it's meant to assess your natural self, but the concept is that it's a spectrum of things that it it assesses, right?
Speaker 1:
so the dichotomies which are extroversion versus introversion, intuition versus sensing, thinking versus feeling and judging versus perceiving, so all of these are on a spectrum. So when it's assessing you based on the way you answer the questions, it's not a black and white result, right? It's not like you're only extroverted and you can't be introverted. It's on a scale. So the thing is. So when you're saying that you might have grown over time, what it probably happened was that maybe naturally, if you agreed with your introverted result, for example, maybe naturally you're an introvert, but over time you've learned how to do extroverted things, but it doesn't mean that you've changed to become an extrovert, right? So that's the concept of this assessment is that it assesses the core self, but you can learn and develop the opposite skill set over your lifetime.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I've heard people describe this to us almost like code switching in a way between the MBTI, and it also depends on their identity and where they are, in which environment as well. So it's you're absolutely right that it analyzes and really assesses your core self, but there are opportunities where you can be. You can slide on that spectrum from left to right.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, definitely. So a little bit more about the dichotomies for those of you who are actually interested. Extroversion versus introversion. So you probably have heard of these terms. Right, we use them loosely in society. People always say I'm an introvert, I'm an extrovert, but I don't know that people are saying it with the context of the MBCI in mind right.
Speaker 1:
And so the assessment, actually what it means, is if you're an extrovert, it's saying that you are focusing your energy on the external world. It doesn't mean that you're outgoing, and introversion doesn't mean that you're shy, but that's how I think in society we kind of use those terms. The assessment is actually talking about where we place our energy. So if you're an extrovert, you're placing your energy on the external world and, um, that's where you also kind of get energy from is by the people around you or what's going on around you. Versus somebody who has the introverted preference, that person is focusing their energy inward most of the time and they also get re-energized by focusing inward, and the external environment might be more draining for them.
Speaker 2:
I do want to. I want to pause and I want to. I want to say that I love that you use the word preference and I think for our listeners, keep that in mind when you're hearing these different dichotomies and on the sliding scale spectrum, that these are preferences. Right, they're not one or the other. Like Armine was saying, there's a percentage to what these look like, so know that if you are not one, you're also not fully the other two. It's a preference that you have to your core.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, definitely. So essentially it assesses your preferences. And then the next dichotomy so extroversion versus introversion is one. The second one is intuitive versus sensing. So someone who has the intuitive preference, this is about how we take in information. So if you have the intuitive preference, you're probably more big picture in the way that you take in information. So if you have the intuitive preference, you're probably more big picture in the way that you take in information. So this is really funny because my MBTI I'm a clear preference on intuition. And it's funny because when I first took the assessment, also in grad school, when we got the results and it kind of was describing the intuition preference and it talked about how things that stress out the intuitive preference and one of the things was highly detailed work and my, my cohort, my colleagues and I just started laughing because I would always talk about how I hate detailed work. Like super detailed work stresses me out. Yeah, yeah, I kept like I would always say that just naturally. And then when we took the assessment and that's, we read that about my preference. It was. It was like oh my gosh, this makes so much sense. Um and and, and that's the opposite. So intuition is more big picture.
Speaker 1:
You probably have a preference for, um, just understanding the meaning of things, maybe not so much the processes or the details, but you, under you, want to understand the meaning behind things. You might be somebody who likes theory as well if, if you're in school, you and you enjoy the theory-based classes. I know I always enjoyed them and it makes sense because of the intuition preference and the sensing preference. On the other end of that spectrum is somebody who likes more of the specific things, so like think about if I were to say apple, right, somebody who's a sensing preference might really think about what does the apple look like, what does it feel like, what does it taste like, like all the sensing things versus the intuitive preference might take that and think of a metaphor Like what does the apple represent? So not the senses of it, but the meaning behind it.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, absolutely, and that makes so much sense, and I think that's why we work so well together. I think so too. Yes, we can get into that and later Armini. What I'm probably going to say is, too, we should describe what these might look like in the workplace. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:
And then. So the third dichotomy is thinking versus feeling, and so this is how we make decisions, and there is always a preface to this one where you know if you get the thinking preference, it doesn't mean that you can't feel, or that you're not a sensitive person. Or if you get the feeling preference, it doesn't mean that you're not a sensitive person, or if you get the feeling preference, it doesn't mean that you can't be thoughtful. You know, I think people sometimes have a reaction to that result because it's like oh no, I want to be thoughtful, or I want to be someone who can be objective. It doesn't mean that you can't be. It's just, again, it's a preference thing, right?
Speaker 1:
So thinking is somebody who is maybe makes decisions more objectively or puts themselves outside of the decisions, whereas feeling preference is somebody who would put themselves in their situation whenever making a decision, put themselves in that situation and think about how, if I were to make a decision about this given thing, how would it impact all the other people around me as well as how would it impact myself, and really kind of um have empathy, I guess, in that sense yeah, this is funny because it really brings me to like, um, something I'm thinking of is like some of the careers right that are out there, like lawyers, um, and they some of them, or maybe a lot of them might be thinking versus feeling, where they're not necessarily putting themselves in their client's shoes, but looking at their broader picture, where there's a lot of biases, or where there's a lot of black and white versus gray.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely Okay. So we talked about the first three dichotomies. The last dichotomy is perceiving versus judging. Yeah, this one's actually one of my favorites.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah, like um, this one cracks me up because I see my partner is a perceiving type and I am a judging type.
Speaker 2:
Okay, um, from what I understand and how it's done, is that a perceiving person is very like, veryminded, very wanting to take in as much information as they can, is someone who waits till the very last second to be able to finish or make a decision right, so they want to be able to gather as much as they can and then be able to make a decision that way and wait till the very last minute. Someone who's judging, like myself, is someone who makes a lot of lists right, is very organized to the T, is very detailed oriented where I'll make a two-week plan of what this presentation will look like in an outline and send all the information and the calendar invites, and it stresses me out to work with someone who's the complete opposite, who's very loose and open-ended and is like oh, we'll talk about it later and don't worry about it, it'll be fine. But this one cracks me up all the time because my partner is a perceiving type and I am a judging type and I very much so notice it on an everyday basis.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, no, this one is probably the one that people notice the most, um, in in just everyday life, because it's how you go about your daily life, that's true, and it's also a little bit about closure too. So, like you were saying, where with the perceiving type, um, this preference probably doesn't want closures, they want to gather, and that's why they're known to leave things to the last minute, right, because they're not looking for closure, whereas the judging preference wants that closure of, like, check off the things on their to-do list. I got it done, I feel good, um, and so this one is very noticeable in day-to-day life and when we think about our work environments, right, and, and whether we fit into that work environment. Imagine if the office culture is a very judging preference, right, very like to the t, you gotta do things um on time, like you gotta be there on time, there's no loose, like there's no leeway, and then there's this perceiving preference that goes and works in that environment. How do you think that person is gonna mesh into that culture?
Speaker 2:
yeah, they're not. It's going going to be very hard for them because everybody's personality is very different to theirs and they're going to have a hard time fitting in, feeling like this is the place for them, or even feel satisfaction right out of their job.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, because if it so, that is why these assessments are really helpful in MBTI in particular. Right, sometimes it's hard, for I think when we work with our students on MBTI, it's hard for them to see why it matters in their career decisions, because personality is important, you know, it's not like, oh, it's my interest right Like with interest.
Speaker 1:
It's easy to see how interests connect to your career goals. But personality it's a little bit more personal. So it's like, how does this really connect to my career? But that's exactly how it connects. It's like if the environment, the culture doesn't match with your natural preferences, then you might feel out of place.
Speaker 1:
But the caveat is that it doesn't mean you can't do that right. It doesn't mean you can't do that right. It doesn't mean you can't do that work or work in that office culture. It just means that you might have to put more effort and more energy into fit I don't want to say fitting in, but into being able to like mesh with that culture or do that type of work.
Speaker 1:
So if somebody is a very intuitive person and really likes to dig deep on the meaning of things and likes the theory aspect of things and all of that, but then they're working in an office environment where it's very focused on like sensing and very detailed information, that person is probably going to find themselves drained a lot of the time. But the important thing is they make an informed decision right? That's what I tell my students all the time is, as long as you know what you're getting into like, I'm not here to tell you don't do this career path or this assessment. Is not here to tell you don't do this. It is here to give you more clarity and then, if you still decide, no, I want to go this route, at least you know.
Speaker 2:
Okay, maybe this environment is just going to require me to put more energy into fitting in or being able to do that work, but I still want to do it and that's fine too yeah, yeah, I'm just I was reflecting on like some of my decisions and workplaces I've been and I think where where I am now aligns the most it's ever have with my type and who I am. Um, it's so funny because I was, I literally was like flashing back to even being like a research assistant as an undergrad and what type of environment that was for me and working at in retail and some of the other institutions I've worked with those as well and this one aligns most, this one, and another one aligns most with with my type and my personality and my preference. Really.
Speaker 1:
I love that. Yeah, I would say when I think about it, I think about it more in our industry, not so much the particular job, but like the industry that I'm in.
Speaker 1:
So my preference is INFJ introverted, intuitive feeling and judging, and the industry that I'm in definitely aligns so well with that. So when, when the assessment gives you like typical occupations counseling, teaching, education all of that comes up in the type of environment that might be a good fit for my personality. So it's just also really validating to kind of see that when you take the assessment.
Speaker 2:
That's another good thing about this assessment is that it could be validating, for if you've chosen the right career path, you know like you were saying earlier and I think this is really it can be a lot of insight and awareness to who they are and how they work in this environment and where they're putting their energy in terms of preference and trying to work with the environment that they currently are in.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I mean for anyone who's feeling that way, I definitely would encourage you to consider maybe taking an assessment. We're actually going to provide the free options for the MBTI, but taking an assessment to maybe see that might give you some clarity as to why you might be feeling like maybe an outsider, or that if your environment or your team is not aligned with your personal preferences, maybe it could be traced back to your MBTI preferences and from there you can make an informed decision as to whether you want to continue or maybe you would prefer to switch up jobs or industries and so forth.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, absolutely. Mbti and other assessments as well are really helpful in allowing you to understand your whole self and how that works as a human being, but also in the world of work too.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, definitely so some free resources. One is 16personalitiescom, this one's fun.
Speaker 2:
It gives all the little characters and it gives you, like, even relationship, guidance and stuff based on your personality. It's the one that you probably have most seen. The logo has a bunch of little dots and four major dots in the center. We'll also put the links down in the chat too, so you are in the, not the chat in the show notes. So you can click on them.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, 16 personalities. So just a little kind of back information about this. So if anyone out there is listening and is a student and you're at an institution where there is a career center, you could probably ask for the actual MBTI assessment from your career center. Some career centers might not offer it anymore. Assessments used to be a lot more popular in the career counseling field. They are losing popularity, I would say, over time, just from what I'm seeing. But they're still very relevant and very much serve the purpose that they were meant to. So if you have a career center at your college or university, you can definitely ask and see if they can give you the actual assessment. It's with the paid code, so the career centers usually have codes that they can give out.
Speaker 1:
If they don't offer that option, then 16 Personalities or Truity is the other resource that we recommend would be a second. Close to that, and for those of you who aren't in school right now, again, these free resources are the best place to start with taking some of these assessments. Actually we've taken 16 personalities and Truity. Truity, by the way, is T-R-U-I-T-Y dot com. Both of them are pretty legit, we would say based on our experience, they do tend to give you the accurate information. It's not going to be as detailed and in-depth as the actual MBTI report, but it'll do the job.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I will say for 16 personalities they do so. Mine was actually spot on. It gave me ISFJ again and they give you an additional letter. Of course, for copyright reasons, it can't be the same as the MBTI. It's turbulent. Oh man, I don't remember the other one too. It's turbulent, and there's another letter on the opposite side of that spectrum as well, but it's really interesting the way they break it down, but something to check out. So 16 personalities we've both taken, as well as truity. Those are the best and closest resources as you can get to the MBTI and the theory itself, so be sure to check them out?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, definitely, all right, everyone. So in our next couple of episodes we're going to go into the other assessments that are really popular in the career development world. So we'll talk about the strong interest inventory and then the strength the CliftonStrengths assessment as well. But we hope that you found this episode helpful and gave you some insight onto what career assessments are all about and how the MBTI can be useful in your career exploration journey.