[INFP] INFP careers

[angell_m]

Oh God, I hate doing the dishes. I'd rather wash a public toilet... with my tongue.

 

[Abstract Thinker]

Oh God, I hate doing the dishes. I'd rather wash a public toilet... with my tongue.

Agreed, but laundry is worse! :steam:

Sometimes I just buy more clothes rather than wash 'em.

Ugh, I can't believe I just admitted that.

 

[angell_m]

Oh, I'll do laundry. I got my washing machine, where I throw everything that's colored in at 40 degrees celsius (military teaches us awesome things).. and then I do the same thing white clothes. Only problem is when I forget the clothes in there for a long time and they end up rotting :X THAT's when I need to buy new clothes.

 

[Abstract Thinker]

Only problem is when I forget the clothes in there for a long time and they end up rotting :X THAT's when I need to buy new clothes.

LOL. Yeah, I actually set alarms on my laptop to remind me to get the clothes out of the dryer just before they are dry, cuz then I don't have to iron them. (Another yucky mundane task.)

 

[Seymour]

This was stolen from the old INFP GC (not sure where it came from originally), but thought I'd post in here in case it was helpful for INFPs looking for career ideas.


Occupational Ranking for INFP (Revised 2004)
1. Fine Artist
2. Physician: Psychiatry
3. Counselor: Runaway Youth
4. Architect
5. Editor or Reporter
6. Research Assistant
7. Counselor: Suicide or Crisis
8. Journalist
9. Psychologist*
10. Religious Educator, all denominations
11. Social Scientist*
12. Writer or Journalist*
13. Laboratory Technologist
14. Consultant: Education
15. Counselor: School
16. Clinical Laboratory Technologist or Technician
17. Therapist: Physical
18. Teacher: Art, Drama, or Music
19. Carpenter
20. Counselor
21. Restaurant Worker: Table Setting, Cleaning
22. Social Worker
23. Media Specialist
24. Counselor: Rehabilitation
25. Counselor: Vocational or Educational
26. Actor
27. Research Worker
28. Teacher: English
29. Cook
30. Scientist: Biology
31. Librarian
32. Teaching Assistant
33. Speech Pathologist
34. Artist or Entertainer*
35. Employment Development Specialist
36. Nursing: Public Health
37. Musician or Composer
38. Certified Psycho-dramatist
39. Teacher: Reading
40. Secretary: Executive or Administrative Assistant
41. Engineer: Aeronautical
42. Chain, Rod, or Ax Worker; Surveying
43. Designer
44. Doctor of Medicine
45. Teacher: Foreign Language in Junior or Senior High School
46. Waiter or Waitress
47. Protestant Minister
48. Clergy, all denominations (except priests)
49. Attorney: Administrator, non-practicing
50. Roman Catholic Priest
51. Priest or Monk
52. Health Technologist or Technician*
53. Administrator: Educationally Related
54. Clerical or Kindred Worker*
55. Office Machine Operator*
56. Guard or Watch Keeper
57. Food Service Worker*
58. Teacher: University
59. Sister in Roman Catholic Religious Order
60. Nursing: Registered Nurse
61. Dietitian or Nutritionist
62. Teacher: Junior College
63. Teacher: Pre-school
64. Receptionist
65. Secretary*
66. Radiologic Technologist or Technician
67. Consultant: Management Analyst
68. Administrator: Student Personnel
69. Operative: Specialized*
70. Naval Electronic Technician
71. Health Care Therapist*
72. Medical Assistant
73. Lifeguard, Attendant: Recreation or Amusement
74. Nurse*
75. Laborer*
76. Computer Programmer
77. Cleaning Service*
78. Secretary: Medical
79. Nursing: Aide, Orderly, or Attendant
80. Electrician
81. Teacher*
82. Specialized Protestant Minister
83. Brother in Roman Catholic Religious Order
84. Teacher: Speech Pathology or Therapy
85. Private Household Worker*
86. Therapist: Occupational
87. Administrator: Health
88. Nursing: Educator
89. Manager: Office
90. Air Force Officer or Enlistee
91. Photographer
92. Mechanic*
93. Teacher Aide
94. Dental Hygienist
95. Lawyer
96. Religious Worker, all denominations*
97. Rabbi
98. Engineer: Mechanical
99. Physician: Family Practice, General Practice
100. Administrator: Colleges or Technical Institutes
101. Nursing: Critical Care Nurse

 

[Epiphany]

38. Certified Psycho-dramatist

Isn't that every INFP's occupation?

 

[Seymour]

Isn't that every INFP's occupation?

Hah! Only in the theater of their own minds!

 

[Scott N Denver]

man, I was all gonna be like "Look, NO engineers!" but then I saw 41 and 98. I thought Air Force was interesting. Still no "physicist" though

I'm glad to know that it said medical technologist though... Oh, and I love monk as well...
Too bad people won't pay you to be buddhist monk-like though, or buddhist monk for that matter

 

[HighwayChild]

Anything that involves working at your own pace, not have to work with so many people, and something with a creative outlet seems pretty ideal.

 

[Chiara]

Well there is no reason an INFP can't be and engineer or a physicist-- I happen to be very good at physics and I love advanced math (not arithmetic-- I always forget my times tables). As an INFP I don't think that we just have to be in "human care-taking" type things unless that is what we like. My kids and some volunteer work I do does involve stuff like that but not my career.

I work in computer science working mostly with knowledge management and computers that work on human language. There are tons of opportunities to work at your own pace and be creative and do research. I also used to be a manager and was very successful because I can help people figure out their strengths and be inspired to work. My mother was also and INFP and she was a mathematician then a stay at home mom and later a math teacher. Sometimes my work stresses me out because there are so many INTJs/ISTJs/INTPs in computer science but I can usually get them to relax once I know them. I also make good money which is important to me to take care of my kids and be generous with helping people.

I could never be a nurse or other type of physical caretaker --that level of detail oriented physical responsibility for a person stresses me out -- I always figured you needed a fair amount of "S" to be a nurse. Writing is not my favorite for me either because I'm so big picture/not detail oriented--I can never get rid of all the typos or organize things in the literal way that "T" people want. (I would love to be a poet though).

I also don't like Psychology because I feel like it pigeon-holes people in a way that doesn't really reflect what is happening with people personalities. Trying to apply science to the mystery of the human mind really bothers me.

I guess what I'm saying is INFPs can have all kinds of different talents and interests and abilities we are all F and have strong values but not the same values as each other. For me it's been a matter of finding my own niche and the INFP intuition and flexibility have been a big help to do that.

On the other hand I would like to be a Catholic Priest or a Knight if that were an option for a modern female! My hero as a child was Joan of Arc...

 

[Adasta]

I'd like to write Non-Fiction books.

 

[Stanton Moore]

OK, I was joking with my previous post... all apologies.

I think INFP's are potentially good at many jobs, expecially one's that have to do with reading people and their motivations. Oh, and all kinds of art, music, medicine. We're smart and can be good in a crisis.

 

[RDF]

I did a career as a translator. Mostly I translated newspaper articles or economic and financial documents. It involved using writing skills, but as a translator I wasn't responsible for the creation or the content of the material. I just had to capture the sense of the document in one language and then render that same sense in another language.

Truth be told, though, it's probably not a real good (lucrative) field these days. What with e-mail and electronic documents to send work back and forth and the use of e-banking to handle international payment issues, translation increasingly tends to be outsourced to translators or agencies in countries with cheap labor. To compete, you have to be willing to work at home as an independent contractor for low per-word rates. It works okay as a part-time job for supplemental income, or if you have a very low cost of living and don't need much income; but for most people just starting out in the field I think it would be difficult these days to make a full-time career of it. Globalization and all that.

 

[angelicabeads]

I went into technical writing after being in outside sales for 17 years. Although I am definitely an INFP I still found the job interesting, because I was able to learn the technology and then write about it. One problem with technical writing for me as an INFP was the high stress - very tight deadlines and lots of pressure. The other issue was dealing with engineers, who seem to be suffering from some level of Asberger's Syndrome - no people skills at all, poor communicators, etc. Don't know what type that is, though. Anybody know? In any case, technical writing pays very well, and one can do technical writing in other fields besides software or hardware computer applications. One can also become a medical writer, which I must confess is more interesting to me than writing for computer applications, but one has to be very qualified. Just an idea to consider. Thanks!

 

[jtanSis1]

I wonder if we consider our spiritual beliefs as secondary talents and have been trying to find new primary talents to cover them up just to cover expenses.

 

[Rocker32703]

For a long time as a kid I had no idea what I wanted to be - just something that I'd enjoy doing for a living, I guess. I was a creative and happy INFP as a kid but I didn't usually think too much about the future. I just figured I'd find out what I'd do for a living someday later. I actually discovered what I wanted to do (either as a career or dedicated hobby, my indecisiveness even plagues me with my passions) completely by accident.

I was about 12 or 13, roughly 3-4 years ago, when I installed Flight Simulator 2004 onto my computer. I had played with it before, but more as a game or a toy - I was easily amused at 8 years old doing barrel rolls with Boeing jets. But after a few years of not playing, and then suddenly trying to get back into it, I had taken a different approach. I wanted to find out more about airplanes - especially civilian, small aircraft. It irked me when my friends, whenever the topic of planes came up, only wanted to talk about military fighters or Boeing jets. I felt like it was cliche to only know about these kinds of planes - I had enough awareness to know that there was so much more to airplanes and aviation than the ones people usually see.

So when I installed Flight Simulator, naturally I felt inclined to learn more about the vintage or smaller planes. Whenever I'd play the game with these aircraft, I felt like I had to be much more proper and "real" with them. I felt a lot of satisfaction knowing I was doing things "the correct" way. I soon wanted to learn how to fly for real. Sadly, I haven't motivated myself enough to actually do anything about it yet.

I'm still unsure exactly what I'd like to do. I fear that aviation is something that I won't be able to handle as a job - though I have recently come to realize that there are other jobs besides flying planes - it's important to know the business side to aviation companies, and also how airports function. I would like to see myself working with people at airports - exactly what and how, I'm not sure. People say I have a talent for writing, but I've never seen it as a main source of income for me.

Sorry about the rant, you've probably heard more about aviation than you ever really wanted to know. But like I've said, it's what I'm passionate about. To put it simply, I love flying, but am unsure if it is the right kind of career path for me. But, then again, I don't know what else I'd try to pursue. It's confusing, and I make it so on purpose I guess.

 

[Anna intuitive]

I'm a personal growth educator. It involves me in facilitating some workshops and in some follow-up groups and one-to-one work. The pay isn't wonderful, ha ha, but if I can build up my paying participants the income will be OK. For the past year and a half I've been doing this full-time. It's extremely rewarding, though also quite stressful. I'm trying to find the balance.

Before that, to make ends meet, for seven years I was doing copy-editing alongside the personal growth education. I found that a good way to make money from home. Everybody needs copy-editors to correct their manuscripts. So if you're good at grammar, copy-editing is a good way for an INFP to make money to live on while they develop their main love - writing, if it's that. I love writing, and I couldn't deal with so much painful people-stuff if I wasn't also writing. But I haven't found an outlet for it yet. Maybe I'll start a blog...

 

[BAJ]

In "Gifts Differing" there were percentages for everything. Since INFPs are so rare, a concentration in something meant percentage of INFPs for that might double from 2% to 6%, but still there are few INFPs relative to the general population. Likewise, the concentration of INFPs in anything was not likely zero, meaning INFPs could probably do most things.

I am a biologist/ aquaculturist.

From age 17 onward:

1. Plankton sorter
2. Drew blood from wild birds for Health Dept. viral tests
3. Stock clerk grocery
4. Plankton collector
5. Stock clerk, grocery.
6. Fish Otolith remover
7. Veterinary assistant, small animals
8. Veterinary assistant, monkeys
9. Laboratory clerk at major hospital
10. State Environmental management CO-OP
11. Gardener
12. Research Assistant
13. Fish farm manager
14. Gardener
15. Fish hatchery manager

 

[Synapse]

This is what my career looks like without the 5 years of unfinished education that went from Finance/Accounting/Admin, Business Systems and Civil Structural Engineering.

1. Lawn mowing and gardening
2. Recreation club cleaner
3. Software testing
4. Factory work
5. Patient Care Worker
6. Security Guarding
7. Newspaper distributor
8. Administration

last year was in
9. Barbecue sales
10. Charity Op Shop
11. Mailing Center
12. General Goods
13. Supermarket

Ah well, liking none so far.

 

[krisp]

I think that the intuitive and creative characteristics of us INFPs provide us with unique problem solving skills, and the idealism in us strives for excellence and elite results. As long as there is sufficient energy, time and MOTIVATION to work on issues, us INFPs can come up with the most ideal and creative solutions to any problem. I see this can provide a unique advantage in careers that don't seem to be normally associated with INFPs, like inventors, engineers and architects. Of course, these careers do require a little extra effort from an INFP to deal with boring technical details like mathematics and science, but once learned these technicalities can be seen as the language required to communicate a special type of creative art, which fulfils much more important missions in life. The benefit provided to society by inventors, engineers and architects is often overlooked - just as INFPs often feel that their contributions are overlooked - but they themselves can get satisfaction by seeing the deeper benefits to human society. At least, that is what I tell myself as an INFP engineer.