[ENTP] How should an ENTP choose a career?

[yenom]

I want to be a capitalist. If not possible, i probably switch 10000 jobs in my life, just to figure out what the world is like.

 

[yenom]

I never like capitalism. but i hated the idea of working for someone for the rest of my life even more, espeically if that someone is a person i don't respect. So being a capitalist allows me to control my own fate.

 

[naymornings]

i'm in one of those situations where there just seems to be too much to do, but too scared to commit to one of them because of a possible regret of not taking another rout.

philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, theology, biology, photography, music...
the logy's are endless.

i was exactly in your position, until I did some fairly serious introspection about my interets. Now I am getting ready to start my education in media studies, where I will most likely end up teaching humanity courses at a college level in some lilly community college. I think it's best if you look at these subjects that you are interested in, and say- 'what am I really interetested in WITHIN these topics?'

Once I realized what brought me to these topics all had something in common, I was capable of sort of accepting an artistic approach. For me, i am heavily influences by art/media- it's always been my thing, my main approach, but I am still really interested in anthropology, sociology, philosophy, psychology, philosophy, linguistics, etc...but i can study all of these things through the lens of media. I see media as a reflection of what is going on with the people. And ultimately, something is always happening, thus the material is always new- and fresh.

what i am trying to say here is that if it is possible, try to disect your interest and figure out what you are ultimately searching for.
i am watching a movie while trying to write this, and i keep getting distracted, if this makes no sense.. i apologize..

 

[Synarch]

Personally, I love marketing because it allows me to use my process skills and my creativity. My next job, I would love to be a marketing consultant and flit from gig to gig.

Great to hear from a more senior ENTP, Fiver. Thank you very much. You have vindicated and validated many of the feelings I have had vis-à-vis work.

I am also in marketing and have a ton of freedom, which is absolutely necessary or I start causing trouble. In fact, freedom is more important to me than anything else. I can't stand having a boss and I do not like arbitrary rules and will break them or subvert them at every turn.

At 31, I'm at this point where I need to transition either more into a management role or finally get serious about growing my side business. It's an interesting time to be sure. We should set up a business networking section of the forum, by the way.

 

[Rajah]

I've seen "law" tossed around a couple of times as a career option, so I thought I'd pop in and talk about it. I was a practicing attorney for almost 7 years. It was occasionally intellectually stimulating, and it occasionally did not suck.

For the most part, though, it was a horrible fit. I like ever-changing projects. In litigation, anyway, you tend to get stuck on the same case for years on end. It gets monotonous and draining. Plus, dividing your life into six-minute increments (yes, that's how you have to bill out your time!) gets really irritating.

Having to deal with other attorneys left me, at times, wanting to pull my own hair out. Some are great; some are the most obnoxious, self-involved, having-feelings-of-entitlement people you'll ever encounter. There's a lot of backstabbing, and the senior associates tend to abuse the junior associates. There's a high-school mentality that tends to permeate the associate levels. It's frustrating.

Some parts of practice were good. Overall, I couldn't stand it. I'm now back in school working on a Ph.D. in media law, so I can become a professor.

 

[Rajah]

i was exactly in your position, until I did some fairly serious introspection about my interets. Now I am getting ready to start my education in media studies, where I will most likely end up teaching humanity courses at a college level in some lilly community college. I think it's best if you look at these subjects that you are interested in, and say- 'what am I really interetested in WITHIN these topics?'

Once I realized what brought me to these topics all had something in common, I was capable of sort of accepting an artistic approach. For me, i am heavily influences by art/media- it's always been my thing, my main approach, but I am still really interested in anthropology, sociology, philosophy, psychology, philosophy, linguistics, etc...but i can study all of these things through the lens of media. I see media as a reflection of what is going on with the people. And ultimately, something is always happening, thus the material is always new- and fresh.

what i am trying to say here is that if it is possible, try to disect your interest and figure out what you are ultimately searching for.
i am watching a movie while trying to write this, and i keep getting distracted, if this makes no sense.. i apologize..

Interestingly, that's how I latched onto communication. I have a bachelor's and master's in linguistics, and I went to law school to focus on First Amedment issues. I now tie that all together, studying privacy and First Amendment issues online.

 

[Synarch]

I've seen "law" tossed around a couple of times as a career option, so I thought I'd pop in and talk about it. I was a practicing attorney for almost 7 years. It was occasionally intellectually stimulating, and it occasionally did not suck.

For the most part, though, it was a horrible fit. I like ever-changing projects. In litigation, anyway, you tend to get stuck on the same case for years on end. It gets monotonous and draining. Plus, dividing your life into six-minute increments (yes, that's how you have to bill out your time!) gets really irritating.

Having to deal with other attorneys left me, at times, wanting to pull my own hair out. Some are great; some are the most obnoxious, self-involved, having-feelings-of-entitlement people you'll ever encounter. There's a lot of backstabbing, and the senior associates tend to abuse the junior associates. There's a high-school mentality that tends to permeate the associate levels. It's frustrating.

Glad to know as I was considering law. I figured it would be as you describe. Do you expect to encounter problems with being a professor?

 

[astroidea]

ENTP's dominant function is to use their external intuition to understand the world around them, and support this information with internal thinking to logically make decisions with this information.

I find consulting to be ideal for this. You absolutely immerse yourself into a topic, then find out the ideal solution, and use your enthusiasm to spread your findings to others. Like in the movie thank you for smoking where the entertainment god describes his epic plan, where brad blows smoke rings all over over angelina's flawless naked body.

Personally, I plan to become a professor, which is quite similar in that respect. I fucking love marketing consulting too.

 

[Synarch]

I find consulting to be ideal for this. You absolutely immerse yourself into a topic, then find out the ideal solution, and use your enthusiasm to spread your findings to others. Like in the movie thank you for smoking where the entertainment god describes his epic plan, where brad blows smoke rings all over over angelina's flawless naked body.

Hearing from all of you ENTP's is like meeting family. Consulting is so much fun, like a romantic fling. I love showing up at a client's business, learning everything I can for a brief time and then chopping down problems before I dance off into the sunset to the next gig.

 

[ZiL]

I've considered consulting before....

All I know is I need variety and bosses with too much power will make my gag reflex kick in, thereby making it impossible for me to get any work done cos I'll be having to run off to hurl every 2 minutes.

 

[Synarch]

Bosses just make me reckless and confrontational unless they're remote or unobtrusive. With supervision I am soon in open rebellion.

Milton: "I'd rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."

 

[naymornings]

Do you guys have much experience with teaching as an ENTP?

 

[Rajah]

Glad to know as I was considering law. I figured it would be as you describe. Do you expect to encounter problems with being a professor?

I imagine I'll encounter different problems. I'll be fighting my natural inability to just stay focused and finish the paper and, you know, publish it. I think any job is going to be a challenge though.

I'm willing to put up with these challenges. Law? Not so much.

 

[Rajah]

Do you guys have much experience with teaching as an ENTP?

Not traditional "teaching." I am an adjunct prof at a community college. I teach English and English comp. I also teach LSAT courses. I like the students, but I get annoyed with the detail work.

 

[naymornings]

Interesting. I hate details as well.... Professorship is still my goal though. Damn details are everywhere!

 

[tinkerbell]

a few throught for you:

Marketing - the only constant it change - it's fun, creative and has a renewal cycle which means that things move all the time

Market Research - covers a huge range of topics and allows you to manage discrete projects. It can take in all those creative urges

I know several ENTP's who have excelled at both of those

Also Advertising, but ENTP's might not be etherial enough.

The guy who say's finance - then goes on about how draining it is, might want to have a think about what happens when your in the wrong career - super draining impact. Sounds like your in it for the cash, which is OK so long as it's not forever.

I can agree to dissagree with Substitue, yes ENTP's do like to be their own bosses, own their own business, but it's worthwhile investing in getting some skills before you hit the risky business of trying to support yourself without anything to sell. I know one ENTP business owner, and he worked for other people for a long while before he took the pluge, and even then, only when the risk was pretty limited.

Good luck, and at 18, expect to have a lot of different things for a while. Most very bright people take a long while to grow into their brains. Quite frankly, your unlikely to get given a role that truely challenges you until mid to late 30's, so might as well have some fun in the mean time.

 

[Nocapszy]

I most strongly encourage the dartboard method.

See Urban Dictionary for more info.

 

[rocketdan9]

Career strategy for entp

I have thought about hard of what i could do in my career to be happy. I had my share of brain cramps like most of you in the thread.

For example i like to study law(i like studying anything that will be purposeful in my immediate life) yet if i think about being a lawyer or law clerk, the fine details you have to deal with(liking to write fineprints and reading them carefully a million times) constantly would be too stressful for me to handle.

Then i thought about getting into project management which would give me more freedom to do my thing. I also have good interpersonal skills.

The problem with jobs like project managers or even being teachers is that in my opinion entps don't like to deal with setbacks or deal with people who won't do their jobs(its bound to happen at your work). I despise those co workers who are always late at meetings or handing a project in. I also taught english in korea and some of my students never did their homework and it just got too stressfull. (like many of you said this could one of many reasons we don't like to be in authority)

I'am still considering being a project manager the most right now but i'm still weighing my options after one major change in university already.

I do have something concrete to tell you though which is we might be the hardest mbti types to match a good career with. We just want everything like adventure, learn about everything, freedom, have confidence with such job we can do well but want security too. Marketing in the business i see coming the closest to these desires (maybe except the fact the security sucks). Entrepreuner fits too, but the risk of failure is a turn off

I have a couple of entp's friends who's jobs are actually playing poker and have supringly survived for the past 5 years. One elder entp who is a professor in sociology and he is happy with where he is (actually teaching people who want to do a good job in school), and lastly my neighbor who is a firefighter and loves it.

Some other cool jobs that could be good for entp's in theory are, a mediator, ombudsman(people who investigate public complaints), tour guide(enjoy watching people be amazed in a new city), market researcher, Inside sales (we like to journey to convince), sports athelete(if your good), broadcastor, journalist (lots of freedom if your talented), career counselor, consultant(though people don't realize it takes years of experience to usually become one), working as a dealer at a casino (exciting and not risking your own money), and i think most of entp's would enjoy being truck drivers because we get to discover new places and get paid.

goodluck!

 

[Kollin]

a good website for you to check out on this topic would be

http://www.personalitypage.com/

then look at what they say for ENTP careers...very insightful...

 

[garbage]

Do you guys have much experience with teaching as an ENTP?

More and more, I'm seeing myself as an ENTP, so I'm going to go ahead and answer this one from an ENTP perspective. Call me back when you want to hear how much I care for my students' welfare and want to make the most of them as an ESFJ


I'm a full-time researcher, and I also lecture from time to time. Creating lectures on topics that I'm interested in is actually somewhat fun, because it allows me to learn about some particular topic in-depth and process it in a concise and organized way.. then, I can move on to the next topic. I also very much enjoy the mentoring role and trying to bring the best out of students. All of the lectures I've created and classes that I've taught have been one-time instances; that is, I have never lectured on the same topic twice. My lecture creation has also always been directly related to projects that I already work on; that is, I don't teach in my spare time on the side.

However, my fellow researchers tell me that the first time you teach a class on your spare time, at least at the university level, the time spent isn't worth it at all.. it's when you can refine your lectures over multiple semesters of teaching that it slowly becomes worth it. To me, this seems like it might get boring.. just rehashing the same material over and over every semester. Many of the researchers that I've identified as xSTP tend to want to teach a different class every semester despite the level of effort required to create a lecture, where others may not mind.

If you can teach a project-oriented class, say, revolving around an Integrated Product Team or something of that nature, the dynamics from semester to semester may change, too. Even if not, you'll still refine your lectures and learn lessons from semester to semester.

Overall, it might be worth a shot, especially if you can get yourself into a position where you can "dabble" in teaching first!