INFPs in STEM?

[SpecialSnowflake]

Hello, all.

I'm currently a student who ended up studying computer science in college. Reasons? Not fantastic, but not all that bad either:

(1) I apparently have a certain aptitude for the stuff.
(2) My professor was big on encouraging women to join the CS department.
(3) Many people supported me in doing it, because job security and high wages and stuff.
(4) The budding feminist in me thought maybe it was my responsibility if I could do it to do it. (No, I don't think that necessarily anymore.)

There's a great big part of me that wishes I hadn't wandered down this road, but this is my final term and I'm making it, even if I'm grumbling through it all. Graduation is looming now, and the "smart thing to do" now is to start looking for work... if not for myself, then at least for the sake of appeasing the million people asking me what's next.

So I figure I have a few options:

(1) Abandon my degree and learn how to make coffee.
(2) Find a tech job that is more friendly to INFP / type 4 personalities. (Not entirely sure what that'd be; I want to hear from you!)
(3) Curl up in a ball and keep watching Netflix and crying because quarter-life-crisising is hard.


I'd love to hear about the experiences of people who are similar to me (INFP / 4) in STEM fields, or from those who found their niche in a different area after having heavily considered STEM careers. What drove you in choosing your career and are you happy with your choices?

 

[RobinSkye]

Firstly, welcome to the forum, good to have you!
It seems you have really well-developed Te, or something, to be an INFP.

I would always take option 3.

Just kidding though, but option 3 is something you should do regularly for your own sanity. Here's the correct option: decide for yourself what it is that you enjoy and what you want to make of your life.

 

[Coriolis]

First, good for you for sticking with your degree when you are so close to finishing. Marketable skills are always good to have, even if those particular skills aren't what you want to do for the rest of your career.

I would recommend option 2, for now. Find a tech job in an environment that is very INFP friendly. So, don't work for a research center or data mining operation, but look for (sorry if I'm stereotyping) perhaps a medical, educational, or non-profit instead. Do your homework, as you should anyway when applying for a job. Especially use the interview, when you get one, to evaluate the company culture just as they are evaluating you. As a woman with a CS degree, you should get interviews, and offers.

Now the "for now" part. Take this job for the pay and the experience. Use the next year or two to figure out what you really want to do. It may have nothing to do with IT at all. But you may be able to use your IT background and new experience to work your way into a more fulfilling situation. Use this time to decide what your goals are and make a plan to reach them.

 

[Hank]

Fellow STEM NFP with 4-ish traits here. (Extroverted instead of introverted, though. Also, I'm male.) I'm in mechanical engineering; I graduated about two and a half years ago with my BSME. I feel your post so much--that's exactly how I felt when I started getting to the end of college.

To be quite honest: what drove me to study what I did was the finances. Relatives offered to pay my way through school if I went to the school that I did and studied what I did. I wasn't extremely emotionally attached to the field; I had some dreams related to mechanical engineering but hadn't genuinely intended to follow through with them. I kinda liked math and science in high school but wasn't attached to the idea of turning them into a career. I was more inclined to--prepare yourself for this mind-blowing revelation--psychology, but the investors strongly discouraged it based on the years of studying required and the fact that psych majors are a dime a dozen. And hey, if I get to go through college without student loans chasing me for the next twenty years, I'm not going to say no to it.

Early on in college, some non-academic experiences showed me how much I care about helping people live happier lives in any capacity, and so I became attached to the idea of using engineering to do that. I became very attracted to the idea of working in the amusement ride design industry, and it gave me a new interest in my major. I could relate most of what I was learning to roller coasters, as weird as it sounds. (I was already an enthusiast of sorts for theme parks and roller coasters--rides are fun, you have plenty of excuses to travel, and I thoroughly enjoy seeing other people having fun and making memories. It's not designing home for the homeless, but there's something really attractive to me about using creativity to come up with new ways for people to have fun.)

The last couple terms of school were really rough, and I had to spend a lot of time reflecting on whether or not any of this was for me or if I was kidding myself. A few last big projects emotionally, physically, and spiritually drained the dickens out of me, and it was primarily due to issues with the people I was working with on them. (I couldn't recognize it then, but they were very, very controlling and toxic. I spent a lot of time wondering if that was how the "real world" of engineering would be. Very fortunately, it isn't, or it hasn't been for me, anyway.) That, and the apathy that can come with being a college senior was setting in pretty strongly. I decided that I'd come too far to give up on my dreams, and I'm really glad I did. I'm still pursuing the idea of working in the amusement industry, but I feel like I now could also be just as fulfilled by any other area where my work improves someone else's life in some way. I'm attracted to the idea of working for a non-profit, but my very "sp" upbringing makes me a little wary of the potential for financial insecurity. We'll see! My current job is not within that dream field, but the experience is helping me get closer to it, and that, among other factors, is what keeps me interested on a day-to-day basis. Perhaps there's a dream like that for you in your field.

The stereotype of STEM fields is that they are populated by Caucasian male IxTx's. For where I am now, that's accurate. Very strong Judging/Te runs amok, and being strongly oriented towards Perceiving/Ne, the large quantity of J took some getting used to. Consequently, I'm not convinced I'm not the first Ne-using person these people have ever worked with closely. Patience, precise and concise communication, a commitment to develop your own Te/Ti, and learning how to criticize your own work will go a long way. As an Ne-dom Fi-aux, I'm always tempted to come up with an off-the-wall solution to a problem, and then I want it to be appreciated. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn't. It's important to remember that there can be an easier way to do things than the way you're doing them, and it's nothing personal if someone suggests it. On the other hand, I also have, on occasion, been able to come up with an out-of-the-box idea that others hadn't considered. There were some growing pains, but now we mesh pretty well and can be honest about what we're thinking without worrying about how it should be filtered. (Thinkers aren't usually out to ruin your day and crush your hopes, as it turns out. Well, except for maybe INTJ's... Kiddingpleasedon'tpostangryreplies.)

TL;DR Give yourself a reason to be passionate about what you do, and don't be surprised if it takes work to love your coworkers. But don't waste your life convincing yourself you love something you just don't, if you just don't love computer science. Ain't nobody got time for that.

P.S. Sorry for the verbal diarrhea.

 

[PeaceBaby]

I've been a web developer for 17 years now and worked in a variety of environments over that time. Based on my experience, I would imagine you will feel more fulfilled working in a place that has a strong sense of mission and that you will be contributing to that mission with the work you are doing. So, look for opportunities in a more humanitarian capacity and that will be somewhat of a balance to the drain you may feel from having to do the work. Or, find a place that's growing like gangbusters to get your Ne sparking with ideas, you won't have too much time to get bored and it will offset some of the drudgery.

Me, I have struggled from time to time feeling like I am not as engaged with my life purpose being so heavily weighted in the tech realm. The computer and I have logged a lot of time together. Feed yourself away from your job too with activities that will help keep you balanced. Good luck!
[MENTION=8074]Seymour[/MENTION] to weigh in also

 

[Poki]

I would say, be picky about the job you take. Its the people that make or break it, not the field. We have an ENFP in our group, a very down to earth and reserved one. She is probably the most thorough programmer in our group when it comes to producing defect free code. If she doesn't understand she asks and our group is actually very functional and very open to new ideas, helping people. Actually the biggest issue in our group was when one person decided to become very negative towards people and thier ideas. We welcomed the ideas, but the other half of him saying everything is wrong and then failed to directly back it up was the only real issue our team faces as a team. Other then that, we are all very forward looking, no finger pointing, let's get things done as best we can and help each other out group. We have a vary wide range of team members. Istp, estp, enfp, entp, intj, intp, entj, etc. We all do out part and work to recognize each person's strength and help with weaknesses. Not knock each other or fight and bicker. We have another group in the company that is very much into pointing fingers and very dysfunctional as a group. When you accept make sure you get on with the right group of people. Knowledge, leaders, etc. They may get the group in the right direction, but they may do it at a cost of the group not begging happy

 

[Blackout]

I've been a web developer for 17 years now and worked in a variety of environments over that time. Based on my experience, I would imagine you will feel more fulfilled working in a place that has a strong sense of mission and that you will be contributing to that mission with the work you are doing. So, look for opportunities in a more humanitarian capacity and that will be somewhat of a balance to the drain you may feel from having to do the work. Or, find a place that's growing like gangbusters to get your Ne sparking with ideas, you won't have too much time to get bored and it will offset some of the drudgery.

Me, I have struggled from time to time feeling like I am not as engaged with my life purpose being so heavily weighted in the tech realm. The computer and I have logged a lot of time together. Feed yourself away from your job too with activities that will help keep you balanced. Good luck!
[MENTION=8074]Seymour[/MENTION] to weigh in also

What is gangbusters?

 

[PeaceBaby]

What is gangbusters?

gangbusters:

Idioms
7. go gangbusters, to be extremely successful:
The movie went gangbusters.

8. like gangbusters, with great speed, intensity, vigor, impact, or success:
The software market was growing like gangbusters. The hockey team came on at the beginning of the season like gangbusters.

Gangbuster | Define Gangbuster at Dictionary.com

 

[prplchknz]

I'm an INFP cs major i'm deciding between webdesign and database management track. I think i'd enjoy webdesign more but luckily my advisor is my web design teacher and i have to go get advised for spring, and i'll see what his opinion is. i was thinking of taking the next web course and the first database course next semester (and make a decision then) you have to take the first webdesign before you can do the database courses (which i'm taking this semester)


I don't have advice for you

 

[Poki]

I'm an INFP cs major i'm deciding between webdesign and database management track. I think i'd enjoy webdesign more but luckily my advisor is my web design teacher and i have to go get advised for spring, and i'll see what his opinion is. i was thinking of taking the next web course and the first database course next semester (and make a decision then) you have to take the first webdesign before you can do the database courses (which i'm taking this semester)


I don't have advice for you

What interests you the most in regard to database management and web design?

If you do go through database management find a good database developer. Management will teach you alot about how it works, but a good dB developer will give you insight on how to work with the db. A combination of the knowledge would create one of the best and most functional database administrators.

I have worked with alot of dba's and the knowledge of management tends to cause them to be close minded to actual needs of the developers who design and develop on the database.

 

[prplchknz]

What interests you the most in regard to database management and web design?

If you do go through database management find a good database developer. Management will teach you alot about how it works, but a good dB developer will give you insight on how to work with the db. A combination of the knowledge would create one of the best and most functional database administrators.

I have worked with alot of dba's and the knowledge of management tends to cause them to be close minded to actual needs of the developers who design and develop on the database.

database managers on average make more money, but i feel like it be too constraining, and i look design way way more. i'm happiest creating things from scratch. but i don't have a lot of experience in databases but it seems web design would allow for more creativity and more open ended options even though i'd be making half the money. and I do enjoy making web pages. I'm not sure i could be as happy in DBA as I could web design.

 

[Poki]

database managers on average make more money, but i feel like it be too constraining, and i look design way way more. i'm happiest creating things from scratch. but i don't have a lot of experience in databases but it seems web design would allow for more creativity and more open ended options even though i'd be making half the money. and I do enjoy making web pages. I'm not sure i could be as happy in DBA as I could web design.

From what I have looked into database management at the entry level is mostly maintenance of the database, the tedious work. The deeper knowledge is not yet acquired to do much else. Databases these days are crazy complicated and growing at a fast rate. Once a dba becomes good they tend to enter into a more consulting, tweaking, and troubleshooting job. None of it really deals with design or creating much of anything.

I have taken classes on db management and was about to get my oracle dba associates certificate just for the hell of it. Work paid for it so we coud expand improve our development of db with a better knowledge of how it works. Never ever took test though to become a certified associate. Not to overly stereo type, but I would say infp would be much happier in a field that allows and promotes creativity like web design. There is a side of infp that could handle dba, but that taps into a different side of them that can either be a calming if things go good or create havoc if problems arise. It's a more touchy side and things need to be more run like an STJ would run it. Hard to explain that side and not sure if I did it any justice. That side is very vague right now in my head.

 

[PeaceBaby]

I had a further thought this morning to share: I've done a lot of things in my life because I have the intellectual capacity to do them. That does not equal the passion to do them. Try to sort out early what you want to do, rather than what you can do.

 

[prplchknz]

From what I have looked into database management at the entry level is mostly maintenance of the database, the tedious work. The deeper knowledge is not yet acquired to do much else. Databases these days are crazy complicated and growing at a fast rate. Once a dba becomes good they tend to enter into a more consulting, tweaking, and troubleshooting job. None of it really deals with design or creating much of anything.

I have taken classes on db management and was about to get my oracle dba associates certificate just for the hell of it. Work paid for it so we coud expand improve our development of db with a better knowledge of how it works. Never ever took test though to become a certified associate. Not to overly stereo type, but I would say infp would be much happier in a field that allows and promotes creativity like web design. There is a side of infp that could handle dba, but that taps into a different side of them that can either be a calming if things go good or create havoc if problems arise. It's a more touchy side and things need to be more run like an ISTJ would run it. Hard to explain that side and not sure if I did it any justice. That side is very vague right now in my head.

yeah that was my thoughts. i'm leaning more towards web design but i still want to at least take the first course in dba. it wouldn't hurt i do know some really basic sql but i understand they're moving away from sql

 

[Poki]

yeah that was my thoughts. i'm leaning more towards web design but i still want to at least take the first course in dba. it wouldn't hurt i do know some really basic sql but i understand they're moving away from sql

Depends on who you talk to about sql. I work for a company that is in the top 50 list of the fortune 500 and we still heavily use sql. While we do get away from it to a degree, due to the complicated nature of what we need to do I would say 75-80% of retrieving back data is self written sql. The rest is different persistence frameworks we use that handles it all for us.

We even have some Web services that are nothing but database procedures/functions with a basic java interface that calls it. All work is done on database side comletely. That's in other groups, not my group.

Getting your feet wet is a good idea. If you need any help with db portion let me know. I suck at web design, mostly ideas is what kills me for that. Other fields I have no issues with ideas.

 

[Forever]

Welcome. Seductive avatar haha.

 

[prplchknz]

Depends on who you talk to about sql. I work for a company that is in the top 50 list of the fortune 500 and we still heavily use sql. While we do get away from it to a degree, due to the complicated nature of what we need to do I would say 75-80% of retrieving back data is self written sql. The rest is different persistence frameworks we use that handles it all for us.

We even have some Web services that are nothing but database procedures/functions with a basic java interface that calls it. All work is done on database side comletely. That's in other groups, not my group.

Getting your feet wet is a good idea. If you need any help with db portion let me know. I suck at web design, mostly ideas is what kills me for that. Other fields I have no issues with ideas.

thanks. yeah i do better with the javascript part than i do with the html and css i'm not bad at html or css but for somereason my brain can grasp syntax of programming languages faster than english. i know some c and some c++ and python and i know javascript is suppose to be one of the easier ones. but we have to put notes in our assignments and i'm usually like it's obvious if you read the code. so i just date it say end of function for the end or loop or switch statement. but i'm still in lower level classes so i'm sure as i move up documenting will become more important. i was getting c's and d's on my assignments but once we started doing javascript i've been getting a's and b's. css is actually my weakest area in that class.

 

[Poki]

database managers on average make more money, but i feel like it be too constraining, and i look design way way more. i'm happiest creating things from scratch. but i don't have a lot of experience in databases but it seems web design would allow for more creativity and more open ended options even though i'd be making half the money. and I do enjoy making web pages. I'm not sure i could be as happy in DBA as I could web design.

Money does play a role. Here in texas 50-60k allows you to live comfortable. Anything less and you start to struggle financially, anymore starts to become play money. I would shoot for something that allows you to atleast live comfortably.

 

[prplchknz]

Money does play a role. Here in texas 50-60k allows you to live comfortable. Anything less and you start to struggle financially, anymore starts to become play money. I would shoot for something that allows you to atleast live comfortably.

my life style now is most of my money goes towards rent and bills roughly 800 more or less depending. than i usually have 500 to live off for the month and i usually have around 150 left over because i don't buy a lot of things and spend about 35-40 on food a week average and very rarely eat out. plus my i see my mom once a month i either go to her house or she comes here either way she always send me back with food or brings food. she brought home made chili last time i've about finished it. oh and some frozen french onion soup.

 

[Poki]

my life style now is most of my money goes towards rent and bills roughly 800 more or less depending. than i usually have 500 to live off for the month and i usually have around 150 left over because i don't buy a lot of things and spend about 35-40 on food a week average and very rarely eat out. plus my i see my mom once a month i either go to her house or she comes here either way she always send me back with food or brings food. she brought home made chili last time i've about finished it. oh and some frozen french onion soup.

As long as you are including retirement, savings, upkeep for things like cars, furniture, electronics etc. All those things add up and quickly even if you stay fairly frugal.