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[ISFJ] ISFJ at a career crossroads...

biv017

New member
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
3
MBTI Type
ISXJ
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1
Hey all,

I'm new to this forum - thought I would start by introducing myself...

Recently I was introduced to the MBTI at work and was intrigued by the accuracy of the results. My result in that test was ISFJ - but I had quite a high Thinking score as well, so I probably share some characteristics with ISTJ's. Despite this, the descriptions of ISFJ are spookily accurate for me - even my boss said she couldn't have written a better description of me if she tried. It's like the test knew me better than I knew myself!

I must admit I've joined this forum for a bit of a selfish reason... I need some advice. I've been struggling in a job for around the last year that is clearly not right for me. It's basically an ISFJ's nightmare: changing requirements and tasks, lack of routine, having to juggle 20 balls in the air at once, focus on results over relationships, etc. It has been driving me crazy basically since I started, but it wasn't until I did the MBTI that I realised why I was having such a hard time with it!

I was never planning to stay in this job for very long (it was always just going to be a temp thing). While at the moment to the outsider I appear to be coping ok with my current job... it is only with a lot of concentration and energy. It is frustrating because as an ISFJ, I would much prefer to be using this energy for relationships and caring for others, both inside and outside of work. So my attention has now turned to working out what my next career move should be.

My educational background is in marketing, but the best job I have ever had has been working in research for a government agency. I liked the routine in this job, and enjoyed being analytical (maybe this was the high Thinking score), but still struggled with the multi-tasking involved. Since I don't want to retrain, I'm trying to come up with some way I can use my degree in line with my personality type. Based on personality websites, I've worked out that the following would make for an ideal job for me:
- Stable / secure
- Team based / contact with people
- Able to concentrate on one thing at a time
- Structured procedures
- Analytical
- Good work/life balance
- Ability to help others

Unfortunately, the typical jobs suggested for ISFJ's are nurses, librarians or secretaries. None of these particularly interst me and would involve retraining.

Sorry about the long post. If you've managed to read this far, I would appreciate your thoughts or suggestions. Do you have any ideas on jobs I could do that would suit my qualifications and personality? Or do you think I should try and return to the research field and just work harder on my ability to multi-task?

Thanks! :)
 
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