What do you want to do when you grow up? For some of us younger INFJs (including myself), we worry about this topic quite regularly. As INFJs, we have a few careers that tend to best suit us. I like to think about it in Star Wars terms. When we find the right career, we fill with great power and purpose, as if we had the Force. Yet, with the wrong career choice, INFJs tend to fizzle out like a broken lightsabre.
Careers to Avoid for the INFJ
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INFJs struggle in atmospheres without room for creativity, independence, and quiet. You probably know someone who has a nasty habit of drumming their fingers on the desk or chewing like a cow. INFJs in particular struggle with noise while trying to work. For jobs with many surrounding people and lots of noise, you might as well hit the INFJ's panic buttion.
Furthermore, INFJs require a sense of purpose in their careers. INFJs struggle to stay motivated within a career they feel makes no difference in the world. INFJs, with their primary functions of N (intuitive) and F (feeling), need a cause to devote themselves to. The INFJ type rarely finds more happiness than in helping others and achieving good. In a career without this, INFJs will end up unmotivated and uninspiried; and no one wants an unmotivated and uninspiried INFJ because they may slip down the rabbit hole into depression or anxiety.
A list of the least likely successful careers for INFJs is as follows: hands-on jobs like construction workers or mechanical workers, desk jobs like analysts or accountants, or overtly extraverted jobs like sales representatives or real estate agents.
Top Career Choices for the INFJ
With the worst careers in mind, the opposite of these conditions make a good work atmosphere for INFJs: quiet, a sense of purpose, independence, room for creativity, etc. Due to this lengthy list of desirable conditions, many INFJs prefer work outside of an organized office or corporation.
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Also, most INFJs tend to communicate better through writing than oral conversation; as a result, many INFJs thrive in writing-based careers, such as creative writing, editing, journalism, and so forth. Although INFJs often have a talent for writing, they also carefully guard their privacy and suffer from perfectionist tendencies, so may hesitate before sharing their writing.
Additionally, INFJs often do well in psychology fields, such as counseling and social work. The opportunity to serve and understand others endears these careers to INFJs. Some INFJs may struggle with these careers because of the high-level of emotions, and INFJs tend to suffer more from emotional stress than the other Myers Briggs types.
Other potential successful careers for INFJs are as follows: health-care, such as physical therapist or physician, which allows for INFJs to help others and exercise their intellectual capabilities; other creative arts, such as art and graphic design, as INFJs then may use their imaginiation and creativity; and education careers, especially those with opportunities for smaller group or one-on-one teaching.
The most important element in all of these careers is that the INFJ will feel a sense of purpose. You could compare an INFJ without a sense of purpose to a Jedi without a lightsabre; they complete each other.
INFJs and Leadership Positions
Nelson Mandela once said, "Lead from the back—and let others believe they are in front." INFJs live by this motto. When needed, INFJs will easily step up to the plate and expertly lead, but they prefer to quietly control without making a fuss. With their need for independence and dislike of being controlled, in many cases, INFJs make better leaders than employees. Yet, INFJs also struggle with decisive decision-making, ordering others around, and being forced to fire or admonish others. This conflict drives many INFJs to avoid leadership positions, yet they also struggle with the limitations of being under another's influence. As a result, many INFJs seek careers outside the typical hierarchy system. However, INFJs can still find satisfaction in a leadership position, so long as they occasionally trascend their introversion and channel their inner Donald Trump.