The Most Recommended Careers for INTJs

This post groups careers recommended for INTJs across the web into four groups, from the frequently mentioned possibilities to the universally recommended options.  For a more in-depth consideration of careers taking into account salary, job outlook, and job satisfaction in addition to personality fit, please see “10 Best Careers for INTJs and INTPs.”

At a crossroads in my professional life, I’ve been investigating ideal careers for artistic, socially-conscious INTJs like myself [1]. Many online sources (noted at the end of this post) provide lists of possible careers based on your Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), but their suggestions can seem like personal “brainstorm lists” and sometimes contradict other lists. Team Technology did the most thorough assessment, actually surveying employees to learn about their professional preferences by personality type.[2] Most include a variety of jobs within them; for example, “Cardiologist,” “Psychiatrist,” and “Neurologist” were all recommendations for INTJs, but I just grouped them under “Doctor.”

• Tier IV – Possibilities: Three careers fall into this tier, which includes strong possibilities for INTJs that are not consistently recommended across all sites. Every single “brainstorm list” recommends that Scientist is a viable career path for INTJs, but actual scientists surveyed by Team Technology were, on average, not of this personality type. In contrast, only one “brainstorm” list suggests Human Resources for INTJs, but it is recommended by Team Technology’s surveys. However, all but two personality types appear in the Human Resources mandala, so it’s not a particularly unique field for INTJs [4]. Urban/environmental planners came up on over half the brainstorm lists but do not seem to have been included in Team Technology’s study [5].
• Tier III – Good Options: At least 3 out of 5 “brainstorm lists” suggest Computer Programmers/Specialists, Doctors, Artists, and Economists/Auditors as possible INTJ careers, and Team Technology’s surveys of employees back up these recommendations. All of these would make good choices for INTJs, though Team Technology does make a distinction between Artists and the other three that you may wish to consider.
  
  

  INTJs, this could be you!

• Tier II – Excellent Options: Like Tier II options, all of these are suggested by most “brainstorm lists,” but I have moved them up a notch for one of two reasons. Lawyers/Judges and Engineers are recommended by all of these lists, showing an overall consensus that they are excellent choices for INTJs. Kiersey’s site happens to not mention Military Officers and Writers [3] in its description of careers for INTJs, but it is clear that the write-up is not meant to be exhaustive, and the survey results from Team Technology suggest these as good options even more than the previous two.
• Tier I – Best Options: Four careers are almost universally recommended for INTJs and therefore make the cut here as the top recommendations. The clearest recommendations are Professor/Researchers and Consultants / Strategic Planners, which every single “brainstorm list” suggests and which are on both of Team Technology’s lists. [6] Also strongly recommended are Designers and Managers, but these careers are more vague. For “Designers,” Team Technology’s surveys included mostly graphic designers, but other sites also recommended web site designers, curriculum designers, special effects designers, and architects, which do not seem to fit into any better category on Team Technology’s site. As for “Managers,” Team Technology includes nearly 70 different jobs in this category, and, not surprisingly, it is recommended for nearly every personality type. A more careful assessment of this vague “career” is likely in order. [4]

Of course, the best career choice is not necessarily the one that happens to show up on the most lists. Social impact, possibility for artistic expression, and income are important considerations that personality test do not consider in when making recommendations. In my next post, I will review the most lucrative of the most highly recommended careers for INTJs.

Sources Used for Ranking Career Possibilities: Ordered from best to worst, but all are valuable.

1. INTJ Careers: A List of Professional Jobs: List of careers actually based on original survey research.
   
2. Rationals – Finding Knowledge & Competence: A descriptive approach to defining career options enhances the persuasiveness, and the Keirsey approach overall seems accurate.
3. Wayne State College Advising Services: INTJ: Advice drawn from a number of different sources, a couple of which are included here.
4. Jedi Girl & Personality Page: Both straightforward lists surrounded by reasonable explanations, but not backed by data or research.
5. INTJ (Strategist) Personality Type – Jung, Myers and Briggs: The best-looking and well-organized page overall, but sources for career suggestions are not clear.

Notes

1. I also looked at a few careers that I thought of myself, but discarded most of them for a poor fit with the INTJ personality. I have the credentials to be a Real Estate Developer, which is also a decent way to make a living, but nothing like this appeared anywhere on recommendation lists for INTJs. “Chief Executive” is a better fit for an ENTJ, though I want to investigate CFO or COO to see if those versions of the role could work. Although Foundation Officer did not appear on any lists, this job is fairly unique and probably not included in most studies, so I’m keeping it under consideration for future investigation.
2. Careers that were on one list but not others include Nurse, Mortgage Broker, Corrections Officer, Librarian, Clergy, Counselor, Marketing Specialist. Entrepreneurs/Self-Employed individuals surveyed strongly as INTJs with Team Technology but are suggested as INTJs only once elsewhere.
3. You may notice that “Writer/editor” appears only in one list on Team Technology’s INTJ, just like the options I placed in Tier III. However, the vague “Technical Specialist” in List 1 actually refers mostly to Technical Writers, so I took this as a strong recommendation for INTJs as Writers.
4. At some point, reviewing career recommendations feels like reading horoscopes; the recommendations are so broad and written in such generic language that you get the feeling that all the recommendations for other personality types might be applicable to you too. Indeed, “Human Resources”, “Marketing”, and “Manager” seem to be universal recommendations for almost any personality type. If you are confused about your personality type, go for one of these careers; with little exception, you can’t go wrong!
5. I used to think Urban Planning was the perfect career choice. Indeed, INTJs like me are quite prevalent in the field, as this forum of planners indicates, but I was unable to get my head around how planning address both my artistic proclivities and social equity issues while I was in grad school. Bicycles and public transportation, affordable housing (i.e., knowing what’s best for poor people), gentrification, architecture, worshipping Manhattan, and hating suburbs: what’s not to like for a righteously liberal white boy like myself, especially if you get to study at a fancy Ivy League for graduate school? Unfortunately, I was unable to overcome my own argument that social equity and elitist design co-exist only in utopia. In addition, earning the same salary after graduate school as I was getting beforehand made me wonder why I don’t just go back to work in the non-profit world, and, until recently, that’s exactly what I did.
6. Professors/Researchers supposedly have a preference for their “primary function” of “Introverted iNtuition” while Consultants prefer their “auxiliary function” of “Extroverted Thinking.” For more information in this terminology, please visit their page on the Myers Briggs – Dynamic Model, but do not expect to find more insight into the precise distinction between people who prefer their primary over their secondary function and vice versa.

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