Make A Career Using Your Personality

We all value and appreciate the power of personality and the doors it can open for you – and that is especially true for when you’re looking to securing employment. Often hiring managers have to choose from a number of suitability qualified candidates they’ve met and in the end they lean towards who’ll be the ‘best fit’ based on their personality.

But what about before you even got called to meet that hiring manager – did you use your personality to decide if the role was right for you? Well if you didn’t, perhaps you should give it a little more consideration……

What’s Your Type?

When it comes to forming relationships, most of us would say we had a particular ‘type’ of person, one which we’re drawn to in terms of their characteristics and the way in which they think or approach things.

Perhaps there’s certain personality traits that we find particularly attractive, or which we relate to and appreciate. By identifying these traits in someone else, then you know that there’s a good chance you’ll be a good match and whether it’s a case of friendship or romance, knowing what your type of person is will set the foundations to allow that relationship to blossom.

As we also come to realise in life, there’s also certain types of people which we know to avoid and tend to affect us in some way that is detrimental to our own well-being or behaviour. I’m sure we can all think of a situation we were experiencing absolute incompatibility with someone, either romantically, professionally or socially.

Being able to distinguish ‘your kind of person’ will mean you will surround yourself with people who make you happy, fulfilled and productive, instead of the type of people who leave you feeling drained and frustrated.

So surely it makes sense to apply the same approach to choosing your career path? If you get it right, you’ll bounce out of bed in the morning looking forward to the days work ahead, but get it wrong, and the burden of being in a job you don’t like will weigh heavily on you and those closest to you, because you won’t be much fun to be around if you’re dedicating 40 hours a week to something you don’t like doing.

What Type Are You?

Most people will fall into one of the 6 categories displayed in this personality hexagon. Look at each one to see what is most like you – do you fall into a specific category, or perhaps you are a combination of more than one?

Each category is an indication of the how each personality type is orientated differently in their approach to work, along with identifying the types of tasks that they enjoy versus tasks that do not appeal.

If you are working in a job and the duties involved with it sit in the same segment that relates most to your personality, then you are going to be happy working in that type of role, will enjoy the tasks and challenges it presents and you will get a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction from what you’re doing.

However, when the work you’re doing is incompatible with your personality type, then the likelihood is you’re either going through the motions and bored, or even worse, the work you’re doing may be making you depressed and feeling unhappy in your situation.

What Type of Job is the Best Fit?

This table provides some examples of which type of personality is most compatible with our own, as well as providing a few examples of different occupations that would be best suited to your personality type.

Using this as a guide, you will be able to identify the right role for you. Some might seem obvious, others not so much. But if you stay true to who you are in yourself and apply the same criteria to your choice of work and what the job entails, then you will no longer think of your job as work, but instead, being paid to do something you enjoy doing and which gives you a sense of satisfaction – plus you’ll probably be a top performer at what you do!

Personality vs Character

As well as being able to match a job to your personality type, another important aspect to consider is the type of character you are. But aren’t they same thing I hear you ask? Well not quite, as there is a difference. Personality shows to the world what you are on the outside, whereas character reveals what you are on the inside.

Personality refers to the combination of qualities, attitude and behaviors that makes a person distinct from others. Character refers to a set of moral and mental qualities and beliefs that are important to that person.

They’re easily confused, but once you understand the difference between them and how they affect your interpretation of people, organisation and opportunities, then you will become an expert at making the right choices for everything that makes you who you are and will help you keep on being true to yourself – at work and in life!