March 5, 2018, by Carla

Why Your Personality Is the Key to Finding Your Ideal Profession

By Rebecca Heasman, Employability Officer, Sutton Bonington Campus

Many people say that pursuing your passion is the key to finding career fulfilment and success. But have you ever stopped to think that understanding your personality preferences and characteristics could be just as important? Identifying your natural tendencies and patterns of thinking, feeling and acting is a really good way to find the right role for you.

What do we mean by personality preferences?

A preference is what you like. For instance, you may prefer sweet popcorn to salted popcorn. This doesn’t mean that you won’t sometimes choose to eat salted popcorn, but in general, you prefer sweet. There are no right or wrong preferences, and each preference has its own strengths and challenges.

One of the best-known and widely used methods for determining your personality preference is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This is based on the work of the famous Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Jung. It determines what your preferences are, based on how you are likely to react and behave in different situations. For example, each of us will approach life from a different angle. We all have our own ways of making decisions and take in information differently.

Interested in finding out more about your personality preferences? Complete Profiling for Success based on Jung’s theory under the section ‘I want an in-depth look’

Why is it important when thinking about my career?

Not everyone is suited to working with data in the same way that not everyone is best placed in customer-facing roles. You might thrive working closely with others or work best independently. We’re all different, so it’s important to understand those differences and embrace them. Being self-aware can help you to use this knowledge to your advantage in the world of work.

Understanding your personality type and identifying where you feel most comfortable can significantly affect your career choice. It can also impact on how happy you feel at work. Extensive research suggests that people experience more job satisfaction when they can express and use their preferences in a work environment that corresponds with their attitudes and values.

For example, take this study conducted by a team of psychologists at the University of Zurich. They found that people who can apply their personal character strengths in their career experience found more enjoyment and meaning at work.

Why does it matter when I’m looking for jobs?

Employers understand the importance of personality. That’s why more and more companies are using psychometric profiling during the application process. They want to take the time to determine whether you are the right cultural fit for their business.

Why? Because they’re looking for candidates who are going to stay with them, and grow with them. They know that employees who are happiest at work perform the best. They also know that skills can be learned, but you can’t train people to change their personality. Read more about situational judgement tests.

So, why not take some time for self-reflection this week and think about how your personality type could influence your career?

You can read more about psychometric testing and find out how to get access to practice tests on our website. Remember, you can also book an appointment with one of our careers advisers to talk this through in more detail.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on LinkedIn