As an ESFP, career satisfaction means doing work that:
1. Lets you learn from hands-on experience, where you look for solutions to problems by gathering all the facts at your disposal and using common sense.
2. Lets you get personally involved in the tasks at hand, working directly with clients or customers, out in the field rather than away from the action.
3. Lets you work with lots of other people in an active and social environment, with variety, fun, and spontaneity.
4. Requires skillful handling of people and conflicts, the ability to ease tensions to help groups work more cooperatively, and the ability to motivate others.
5. Lets you juggle multiple projects or activities, especially those that utilize your aesthetic taste and sense of design.
6. Let you interact throughout the workday with other easygoing and social people who share your enthusiasm, energy, and realistic point of view.
7. Let you work on projects that are of immediate utility and take into account the needs of people around you.
8. Is done in a friendly and relaxed environment, without hidden political agendas.
9. Rewards for your hard work and good intentions and where you feel appreciated for your contributions.
10. Lets you have fun, enjoy everyday surprises, and where there is a minimum of bureaucracy, rules, or restrictions.
Work-related strengths and weaknesses of ESFPs include:
Strengths
· Practical and realistic, with great common sense.
· Enjoy active jobs; adapt well to change and variety.
· Create a lively and fun atmosphere at work.
· Good communicator person and on the phone.
· Inspire affection from co-workers and clients.
Weaknesses
· May not plan or anticipate implications of actions.
· Tend to be impulsive and easily tempted and distracted.
· May have difficulty working alone even for brief periods.
· Have difficulty disciplining self and others.
· May have trouble reading between the lines and seeing underlying meanings.
Implications for the Job Search
Pathways to Success
As an ESFP, your most effective strategies will build on your abilities to:
· Establish rapport and sell yourself. Present yourself as a member of a work team, eager to take on new challenges and get along well with others. Demonstrate your ability to adapt to new situations and remain cool in a crisis.
· Use your common sense and ability to adapt to turn unexpected problems into opportunities. Demonstrate your ability to troubleshoot by recalling for interviewers how you have successfully managed problems in past jobs. Look for ways of explaining how your skills can be used in different work situations.
· Demonstrate a willingness to compromise, be flexible in negotiations. Decide ahead of time what criteria are of critical importance to you in a job and which ones are not. Demonstrate your flexibility by giving in on less important points
· Gather a great deal of information, using your keen powers of observation and your ability to get others to talk. Talk directly with people working for the company you are considering to learn about some of the less obvious but very important elements worth considering. Notice what people wear, and what staff offices and lounge areas are like, to be sure that the position you are considering is in a place where you wish to spend your day.
· Conduct lots of informational interviews, using your large network of friends and associates. Most people are happy to help you, so ask them to refer you to others who may know of available jobs. Call on the assistance of past employers who know personally your abilities and skills. Ask informational interviewers to look at your list of skills and help you brainstorm other kinds of jobs or careers you might be well suited or qualified for.
Possible Pitfalls
· Invest the time preparing a job search plan before jumping in. Spend some time reflecting on where you have been and where you wish to see yourself in the near and distant future to add a long-range perspective to your thinking. Examine your real needs in a career and your true motivations before rushing into action.
· Consider possibilities in addition to those that currently exist. Generate a list of possibilities without prejudging any of them during the process. Include even those that seem outlandish or those for which you may not consider yourself qualified. Ask a creative friend to help you imagine what you might do outside of your current career area and list how your skills might transfer to another area.
· Develop and follow through on your job search plan. Even the tedious parts of the job following phone calls, sending thank you notes after informational interviews, and calling back to check on a possible availability-are important to finding the right job. Resist the urge to drop what you’ve started when a more interesting situation arises or when friends invite you to socialize. It sometimes helps to look at a job search as a job in itself.
· Try not to take rejection personally. If it happens, remember that you are being turned down for a job only. Many employers make very impersonal decisions, and it is not a personal rejection of you. Try not to let yourself get discouraged when things don’t happen as quickly as you would like them to. Finding the right job can take several months, but career satisfaction is worth the wait and the hard work.
· Don’t put off making decisions. Waiting to gather enough information before making a decision can be wise. However, if you wait too long, your opportunities may be eliminated and choices made for you. Use some critical thinking to see the cause and effect of the options you are considering. Ruling out options can help you focus on the best choices for you.
Ken Meyer
Myers Briggs Master Practitioner and Retired Senior Career Coach at Eastern Michigan University
