ISTJ “Take Your Time and Do It Right”
As an ISTJ, career satisfaction means doing work that:
- Is technical and lets you depend on your ability to use and remember
important facts and details. - Involves a real product or service done in a thoughtful, logical, and efficient way,
preferably using standard operating procedures. - Lets you be independent, with plenty of time to work alone and use your excellent
powers of concentration to complete projects and/or tasks. - Is done in a stable and traditional environment, where you will not be required to
take unnecessary risks or use untested or experimental approaches. - Has results that are tangible and measurable, where precision and exacting
standards are used and respected. - Has explicit objectives and a clearly defined organizational structure.
- Gives you adequate time to prepare before presenting or turning in your work,
preferably in a one-on-one or small group setting. - Gives you increasing levels of responsibility, with a minimum of social politics,
where you are evaluated on how well you have achieved the requirements of the
job description and are appreciated for your contributions. - Is done in an environment where your practical judgment and experience are
valued and rewarded. - Allows you to set and reach stated goals by providing you with the necessary
resources.
Work-Related Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths - Precise and accurate in all work.
- Follow established routines and procedures.
- Have excellent powers of concentration and are able to work alone
without the need for socializing. - Great maintainer of organizations.
- Stable, dependable, and can be counted on to follow through.
Weaknesses - May have trouble adapting to changing systems.
- May need to see the practical applications to accept new ideas.
- Tend not to like change; may be inflexible.
- May not understand needs different from their own.
- May underestimate themselves and their contribution to the organization.
Pathways to Success In the Job Search
As an ISTJ, your most effective strategies will build on your abilities to:
- Research career options complexly and conduct thorough data collection. Be
patient in collecting information during the gathering stage of your job search.
Remember that it often takes several months to find the right job. Network on a
limited basis with people who know you well, especially those who have worked
with in the past who are in different jobs, or people they recommend. - Carefully prepare your marketing materials. Look at your resume and cover
letters with an objective eye. Ask yourself what kind of message they send about
you. Are they an accurate reflection of you? Be sure to include work
accomplishments from your recent and more distant past and have letters of
recommendation ready if needed. - Patiently follow companies’ recruitment and personnel procedures. Ask or
read about company hiring procedures as part of your overall information
gathering. Tailor your approach to the way the system works. Demonstrate the
kind of employee you will be by going through appropriate channels, using the
system, and respecting the chain of command. - Follow through on all details. Focus your energy on completing large and small
tasks relating to your job search. Include mapping out a general plan, keeping
track of your progress, writing thank you letters, and making follow-up calls. Stay
organized. Demonstrate your skills and don’t be afraid to be persistent, showing
your interest in a particular job. - Make thoughtful, practical decisions. Ask for the time you need to carefully
consider a job offer. Let your prospective employer know that you take your
commitments seriously and want to give the offer the same attention you give to
all of your responsibilities. Take a realistic look at the current job market and your
skills. Employ your logical reasoning to help you make logical decisions.
Possible Pitfalls - Consider career possibilities that are less obvious. Look for career possibilities
that don’t currently exist. Get help generating a long list of potential careers in
which you are interested. Also look for careers that require the same skills you
have, even if your skills are in a different field. Resist the urge to rule options out
as unrealistic simply because you lack direct experience in the field. - Don’t overlook the implications of your decisions. Try imagining yourself in
any job you are considering. Imagine yourself five, ten, or twenty years from
now. Is there growth potential? Opportunities to change areas or add
responsibility? Develop a set of long-term and short-range goals to use as a
measuring stick during your search. Compare potential jobs against both sets of
goals to discover if you might be selling out a future goal for a short-range
objective. - Avoid the tendency to be overcautious and rigid in your thinking. Try to keep
yourself open to the possibility of doing something very different than you have
in the past. Consider taking some reasonable and necessary risks to find career
satisfaction. Continue to get help or counsel from friends or professionals if you
think you might be slipping back into a routine in your thinking. - Remember to consider the human element in your search. Take the time to
think about your true feelings and motivation as well as what makes logical sense,
and what you are technically qualified for. Ask yourself what’s really important to
you in your life, as well as your work, and make sure you aren’t compromising
the former. Pay attention to the interpersonal subtleties during the interview
process. Engage in what you may consider frivolous niceties simply because you
now know that other people consider them important. - Express enthusiasm for the job and aggressively market yourself. Let people
know if you really are interested in a particular job. Generate energy and
enthusiasm for yourself and the position. Try not to underestimate your abilities
and what you have to contribute to an organization. Demonstrate your confidence
in yourself by talking about your accomplishments in the past and what you could
offer the company
Ken Meyer
Myers Briggs Master Practitioner and Retired Senior Career Coach at Eastern Michigan University
