When you choose a career that matches your personality, you are more likely to be happy and earn more money. What more could you want? Let’s look at what goes into this process and options to discover your personality traits and match them to a career.
Be happy
Having a career that matches your interests and personality is far more likely to keep you actively engaged, interested, and happy. Conversely, working in a career that doesn’t match your personality can result in a stressful and unrewarding work environment. Your specific personality (based on a wide range of tests) makes you more suited for certain jobs. Understanding your personality type can help you find the career and work environment in which you will most likely be happy. And happiness leads to success.
Earn more
A 2018 European research study published in Psychological Science established a direct correlation between people whose careers “fit” their personality and financial rewards. Studying over 8,000 workers, the researchers found that the people with the best fit between their personality and their job earned up to a month’s salary more each year. It only makes sense, right? People whose personalities match their jobs are more likely to be happy; happy people are more productive, and more productive people earn more money.
Understand your personality
Before you can choose a career that matches your personality, you need to have a solid understanding of your strengths and weaknesses and other traits that will determine what careers/work environments are best for you. A doctor who was researching the topic of “career choice” for a study at Eastern University in Sri Lanka closed her report with this observation: “I believe that individuals must know themselves and use that self-knowledge as a tool when making a career choice.”
A test you can’t fail
To help you better define your personality, there are countless “tests” available. Many are based on the original personality theories of John Holland, considered to be the pioneer of personality typing. His tests categorize people based on six “types” – Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. Other tests are structured like the Myers‑Briggs® assessment, which assigns a 4-letter personality type (i.e. ENTJ, INTP, etc.) based on how you answer a series of questions.
Many employers are also using these same tests to determine how applicants’ personalities would “fit” into established work environments, departments, teams, etc.
Following are some of the tests designed to assess your personality, interests, and values, and offer suggestions as to careers for which you would be best suited. If nothing else, these tests are kind of fun to take, and you might find something out about yourself that you didn’t know before.
Jung Typology Test – based on Personality Type Theory
Finding Potential: ‘Individuals’ Personality Questionnaire
SimilarMinds.com: ‘What Career Suits Me’?
Psychology Today: Career Personality & Aptitude Test
Career Fitter – Work Personality Analysis
My Next Move – Interest Profiler
Use tests to guide you
These personality/career tests are not the end-all answer. They are guides to help you choose a career. If every test says you have the personality of a world-renowned street performer, but you hate working in front of people… don’t feel the need to paint your face and put on a beret. There are lots of introverted people who succeed in sales, and lots of extroverted people who thrive crunching numbers in an office away from people.
Let C2C help guide you as well
If the perfect career for you requires a degree (and many of them do), Complete 2 Compete can help you match your career choice to a degree. C2C helps Mississippi adults identify the clearest pathway to completing their degree. They also provide the support of a C2C coach – who will help guide you through the process of earning your degree. Contact C2C today and see how close you may be to completing your degree.
