INFP occupations.
I'm just curious what this forum's INFPs do for a living... I'm aware of the common fields INFPs tend to end up in... but I'm just curios where you actually have ended up.
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INFP occupations.
I'm just curious what this forum's INFPs do for a living... I'm aware of the common fields INFPs tend to end up in... but I'm just curios where you actually have ended up.
Where I ended up . . . lol . . . for some reason I find that funny . . . is at home taking care of the house and indulging my every whim. I married for money.
But my favorite jobs included Human Resources where I wrote policy and procedures and employee handbooks, speeches for my boss along with composing letters and memos. I was giving the general idea and had the freedom of expression within context. I love that!
Then I balanced the daily cash flow for the same company, in another position obviously. I balanced the books on paper and then on the computer and generated daily, monthly, yearly cash reports. I loved that job too. I think here it was being able to finish my work daily even though I did the same thing everyday. I think this overflows with the first job I mentioned in that having a completed project with my name on it suites me well. I don't work well in groups/part of a team.
Humm. Generating ideas is one thing I just can't do. Cone always bugs me to write and I keep asking, "write about what?" He reminds me that I have tons of journals. Yeah . . . but they are a record of my thoughts and ideas and not something you could put together in any related way.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herzblut
I guess I have no imagination. In fact when Cone and his sister used to ask what if? questions . . . those relating to fantasy. I would tell them emphatically that I deal in reality and fantasy does not exist. You get the idea . . .
I'm not yet out of school, but I've met INFps doing the following occupations: opera singer (who works at a law firm during the day to pay the bills, lol), chef at a restaurant, and my favorite English teacher. I myself have done the following:
- freelance writing for local newspapers/journals/magazines
- worked at Borders Books and Music
- worked at a local music shop
- feeding cats, dogs, and rats at an animal shelter
- freelance web-design
- artist-in-residence for a small opera company; I got asked to design posters and programmes
And this is exactly what I'm going to probly end up doing... -_-Quote:
the long term goal for me is to create some stable income so I can freely dedicate myself to music production.
My longterm goal is become the second coming of Christ. :D That or a musician.
bah, that sucks :) we're all going to die at only 27.
Well folks, I've reached that critical juncture in my life in which I have to make some tough decisions about my future (read: I'm applying to grad school). I have a number of internships coming up that will probably help me decide which careers I like (or don't like) best, but in the meantime I'd like to ask if you know of any careers that INFps have found success and happiness in.
MBTI (which I often disagree with) usually lists counselor, teacher, social worker, etc, as optimal INFp careers, but I sometimes wonder how many INFps actually ARE in these professions. I also dislike MBTI's narrow focus on :Fe: jobs for INFps - psychological types are much more versatile and dynamic than that system gives them credit for. In a perfect world I'd be a freelance artist, but my current skill level is not what it needs to be, and even if it was, I doubt it would pay the bills.
The few adult INFps I know are:
a freelance bookseller (former teacher)
a hospital administrator (oversees Medicare patients' medical records)
a psychologist
and
a library assistant
What do you all think? Thanks :).
There is no such thing as an "INFp career." Do what you want to do. There's some crazy jobs out there in the world that you can't even dream of. Socionics accounts for only 16 possibilities. Obviously, you're much more complex than that. It's also a fairly young theory (and even Jung's psychological types have gone mostly unnoticed/disregarded for some very good reasons), so we don't know how far the theory actually extends... so it would be very unwise and perhaps very dangerous to let it influence you at such a critical juncture in your life. You know yourself better than Socionics does, after all.
Be open to everything. And I mean everything. Be open to becoming a completely different person a year from now, even.
your personality profile, analyzed by all of your posts in this forum, suggests that the following professions may be suitable:
farm assistant
truck driver
elementary school janitor
pretzel vendor
mortician
gravedigger
hobo
Yeah, good point. I suppose spending so much time on these forums has led me to think far too much in terms of "type" instead of "person."
But I don't intend to make any serious decisions based on what's posted here; I'm just looking for some food for thought.
Let's not forget your career profile:Quote:
your personality profile, analyzed by all of your posts in this forum, suggests that the following professions may be suitable:
farm assistant
truck driver
elementary school janitor
pretzel vendor
mortician
gravedigger
hobo
Crash test dummy
Dog food taster
Prison pen pal
Manure inspector
Dating show reject
Criminal sketch model
Go-go dancer
Bugger off.
:lol: Actually I quite enjoyed niffweed's post. I don't think he meant to make a commentary on your intelligence, but rather to demonstrate how ridiculous it would be to base such an important decision on a personality theory. It's basically a parody of those stupid MBTI career things you'd mentioned.Quote:
Originally Posted by uninspired
Some GREAT food for thought is actually just to check out the Roadtrip Nation site. <- it's a PBS show in which three students set out on a roadtrip to learn more about uncharted and individualistic career paths by interviewing people with some rather fascinating stories. You can watch a lot of the interviews on the website. It's really interesting, and pretty uplifting.
really? you think i would be a good dog food taster? i've worked extensively in the field of dog food research, without much success. in fact, i was laid off by three different dog food companies for putting arsenic in the food machines and killing the dogs.Quote:
Originally Posted by uninspired
i think a criminal sketch model would be a much more lucrative career for me.
no; that's not it at all. rather, i can clearly tell from uninspired's extensive use of the word "the" that he would make a terrible cardiologist. i mean, what would you think if your cardiologist went around saying "the" all the time?Quote:
Originally Posted by Baby
all other professions other than those listed are similarly infeasible.
Ah, true. But do you really think this guy is pretzel vendor material? Surely his comma usage indicates otherwise. I give him two weeks on the corner of 11th & 3rd before he realizes that he's just not cut out for it and has a breakdown.
you might be right about that, but his extensive use of parentheses leads me to believe otherwise.
Ah, I hadn't thought about the parentheses. Good point... Still, those commas are hard to ignore. Best to be safe than sorry, though. We don't want him to think he can just go about pursuing anything now. Once you let him be a pretzel vendor, he'll think he's got the balls to pursue a career stocking the shelves at Safeway. It's recipe for disaster. No one who uses commas like that could ever be a shelf-stocker.
I think taking it to either extreme is wrong. To say that an INFp can do any job and be happy is, in my opinion, irresponsible. The fact is that most people have shitty jobs that they hate, some people even worked hard to get their job because they thought they'd like it... but they don't realize this until ten years down the road and then they have an existential crisis and find something like socionics and are like wow I wish I had this information beforehand...... I'm INFp and i find it's very important to me that I find the right job. It would be stupid for me to believe that I'm going to "change" over night and suddenly love to do aimless repetitive tasks all day. While the whole individualistic mind frame that our culture perpetuates is attractive it's also bull shit. Yes we are individuals but no we can't do anything and find happiness in it, I think the increased amounts of prescription drugs being dished out should make that evident. Especially when first entering a career it therefore would be clever to err on the safe side. If Socionics is bull-shit and you end up hating a job that's supposed to be for INFps well then at least you learned something. But if you get it in your mind that you can do anything and be happy and then get stuck in a job whilst lying to yourself every day that it's going to get better, at the same time paralyzed to change careers for fear of failing and losing your financial security, then one day you'll realize you fell into the same stupid trap so many others do, may as well marry an ESTj.Quote:
Originally Posted by Baby
Socionics articles that I've read, (in machine translated russian but hey it's readable), all indicate we're best in "humanitarian" activities and not well suited towards business or industrial activity. By "humanitarian" is indicated anything having to do with the arts and personal expression - anything having to do with writing, media etc. The limit of socionics is that it won't tell you exactly what you'll like, obviously writing for a magazine you hate is not going to be a good job for you. On the other hand you'd likely enjoy doing so for one you loved. Your passions, what inspires you, only know or only you can find out. I'm still working on it myself.
And I agree MBTI is groundless and I don't see how an INFp would enjoy being a teacher (in elementary/highschool) or a social worker. No socionics articles I've read have listed these professions. Socionics INFps need jobs that value Ni, jobs where fellow employees also value Ni.
Anyways as an INFp I'm hoping of getting masters in Library information sciences and then seeking employment in some kind of cool government institution. I was also thinking of maybe museum curator or something along those lines. I figure by working in a library/museum I'll a) have access to priceless information b) have the priceless know-how on how to acquire priceless information and c) if worse comes to worse and I hate my job be able to use these abilities to enter a diverse field like journalism.
You missed the most important line of my post:
And quite frankly, I think it's a shame that you are aligning your personal preferential career paths with the Socionic designation "INFp." Do something you would enjoy doing? Yes! Do something an "INFp" would enjoy doing? No.Quote:
Originally Posted by Baby
In my opinion, Socionics oversteps its boundaries when it says:
This is ludicrous... (hmmm... I've used that word twice today.)Quote:
Socionics articles that I've read, (in machine translated russian but hey it's readable), all indicate we're best in "humanitarian" activities and not well suited towards business or industrial activity. By "humanitarian" is indicated anything having to do with the arts and personal expression - anything having to do with writing, media etc.
There are also plenty of career paths that do not fall squarely within either "humanitarian" or "business/industrial" - and I think one would be quite foolish to close off completely from a career path in either of these fields because a typology theory (that claims to deal specifically with the metabolism of information elements) claims you are "not suited to." Business is a vast field - there are many types of businesses, many types of business environments, and many different types of people in this sphere. You might as well say INFps are not meant to use computers. Do you see what I'm talking about? Do you see the limits and the underlying fallacies present here?
I never said Socionics is bullshit. It is, however, a theory of convenience. It takes highly complex phenomena and attempts to distill them into a more digestible vocabulary. In doing so it ignores a large amount of information, oversimplifies another large amount of information, and makes sense of a tiny bit of information. To let Socionics be any influence on your choice of profession is shortsighted because Socionics, ideally, should not tell you anything you don't already know about yourself. And ideally, you know a lot more about yourself than Socionics accounts for. You also know a lot more about what career paths are out there (without grossly simplifying it into cute, convenient little terms like "humanitarian" and "business/industrial") than Socionics can account for in a pithy little article.
Ah Niffweed, so great talking to you. Sadly, I must go, so you'll have to save your obnoxious comments for your imaginary friends "living" with you in your parents' basement.
Thank your lucky stars that twerps like you can hide behind the internet; the real world of people (perhaps you've heard of it) isn't so nice.
P.S. I'll use parentheses as much as I want (and then some)
Thank you for your response, misutii. Baby, though we disagree, thank you too. Niffweed... forget it.Quote:
I think taking it to either extreme is wrong. To say that an INFp can do any job and be happy is, in my opinion, irresponsible. The fact is that most people have shitty jobs that they hate, some people even worked hard to get their job because they thought they'd like it... but they don't realize this until ten years down the road and then they have an existential crisis and find something like socionics and are like wow I wish I had this information beforehand...... I'm INFp and i find it's very important to me that I find the right job... If Socionics is bull-shit and you end up hating a job that's supposed to be for INFps well then at least you learned something. But if you get it in your mind that you can do anything and be happy and then get stuck in a job whilst lying to yourself every day that it's going to get better, at the same time paralyzed to change careers for fear of failing and losing your financial security, then one day you'll realize you fell into the same stupid trap so many others do, may as well marry an ESTj.
You're welcome. This is one of the troubles of talking with identicals. No matter how much I contend otherwise, you will never agree with what I'm saying unless you experience it for yourself to confirm it, lol. If you do have such an experience sometime in the future, don't say I didn't warn you. If you don't, though, feel free to forget you ever spoke to me. :D
And much luck!
Admittedly, my biggest qualm with this thread is really just the fact that I find the prescribed "INFp" career paths unconscionably boring, lol. Libraries, schools, museums, hospitals??? They all serve a useful purpose, but I would eventually hang myself if I had to work there. (Except maybe the hospital and I wouldn't mind teaching high school.)
human relations, artist, translator(?)
I agree. My ideal job isn't in one of those places, but then again, my "ideal" job isn't easy to come by. If I could be anything, as I said earlier, I'd be an artist, an opera singer, or an actress. Right now, though, I can only do those things in my spare time because I need to survive. I think in my case, and in many other cases, the ideal job is one that doesn't consume one's entire life and allows one to pursue his or her passions on the side. I don't want a job that I have to take home with me; I want to punch in, punch out, and be done with it until the next morning. If someone can be truly passionate about what he or she is doing, that's awesome. It's just not the case with everyone.Quote:
Admittedly, my biggest qualm with this thread is really just the fact that I find the prescribed "INFp" career paths unconscionably boring, lol. Libraries, schools, museums, hospitals??? They all serve a useful purpose, but I would eventually hang myself if I had to work there.
In that case you'll have no trouble finding an appropriate job.Quote:
Originally Posted by uninspired
I see. If you know a lot of those people who are pursuing art, music, theatre, etc. almost all of these guys are leading the "double-bill" sort of lifestyle; i.e., having a day-job (temp. work, working in law firms, hospitals, libraries, etc.) to make ends meet, while pursuing a professional career in their less practical field by night or on the weekends (music and theatre are particularly well made for this as rehearsals/performances are typically during the night hours/weekends). And yes, I know a lot of INFps who live this way. It is frustrating and exhausting at times, but they are actually quite happy. (Some ultimately regret putting themselves through such a taxing process and "burn out" - while others actually develop more fortitude and gain success in their artsy-fartsy field. Among opera singers, it's actually not all uncommon to be making in the lower six-digits.)Quote:
Originally Posted by uninspired
And as thehotelambush has noted above, finding a "day job" is pretty easy. Putting up with it? Different story. :lol:
:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Baby
What, I don't get a name?
lol, sorry. I forgot the username when I edited it (and the edit page doesn't have the "Topic Review" thing). I'll edit. :P
Ah, my self-worth has been restored. :wink:
See I see this as the typical idealistic belief that I see other people fall victim to while simultaneously knowing how susceptible I am to it. Yes I know more about my "ideal" self then anything or one can tell me. Yes I know more about the "ideal" of jobs that appeal to me than other can tell me. This is the problem though. Unfortunately the more that I hope that I can make the ideal real, the more I risk suffering disappointment in failure and being hurled away from that ideal. Crawling back up is always harder than falling down, and therefore I consider it my personal responsibility (at least for the sake of my sanity!) to correspond my knowledge about the world with my goals so as to prevent a cycle of unbearable failure and regret in the future.Quote:
Originally Posted by Baby
In terms of jobs it's not about things that INFps generally do and enjoy, it's about things that I enjoy that also correspond with fields that INFps have achieved mention and respect in with a reliable probability of success. It may seem like I'm taking an overly defensive approach, in that at first it appears that I'm leaving control of my life to the hands of "fate", but in reality it's offensive in it's defensiveness: in the sense that I'm taking a defensive position from the get go because such a position allows me the time and attention to observe situations for that one 'right' moment to act, it's in that one moment that what usually takes years of hard work and personal sacrifice to accomplish can be attained with a smile and a wave.
They generally wait for employers to find and hire them. It's a unique strategy.
Wait... you're calling me idealistic, but then have the nerve to tell me:
:PQuote:
Originally Posted by misutii
Yes, we're always searching for that "right" moment, aren't we. The truth? There is no such thing as the "right" moment. You'll likely die before anything resembling it comes unless you actively pursue it as an ends. This is how people - not even just INFps - get caught in ruts.
There are, however, many not-so-perfect moments in which you will awkwardly and gracelessly have to meander and fumble about and step out of your comfort zone.
We hear these stories of the tenor who was heard in the sweeping the floors at the Metropolitan Opera and asked to step in for Pavarotti who just happened to be indisposed that night... how convenient. But it's a fairy tale. That sort of thing doesn't happen in reality. In reality, if you want to be an opera singer, you go to a conservatory and train and study and practice your ass off, go to graduate school and train and study and practice your ass off some more, go do some training programs while working a day job, eventually pursue some professional gigs, and then audition endlessly for artistic directors and producers and managers and so forth. There is no smile and wave about it.
All I'm saying is: do what you want, but go about it in a way that is systematic, but (and this will sound weird) open to failure. You're plans are perfectly in tune with what I'm saying. It's just the Socionics justification for playing it overly safe and taking no responsibility for initiative in your life that I object to. I understand why you want to be offensively defensive. I realize you are taking a responsibility to greatly minimize the probability that you will fail, thus placing you in a pretty shitty position from which you'll have to work your way up from again. But, when I did that, I ended up disappointed with myself and where my life was heading, with a huge case of ennui, and consequently, depression. That may not be the case for you, I admit. I don't value stability perhaps because I have never been stable to begin with - even when I was under the financial auspices of my parents.
The ideal job for you:
something that you can stand to do all day. and that allows you to earn enough money to maintain the values and lifestyle you prefer.
seriously.
a friend loved making pottery as a hobby. when she tried to parlay it into a business, she began to hate making pottery all day and procrastinated until it failed.
you should find it interesting and have some talent for it. it should be more or less a flow, not a force. then you won't run into more than the usual work related problems.
they try to tell you when you are in college how important your "career" is and how many fantastic contributions you can make. don't buy this. it's a job. most of it's been done before, most of use are cogs in the machine and are easily replaceable.
to me, what's important is my life and the people i care about and God. don't sweat what you are going to do too much. it's a process and you'll definitely get there.
I've seen that happen more than once... people ruining their hobbies and passtimes by trying to turn them into carrears (Sp???) My little brother nearly lost all inspiration and talent for art after he got out of art school and had to try to make a job out of it... jobhunting, resemes, painting and drawing other peoples ideas... once he gave up and just got a shitty full time job for mininum wage his inspiration came back and he started producing art that people actually wanted to buy... it's a tricky line to walk I think in those instances.Quote:
Originally Posted by diamond8
Hmmm... that's an interesting way to think about it, Blaze. And if that is what uninspired was saying I guess I can see where she's coming from.
I actually have heard someone say: "Just because you were blessed with a talent, doesn't mean you have to act on the twisted notion that you should make a career out of it." :lol: And I have seen a lot of people become disillusioned and lose interest in something they loved once after being forced to deal with the business of it. There's a disheartening aspect to making art into something profitable.
All that said, I still think it would be unwise to let Socionics dictate your decision. Socionics works well after-the-fact. As a predictive tool, it's highly fallible. I guess I'm much more a "live to work" sort of person than a "work to live" one... I'd much rather work without any guarantee that that work will result in success, but be working in a field that excites me, allows me to coordinate both mind and body, and that I can get up in the morning without feeling like it's just something to get out of the way. But my priorities might be a little screwed up, lol. Blaze's priorities seem more in tune with what's really important.
For what is worth, the five INFps I know best IRL have the following jobs:
- high school music teacher
- lecturer in a nurse college
- PR officer in a company that sets up events, exhibitions etc
- salesman
- secretary in the EU
hmmm well i was like you baby until about 2 years ago. i literally lived to work and it backfired big time. but i do agree that you have to be able to stand to do your job all day. you have to get something out of it and feel at least somewhat gratified or you go home really feeling like the proverbial cog in the machine instead of only kinda sorta. lol. i mean, you do have to be there all day, you should at least enjoy it somewhat. it's just that i think that the educational system brainwashes younger people into thinking that career is more important than it really is and that things are malleable in the workforce and that you can change things substantially. this leads younger people to believe that work defines them and that they have more power and influence than they really do. all of which results in people's priorities getting out of whack and then oops there's your typical 40 something crisis.Quote:
Originally Posted by Baby
not that i think i can very likely prevent this happening to anyone here, but i figure i'll at least try to show the other side.
i'm about to come out of the other side of the cog theory. the lesson learned here is this: that even though it's all happened before and it's all been done before, and you're just a cog, your mission and purpose in any given situation changes all the time. so i try to figure out what my purpose is in the daily dramas and stories, what my role is supposed to be, and what things mean in the larger scheme of time and what i'm supposed to add or contribute. so yeah, i'm a cog, you're a cog, but i'm a special cog and so are you and we have a special purpose and meaning and influence on day to day events in the continuum of time. we're all a part of the plan, man.
peace *holds 2 fingers up*
:lol: @ the plan, man!
I do see where you're coming from. I agree that we are all essentially cogs on this big thingamabob orbiting the Sun. And I definitely think a lot of young people (myself included) are being misled into identifying with their work more than is healthy. But, if we've got to be a cog... we might as well be a happy cog. :D
i am sincerely amused by your interpretation of my comments.Quote:
Originally Posted by uninspired
After reading your post I agree with you to an extent... Your approach is one that signifies you're a step closer to "self-realization" than I am. I know you want us to learn from your mistakes but I think the main thing you're not taking into consideration is that it has nothing to do with the Socionics justification, it has to do with personally building self-confidence up to level that leads to achieving success vs. avoiding failure. I don't think you took this into consideration... I mean that INFps that are just finished school and entering the work force have not yet had the time to build self-confidence up, which is in itself a lengthy process. For example, you can say I should keep my mind open to anything and go for it but I don't even know how to go for whatever it is, I'm still at the point of sending resumees, going through first important interviews ever, I don't know where to get the information on what's available out there yet and so because so much of my future is unknown I'm being overly cautious...Quote:
Originally Posted by Baby
I think that after being in the workforce a few years I'll end up thinking the same way as you. But at this moment, with no career experience, it's reasonable that I prefer to hold back. As an analogy, I feel like a man that's just been blinded... I'm slowly moving around my apartment, scared to go outside because I don't know where anything is, double-checking every step I make so I don't fall. And on the other hand you're the blind guy that's gotten used to the blindness, goes for walks in the park without a second thought, has realized that everything's not as bad as it first seemed through personal experience, and looks back at the first few frightened days of the predicament and regrets not getting out in the world, and realizing it's not as bad as it seemed, sooner.
in some cases being referred to by a pronoun is somewhat of a compliment, as names can have greater emotional impact for the utterer, implying that you have greater emotional power over them.Quote:
Originally Posted by thehotelambush
Hi,
I've recently done a few tests and consistently score as an infp. A lot of the descriptions seem quite spot on so I've been reading up on it and I came across a peice that said 'blah-de-blah-de-blah but this does not stop them from becoming sloppy mechanics, sloppy engineers, sloppy programmers'. As someone who has been a programmer for over a decade this is both incredibly spot on and worrying. I've been feeling totally miserable in my work for sometime now, I enjoy starting new projects and get extremely excited by the prospects but the actual implementation bogs me down, I get frustrated, easily distracted and the whole thing ends up a mess and this in turn makes me depressed. I currently spend half my day procrastinating and surfing the net and I've got an increasingly impending sense of doom that this will be noticed at some stage and I'll end up getting the sack but I just can't motivate myself. In short, I'm a bit of a mess.
Looking over the preferred career-types for infps there are certainly some that appeal, has anyone else been in a non-suitable career and made a change one more suited to there type and whats been your experiences?
Cheers
well i have not changed careers, but i know what you mean about motivation waning. for sure. i've been there for like a year. good thing i'm sooo far off the radar nobody would even notice. then at the last minute when somebody needs somthing from me, i put it together like a pro so it always looks like i'm on top of things. wheew. sounds like you think your type is not well suited to your job. can i ask how old you are? only because the older you get the less motivated for work you get and the closer you head toward a mid life type of crisis about work.
infp's make great counselors i think. i see them all the time in my field (social work).
I'm only 21 and I already hate work so much that it makes me feel ill (granted I've not really had a job I've enjoyed). I guess it's looking a bit bleak for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by diamond8
Some common-sense career counseling:
The Socionics description you are talking about is the "INFp uncovered" description from the Socionics.com website, that is more tongue-in-cheek than anything else. (In fact, pretty much everything on Sergei Ganin's website needs to be taken with a grain of salt... actually better yet the entire salt-lick.) There is a reason you became a programmer. What is it? I think you need to take a moment to recollect why it was you entered this discipline in the first place? What about it attracted you? Imagine yourself as the impressionable, earnest person you were ten years ago. What were your ambitions? What were your priorities? Does your current position in the field allow you to fulfill those ambitions and priorities?
I don't encourage anyone to stay in a position that is causing him/her a "sense of impending doom" and stress that outweigh the benefits of keeping the job. But if you were to enter another career, what would it be? And why? (Don't say "Because that's what INFps are good at." Socionics can help explain phenomena, but not predict it. There's no telling how you'll do in another field. Also, we can't overlook the possibility that you may not actually be INFp. Testing is not an accurate indicator of type.) You don't want to lead yourself down another wrong turn again.
Before you do anything too hasty: plan, plan, plan. Worst case scenario: you DO get the sack. You'll need enough in monetary savings to get your through a period of job-hunting. It is much easier to enter into another subsect of your current field than enter into a whole different one, so don't overlook the possibility of finding another job within the same field. You may want to start thinking of possible intra-field career moves, now.
If you feel you can't continue in programming: You'll first of all need to know what it is you would like to pursue. You'll need an updated curriculum vitae for your new career. (You can't pursue counseling with a programming resume.) You may have to go back to school. (You'll need to consider what sort of school you need to go to, and have in mind a means of paying for it. Perhaps taking on a job within your current field to foot the bill, and go to night-school.)
Good luck. You seem pretty conscientious, so I'm sure you'll do fine with whatever decision you make.
Whatever you do don't victimize yourself and wait for a miracle to save you from the doom. Be realistic. Listen to Baby. If you want more freedom an important thing is to have some savings. In that way you don't have to worry about getting sacked that much. If it happens you have time to make new plans. The best thing for you might be to find a :Se: dominant partner. They can make complex things seem simple and energize you. Your real problem is probably not lack of skill but lack of motivation and self confidence. :Se: dominant partner might put that in you. You lack the flame within.
I try to think of more practical stuff later.
i have analyzed your writing style and diction thoroughly and have determined that your optimal career is that of a hotel elevator operator. your unique sense of discipline and inter-functionality of associations makes you ideal for punching buttons corresponding to different floors.
Dear Happs,
IMHO -- you might be an INFp, but you're also a unique human being. No personality theory can magic out of the blue your Dream Job.
Yours,
Rofl. I'm a wee bit pissed (drunk) at the moment, but I found that funny. :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by niffweed17
diamond - yep, definitely in the mid-life crisis range, the thought had crossed my mind as well.
baby - my problem is that I don't know what I want to do, as far as I'm aware I've never had any goals or ambitions and I got into programming by following the path of least resistance. I don't know if I'd say it appeals but teaching might be a change that would at least allow me to use my previous experience.
xox - thats all very true but I've been in this position before and I have a habit of pressing the self-destruct button, i just think I need to find something I'll be happy doing rather than base my decisions on finances.
niff - that's what I'm looking for a career where I can get in at the ground floor and work my way up
five - yeah, i guess a better question would be whether it is common for people working outside their type-jobs to feel unhappy in them.
Just make sure you press all the right buttons, to make the boss happy.Quote:
Originally Posted by happs
Yeah I've heard it can be an up and down business
Although I hear there is a bit of a glass ceiling for these areas of work.Quote:
Originally Posted by happs
I think this is good :)Quote:
Originally Posted by niffweed17
Teaching definitely is a pretty good option that wouldn't be a 180 degree turn for you and wouldn't leave you working up from ground zero. Again, you'll need to do some planning: You may need to update your qualifications if you want to be a teacher. I'm not sure where you're located, but some schools will only hire you if you have the highest degree possible in your field, or at least an additional degree in education.Quote:
Originally Posted by happs
Thirty years ago, a woman named Barbara Sher wrote an awesome little book called Wishcraft. She's since written many other books dealing with career counseling, but I think that's still her best. It's definitely worth a look if you're not sure where to go from here. I should warn that, as great as the book is, it's not for people who do not have the motivation to put written plans into action. If you're one of these people (though, it doesn't sound like you are), you're probably better off staying where you are.
God, Auvi, sometimes I just love you :oQuote:
Originally Posted by Baby
for me it was a crisis of meaning and one which revolved around how much of my work was a part of my identity. "it's all been done before." realizing the truth of this idea is anathema to an entp. priorities was the other thing. i'm being kind of vague here, but if you want pm me.Quote:
Originally Posted by happs
Quote:
Originally Posted by happs
hell yes ive worked in a factory (very ISTP ... my conflict type!!!!)
best of luck and good wishes,
lefty
enfj 4w5
infp shouldn't go into business because we dont do well in that kind of enviroment
we r better at helping others than selling.
i think there's an infp in a very prominent role in my company granted working in a satellite capacity some of the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by suikoden
The last thread on this subject was really shitty, I dont want it turning up like that. I dont want a philosophical debate about the importance of socionics or individualism or whatever.
What jobs would an INFp be good at and like AND possibly make a lot of money doing while having alot of opportunities for employment?
I mean counseling and social work are usually listed but those dont pay that well to my knowledge..
Writing fiction, teaching humanities, being Keith Olbermann, possibly law, politics.
Writing anything (although writing poetry will not make you money), screenplays and such are good as well as fiction. So is advertising.
Politics, but more on the face time, getting people to think what you want/motivating people side than on the should we give seven dollars to China and eight to Japan, or eight dollars to China and seven to Japan side.
Advertising, or anywhere where it's important to be good with words. Being a staff writer for any sort of organization would involve this (you know, someone who writes press releases and such)
Of course, being an English teacher, either at the high school or college levels.
Anything performance-related: IEIs can make great actors, singers, even dancers, although we have to work harder at dance (fewer IEIs have the kind of natural aptitude for dance as they tend to with communication emotion with means besides just the body, in my experience, precisely because dancing is so much with the body and physical). Working in other areas of the entertainment business could be good for an IEI too: producing, even directing (although you have to have a particular style and some sort of generalized power to hire and fire that you refer to occasionally, because IEIs are not so great at forcing people to do stuff by sheer force of will, in general).
An IEI could even be a doctor or such, if he or she really wanted to be, although I don't know that I'd trust an INFp as my surgeon (jk).
Law is another good one, because law is so much involved with language (and the manipulation and twisting thereof).
In general, IEIs are best at doing something creative and artistic, and barring that, something that requires being good with words for other reasons. Also things that rely on affecting others' emotions; an IEI, if he or she is soulless enough (kidding... sorta), can make a great lobbyist or some such. Then IEIs can also be good in areas that sort of "surround" those creative and artistic fields; an IEI can be a good bridge between the purely practical execs in suits (many of whom are SLE, SEE, ILI), and the creatives (many of whom are NFs or Alphas SFs)
i'm double majoring in physics and psychology, i'm planning to get a master's in counseling. then i want to pursue theoretical physics and study gravity; i'll likely teach for the rest of my life. that would suit me.
IEIs would probably enjoy and do well in (in no particular order):
any field of psychology but especially counseling or behavioral analysis
social work
childhood development
teaching
music
art of any sort
religious/clerical work
science (Ni and Ti are a plus, Fe only really helps with the enthusiasm but not with understanding concepts)
personally i think EIIs are more suited for the clerical/religious work, music, arts, literature, english composition and other liberal studies. IEIs have a bit more in common with ILIs than EIIs i think.
i definitely agree with all of this. IEIs would make great medical practitioners!Quote:
Originally Posted by silverchris9
yes, probably right!Quote:
Originally Posted by shorebreaker
I know a couple of IEI doctors, they are in general practice. GREAT bedside manner and terrific with people, which is really important in that profession.
i know one, too, a family practice guy. i think he's pretty good.Quote:
Originally Posted by redbaron
there's a lot of opportunity for IEI in many fields. i would think the only type of field that would leave them dead would be some type of financially oriented work like accounting.
accounting-->stability-->not a bad professional resort for the "souless" iei.
then they could spend the rest of their time working on their art/poetry/music without worrying where the next meal would come from. might not be too horrible.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blaknet
exactly!
Eh... I dunno. Might not be worth the tradeoff. Maybe if I could do it with a quarter of my brain (metaphorically speaking). But I don't know if I could stand to give forty hours a week for twenty years to something that was actively boring. I want a job that is at least moderately stimulating, even if the pay is only so-so. But then, it is important to me to have time to work on all my whatever stuff. But I don't think I'll ever stop writing no matter what I do. Shrug.
i really can't see IEI as an accountant, though. it's like the last place they'd be!Quote:
Originally Posted by redbaron
true. it would just be a paycheck. and a dull one at that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blaze
Just wanted to throw this into the mix: The Case for Working With Your Hands by Matthew B. Crawford. He's a really fascinating guy -- a University of Chicago graduate who now teaches at UVA and runs his own motorcycle shop. Also, here you can find his 2006 essay that later became a book, Shop Class as Soulcraft.
Quote:
High-school shop-class programs were widely dismantled in the 1990s as educators prepared students to become “knowledge workers.” The imperative of the last 20 years to round up every warm body and send it to college, then to the cubicle, was tied to a vision of the future in which we somehow take leave of material reality and glide about in a pure information economy. This has not come to pass. To begin with, such work often feels more enervating than gliding. More fundamentally, now as ever, somebody has to actually do things: fix our cars, unclog our toilets, build our houses.
When we praise people who do work that is straightforwardly useful, the praise often betrays an assumption that they had no other options. We idealize them as the salt of the earth and emphasize the sacrifice for others their work may entail. Such sacrifice does indeed occur — the hazards faced by a lineman restoring power during a storm come to mind. But what if such work answers as well to a basic human need of the one who does it? I take this to be the suggestion of Marge Piercy’s poem “To Be of Use,” which concludes with the lines “the pitcher longs for water to carry/and a person for work that is real.” Beneath our gratitude for the lineman may rest envy.
I saw that article before, it's great!
Yeah, I really liked it. I don't actually know what I want to do beyond the next year, but that article confirmed for me what I don't want to do.
Here's an article in Russian about IEIs and work, for what it's worth.
Socionics.org
No. Just...no. Forget about economics & accounting. I know 4 INFps that have attended/attend the same university I did, and they're all really unhappy. (I'm not saying they're doing badly. They have pretty good grades.)Quote:
Originally Posted by Blaknet
accounting is a truly terrible suggestion
Counseling wouldn't be my first choice, but if it was something to do with my experiences, I might be more confident about it (for example, drug abuse.. except I've never convinced anyone to stop yet actually.. But it could be different if I was in a facility where people come to me first).Quote:
Originally Posted by Clumsy
I'm not good at other things mentioned here. Silverchris is a true lyricist. Not to be too literal, but I've never really cared as much for lyrics as I have for music (mostly guitar playing). This goes for poetry as well, where my interest is casual. Even when it comes to listening to music, lyrics are the last thing that grab me. It's often that I find depth of feeling within melody itself. Words don't even come to the forefront sometimes. I just want to jam. I don't know what this means Socionics-wise..
While I like reading and writing a bit, it kind of shows that I'm not strongly focused on words.
Breathing.
Hm. perhaps I should expand it to communication in general, through whatever means you're more naturally attracted to. I mean, while I associate music more with Fe than with Ni (insofar as music is about a changing implicit dynamic rather than this sort of... reading/interpretive thing), I can totally see how music as a form of sign-reading could satisfy the IEI thing for communication and interpretation (which I think is a major strength/interest of Ni). Does that jive with your thoughts/experience?Quote:
Originally Posted by stray
It's hard to say. I used to aspire to performing a little more (even dabbled with theater too), but music is mostly for my own therapy, so it's hard to associate with Fe exactly.Quote:
Originally Posted by silverchris9
Interestingly, after I wrote that, I ran across this in the Stratievskaya description.. I relate to this. Maybe it's just a combination Ni/Fe/Si.
3. Introverted sensing
The stronger the sensory sensations, received by this type, the brighter and more lively are felt the emotions associated with these sensations. For this very reason they are able to achieve great success in fields where their entire “emotional palette” finds its brightest use – music, theater, poetry and so forth. For example, IEI musicians frequently perceive the beauty of sound precisely through its expressiveness: a beautiful sound is emotionally saturated and rich in overtones, whereas a plain sound is inexpressive and “empty”. The same also relates to the perception of colour combinations: a beautiful combination is one that gives rise to emotional meaning or symbolism. (For example, designer- Esenin spent a long time unsuccessfully selecting colour combinations for his project, then, suddenly, “in the mood” he drew a picture, and transferred the colour from this figure into his work.)
In any case, I have no idea what I want to do when I grow up.. and unfortunately, I'm pretty grown up. :oops:
I could see being, like, a Philosopher Plumber. Wandering house to house, setting up piping, stopping leaks, inspecting pipes... And when I'm elbow deep in someone's toilet, fishing for their car keys that their kid tried to flush, they may, for the briefest second, look into my eyes and catch a glimpse of infinity, the sum total of human knowledge burning into their mind. And then I'll say something incredibly profound and wise and tender, followed by a long string of profanities when I lay the tip of a finger on those god damn keys and they just slip away again.
-Evil overlord
-Artist
-Stalker with a Crush
-Hobo
-Basement dweller joker who thinks he's a genius.
Whatever they want to be.
For once, I actually agree with Bro Galen.Quote:
Originally Posted by Galen
IEIs are, indeed, awesomely manipulative enough that they can maneuver themselves into anything they want to do. Which is usually nothing.
lol.. what is that.. like an insult veiled within a compliment..Quote:
Originally Posted by Aleksei
Fe is not manipulation. Get off your cartoonish socionics kick. Fe would simply kick your ass, if it could atm. Manipulate your face maybe.
don't take this as me being too pissed. just sayin.
drue also drug dealersQuote:
Originally Posted by Aleksei
:love:Quote:
Originally Posted by stray
It's a straight-up compliment (wrapped up with a jokey backhanded insult). I like clever manipulative fucks -- I am one. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by stray
That's Se.Quote:
Fe would simply kick your ass, if it could atm.
It could be Se in isolation, but it depends on what my objective is. I wouldn't want anything out of it other than a laugh and maybe to set some shit straight. Simply fighting is not Se.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aleksei
Second, if you want to necessarily be duplicitous and manipulative, rather than actualizing and externalizing your thoughts and passions, then gtfo out of beta. Be it positive or negative, it isn't for conniving, weasel-ish pieces of shit.
edit: Ideally, that is :D
Yes, I do realize that Fe consists of externalizing thoughts and passions -- it's also by extension responsible for skills in arousing people's passions and manipulating/maneuvering their moods into a desired outcome. Blocked with Ni/Se (especially when Fe is the producing function) leads to a desire to channel that skill into longer-term goals; which in essence leads to manipulation. Or rather, to a specific type of emotional manipulation. Gammas are just as conniving in a different way; and Judicious types are capable of it; though being less ambitious they're less likely to use it to control-related ends.
Having a goal isn't necessarily manipulating. Nor is appealing to other people's passions.. simply seeing where people are coming from doesn't mean you don't share the same thoughts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aleksei
I've aroused people, for example, to walk out with me on a job and quit.. they might have previously been inactive about it, but it doesn't mean I tapped into something deep or wasn't there. They just needed a situation that clearly spurred it on and provoked them. All I had to do was point out that staying would be a dead end.
Maybe that should be my career skill, ironically. Getting people to quit jobs.
You'd be surprised how suggestible people really are. ;)
But all of this is really taking away from the crux of the matter:
IEIs are AWESOME! :love:
You don't know what I'd be surprised about yet. That's indicative of how poor your manipulation would be with me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aleksei
And why the fuck do you announce this anyways.. even if manipulation was a tactic of yours, that's so amateurish to talk about it.
Anyways.
For anyone who's willing to share, it'd be appreciated. I specify "ACTUALLY" as I know it is common for IEIs to have distant future aspirations, but I am curious to get a variety of examples of how the bills are actually paid.
(To give you an idea of where I'm coming from: I figure these examples might yield some "day job" ideas that I too, as an IEI, may find to be relatively painless, so I can best support myself financially in my artistic pursuit.)
Thanks!