Match your personality type to your career
Not happy at your current job? Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.
With a little soul searching, anyone can find a better match, according to Laurence Shatkin, author of “50 Best Jobs for Your Personality” (Jist Works, 2012) and a senior product developer at JIST Publishing.
“When you connect your personality type to your career, you tend to have the most satisfaction and success,” Shatkin explains. Now in its third edition, his book helps readers identify their personality type and learn about the 50 best jobs that relate to it. Shatkin uses the John L. Holland’s interest inventory test known as RIASEC (an acronym for Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional) to help readers determine their fit. Shatkin says personality types predict how well skills will match the demands of the job and how well a person will fit in with the culture of the work site as shaped by the people who will surround and interact with them.
“Your personality type affects your satisfaction with the job, your productivity in it and the likelihood that you will persist in an environment that is hospitable to your need” he explains. For instance, a workplace with a lot of artistic types tends to reward creative thinking and behavior. They often require self-expression in their work and activities that don’t require a clear set of rules. On the other hand, conventional personalities like work activities that follow set procedures and routines rather than ideas. They flourish in places where the lines of authority are clear.
Here’s a list of the top five jobs for each personality type, with estimated annual earnings. The placement is based on the highest overall combined ratings for earnings, projected growth and number of openings.
The Best Realistic Jobs
1. Civil Engineers, $77,560
2. Physician Assistants, $86,410
3. Business Operations Specialists, $62,450
4. Radiologic Technologists, $54,340
5. Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and In-stallers, $42,530
The Best Investigative Jobs
1. Physicians and Surgeons, $165,279
2. Software Developers, Systems Software, $94,180
3. Software Developers, Applications, $87,790
4. Computer Network Architects, $75,660
5. Pharmacists, $111,570
The Best Artistic Jobs
1. Public Relations Specialists, $52,090
2. Training and Development Specialists, $54,160
3. Architects, Except Landscape and Naval, $72,550
4. Biochemists and Biophysicists, $79,390
5. Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education, $51,660
The Best Social Jobs
1. Physicians and Surgeons, $165,279
2. Physician Assistants, $86,410
3. Physical Therapists, $76,310
4. Dental Hygienists, $68,250
5. Registered Nurses, $64,690
The Best Enterprising Jobs
1. Computer and Information Systems Managers, $115,780
2. Lawyers, $112,760
3. Registered Nurses, $64,690
4. Construction Managers, $83,860
5. Sales Managers, $98,530
The Best Conventional Jobs
1. Accountants and Auditors, $61,690
2. Compliance Officers, $58,720
3. Financial Analysts, $74,350
4. Cost Estimators, $57,860
5. Business Operations Specialists, $62,450
© CTW Features
