Myers Briggs-Did You Change Jobs or Career Paths?

i think the myers-briggs test is interesting and offers insight. it's not 100% accurate for all people. it should be used as a tool for making career decisions and challenges easier to cope with, not a single solution or sole decision-maker.
khairete
S.

I work as a career consultant for an outplacement company, and am currently studying Organizational Psychology towards a PhD.

The Myers Briggs (MBTI) assessment is one of many different assessments available to measure personality traits, and other traits that can be useful in learning to work well with others, or to understand yourself better, or to guide career choices.

The MBTI has a very mixed response among psychologists, because its validity and reliability are not as high as other assessments. It can be useful in understanding the differences among your colleagues. It can help in finding new ways to relate to your manager or others at your workplace.

I never recommend to clients that they make a career change decision based on any one assessment. If a set of different assessments are done, then you may have enough information to guide a career decision. Assessments such as the Strong Interest Inventory are designed to be used to guide career decisions.

Another assessment that is readily available an inexpensive that I often recommend to clients is Strengthfinder 2.0 (www.strengthsfinder.com). You don't have to read the book, but you need to code that comes with the book to take the online assessment. The results will tell you about your natural talents and give you information about how to use those to your benefit in your life and work. Many of my clients have been very pleased with the accuracy and amount of information this has given them.

I made a career change after taking the Strengthsfinder assessment, but only because I already knew that I was in the wrong job and I was failing at it!

As much as these assessments can offer insight into our personalities and motivations, I think that it is a pitfall that we let them tell us what we can and cannot do. So, while it may explain why you and your manager don't connect, don't let it tell you that you will never see "eye-to-eye." You still have the choice. Yes, your thinking style, problems solving, etc, may be drastically different. But you can still to understand where she is coming from, and she can do the same.

I also wouldn't let it be the deciding factor in your career path decisions. If you like what you do, stick with it. If you don't, feel free to look elsewhere. But don't make the decision just on the results of one test (which can be affected by your mood, the kind of day your having, your self-perception, and a lot of other factors, and not be 100% accurate).

We went through a Myers Briggs workshop that contained many other exercises, several years ago. There were also lots of exercises/games. About 30% of our employees thought it was a complete waste of time and money. I found it to be quite interesting it it made me realize why I was able to work well with some, and not with others, and how are similariites and differences could be benefical in various circumstances.

If you're a complete opposite of your manager you need to learn how to make that work to your advantage. Her weaknesses are your strengths.

I'm an INTJ. It really just confirmed what I already knew, so no reason to change. It could be a good thing that your different from everyone else in your group because you bring another viewpoint to problems. It really depends on if that's the attitude your manager has about your not seeing eye to eye or if your manager is always trying to change you to fit the mold.

This sounds very intriguing. I'm going to see if I can't implement this assessment at my office! Thanks!