The ENTJ Career Path

General Overview

ENTJs really enjoy their careers. This rare type thrives on the competition and the drive to succeed that they can get in this aspect of their lives and find that it activates and exercises the strongest parts of their personalities. This is where ENTJs will find a place to use their tidy, organized minds to make the world run more smoothly and it’s the ideal environment for their logical, if sometimes insensitive way of thinking and getting things done. This can give them great success in their chosen career, and usually does, but it can also have its downsides. ENTJs can get so swept up in making decisions and implementing their systems that they forget there are real people at work who are impacted by their choices. And taking the human factor into account is one of this type’s greatest lessons.

ENTJs can also get too caught up in their job. This is the type who’s most likely to spend long hours at work and then take work home at the end of the day. To the ENTJ, this usually isn’t a problem because they enjoy their work, but it can wreak havoc on their private lives. An ENTJ’s family and friends will be the first to suffer from their desire to work constantly and needs to remind them, bluntly, that they need to switch off and focus on other things sometimes.

Tips for Job Interviews

ENTJs are naturally confident and forceful and this comes across easily in job interviews. Their natural talent for organization means that they’re usually beyond ready for any question they might be asked, look impeccable for the role, and have a perfect resume of their achievements to show potential employers. This all comes across very well in a job interview, which usually results in the ENTJ getting exactly what they want from the interaction. And this is a running theme for ENTJs throughout their career.

Best Careers for the ENTJ

ENTJs have logical, rational minds that enjoy working with facts rather than with people. This is because of their dominant function, extraverted thinking, which instinctively creates systems to make the world run better and then puts them into place. This makes them a natural fit for the business world in almost any field. This career path also gives them the strict structure that they need to understand their role and their tasks as well as the ability to solve problems in the real world and see how well their solutions actually work. And they’re a natural fit for this field, which usually makes them wildly successful in it as well.

ENTJs also do fairly well in science fields. They’re natural problem solvers, and often enjoy trying to find solution for scientific problems or inquiries. And because they enjoy working with metrics, they like that these types of careers are based on numbers without the trouble or mess of the human factors. ENTJs also use introverted intuition as their auxiliary function, which collects information and makes predictions about the future, and this gives them a unique ability to connect ideas in a way that can be of great benefit in a number of scientific fields.

Unsuitable Careers for the ENTJ

ENTJs usually do best in jobs that are based on organizing others, designing systems, or business settings, and don’t always do well in people based jobs. This type is famously insensitive, and often completely unaware of their own feelings as well as the feelings of others. This makes them blunt and tactless, and can hurt other, more sensitive types or make others think that they’re unkind and even cruel. To an ENTJ, bluntness is simply the most efficient way to communicate, but to others it can feel like an attack. Most ENTJs are well aware of this problem as well, which is why they usually avoid jobs in which they have to look after people or be aware of their emotional states. This can include positions in the health field, working with children, or really any role in which they need to have a lot of emotional intelligence to do their jobs.

Workplace Roles

ENTJs are natural leaders and usually find themselves moving into that role no matter what field of work they chose. This is where they prefer to be and they use their drive, confidence and vision to both inspire and to push others down the path they think is best. ENTJs aren’t always easy bosses to be around though. They have an attention to detail and a need for perfection that can lead to them becoming very impatient with people who don’t live up to their standards. And because ENTJs are famously blunt, they’ll usually tell those people about their failures in great detail. But as long as the people around them work hard, the ENTJ will find a way to lead them through any obstacle and onto the greatest success they can manage. And most ENTJs can manage a lot.

ENTJs don’t often do well as employees. They’re natural leaders, who chafe at the idea of working under people who aren’t as competent as they are, or as good at leading. And because ENTJs are almost frighteningly competent and are natural leaders, this applies to most people. ENTJs often have trouble keeping their criticisms to themselves as well, and will constantly point out where others are failing or where systems are inefficient. And this can make them very uncomfortable employees and frustrate anyone in authority over them. But ENTJs usually don’t care about that.

Final Thoughts

The driven ENTJ, whether male or female, loves to work and usually finds great meaning in the competition of it. They’re often really good at it as well, and most ENTJs find themselves in some kind of leadership role at work and enjoying great success at the same time. They do need to be careful not to let their love of work take over their lives though, because otherwise they’ll look up one day and realize they’re completely alone with nothing but their work for company.

References

1. “Extraverted Thinking (Te) in INTJs & ENTJs“. (Retrieved Mar 2018).
2. Robinson T. Michael. “Introverted Intuition (Ni) Explained“. (Retrieved Mar 2018).
3. “ENTJ – The CEO“.
4. “Best Jobs For Your Personality“.