Good natured, practical and always busy, the ESTP personality type can be found in a range of working environments. They do usually skew towards those that are more active though, preferring to move and use their body than to sit immobile. This means that they’re more likely to find happiness at a job that keeps them outside working than one where they’re trapped indoors. Fortunately, their openness to experience and reliance on their own beliefs and counsel often leads them towards these kinds of career paths.
General Overview
An ESTP’s work environment is very important to them in a different way than any other type. ESTPs are active, curious people. They like to do things and move their bodies and push them to their limits. Which means that workplaces that demand they sit still at a desk all day are totally unsuited to this type. In fact, ESTPs are unlikely to last a day in this type of job unless it’s absolutely necessary. And if it is necessary, it will cause the ESTP a great deal of ongoing discomfort and unhappiness. ESTPs do better outside or in jobs that otherwise allow them to use their physical intelligence to do practical tasks and activities.
“ESTPs are active, curious people. They like to do things and move their bodies and push them to their limits. Which means that workplaces that demand they sit still at a desk all day are totally unsuited to this type.”
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ESTPs often have a very particular role in their workplace and that’s of someone who can solve anything. This doesn’t usually refer to abstract problems and ideas, ESTPs are too focused on the present and the concrete for that kind of thinking. But when it comes to practical, concrete problems, particularly those that require physical intervention, they’re absolute geniuses. This is because of their auxiliary function introverted thinking. This function is concerned with data, with taking in and storing vast amounts of information. And for the ESTP, this results in them collecting skills that they love to use to solve problems and fix things in the external world.
Company and society
ESTPs hate having to live or work according to others’ rules or expectations and so don’t usually do well in traditional workplaces. The idea of respecting or following the rules of places like these is totally foreign to this type, and if they find themselves in this kind of situation they’ll use their agile minds to find a way out as fast as possible. ESTPs are also not above using their minds to find shortcuts to where they actually want to be, and have no problem flouting authority or tradition to find the type of success they want much faster than the traditional career path would allow. This can make them quite unpopular in traditional workplaces when they do find themselves in them.
Abuse in the workplace
ESTPs are friendly, gregarious people who enjoying networking and usually have the skills to understand the emotions of the people around them. But this breaks down it comes to emotions that the ESTP causes. ESTPs can be extremely blunt and even cruel if they believe that others aren’t working to their full potential, or in the right ways. They may mean this well, or not understand the damage that they’re doing, but it can result in a serious amount of bullying behavior. And because ESTPs are so popular and others tend to follow them, their example can result in others following their lead and the behavioral example they’ve set. This type of situation can be very destructive for everyone concerned, and ESTPs need to be aware of this possibility and their influence over the people around them.
Workplace Strengths
ESTPs are incredibly physically aware. They’re the athletes, the people who attempt death defying stunts, and the ones who always seem to be using their weekends in the pursuit of sports, extreme and otherwise. This is due to their extraverted sensing dominant, which focuses on the sensations and the impulses coming from their body to an incredible degree. It gives them a physical control that no other type can match as well as an awareness that makes them capable of things that others wouldn’t even attempt. These abilities make them uniquely suited for a range of workplaces that others wouldn’t even consider and it also makes them adept at a wide range of physical skills that can be of benefit in any workspace or environment. Because of this function, an ESTP is likely to be a jack of all trades in their workplace. No matter what their actual role is, they’ll probably be able to help others with theirs, fix anything that breaks, and do it all with a friendly and helpful demeanor that endears them to everyone. ESTPs are practical people who generally go around making the world better in large or small practical ways, and every workplace needs someone like this on their team.
Workplace Weaknesses
ESTPs are extremely active people and while that’s a benefit for their enjoyment of life, it can be a liability in their working environment. Any type of job that requires long periods of immobility or routine tasks will be stifling and painful to this type and they probably wouldn’t even last a day in these types of roles. This is unfortunate because most jobs require some amount of mundane tasks, and being so unsuited to them can limit the ESTPs ability to tolerate a range of working environments and career paths.
“The ESTPs feeling function is their tertiary function, which means it only comes out when they’re feeling angry or threatened. And because this tertiary function is extraverted feeling, it can result in emotional outbursts that hurt the people around them or damage the ESTPs reputation.”
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Despite their popularity with other people, ESTPs aren’t the most emotionally aware people in the world. Their feeling function is their tertiary function, which means it only comes out when they’re feeling angry or threatened. And because this tertiary function is extraverted feeling, it can result in emotional outbursts that hurt the people around them or damage the ESTPs reputation. This emotional blindness can be a cause for concern in working environments that cause stress for the ESTP, as this tendency will often come out when it’s least expected or helpful.
Final Thoughts
ESTPs are friendly and active people who enjoy being a part of a positive work environment. They’re not as dedicated to their careers as other types, ESTPs tend to be more dedicated to life itself, but they’re usually practical enough to see the value in work, if only so they can fund more interesting things.
References
- Dr. Drenth, A. J. “Introverted Thinking (Ti) & Extraverted Feeling (Fe) in TP Types“. (Retrieved Apr 2018).
- Storm, Susan. “Understanding ESTP Sensing“. Mar 7, 2017. (Retrieved Apr 2018).
- Pearman, Roger. “Inconvenient Observations: Questions on the Role and Attitude of the Third Function“. (Retrieved Apr 2018).
- “ESTP – The Doer“.
- “The ESTP Career Path“.
- “The ESTP as an Entrepreneur“.
- “Best Jobs For Your Personality“.