ISFPs are curious souls who wander through life as if it’s all fascinating and amazing. And to them it is. They’ll bring this natural curiosity and fascination to their job as well, looking at it like a challenge to be conquered. But if this curiosity is stifled or restricted, the ISFP will walk away just as quickly as they appeared and without looking back.
General Overview
ISFPs are peaceful and independent people who often see their job as a means to an end. It’s a way for them to see the world, to explore, and to get the money to keep doing so for a long time. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t have needs when it comes to their career. ISFPs have very strict expectations that must be met when it comes to their job. This type needs a lot of freedom and autonomy so they can explore the job and explore the world, and any job that can’t offer this will be quickly abandoned.
But when they’re happy in their job, ISFPs can bring a lot to their workplace. Their dominant function is introverted feeling, which is focused on their own motivations, beliefs and values but also gives them an amazing understanding of other people’s emotions as well. And they can use this function to empathize with others and bring a warmth into the workplace that the other employees will come to value and rely on.
Tips for Job Interviews
Despite their introverted nature, ISFPs are usually fairly confident and warm people who do well in job interviews. They have a natural curiosity about life and about other people that can lead to them asking interesting questions and making a great impression on potential employers along the way. The only problem in a job interview can come from the ISFPs past. This type is likely to bounce from career to career and job to job while they’re looking for something that suits them, and this can look bad on a resume. ISFPs need to be careful to share only the experiences that suit the job they’re applying for and only mention the others if directly asked about them.
Best Careers for the ISFP
ISFPs are incredibly creative. This type has a need for color and creativity and openness to both of these things that makes them a good fit for any artistic field. ISFPs rely on their senses, using their extraverted sensing auxiliary to explore the world and to express what they experience, and this can lead them to create incredible works of art that evoke these same sensations. This love of creativity goes so deep that even if they aren’t artists themselves, ISFPs will usually have an appreciation for art and artists that drives their career and their chosen pastimes.
ISFPs do well when they work on their own because of their natural independence. This type absolutely requires a lot of freedom in their lives and shy away from strong connections and responsibilities that tie them down. This can be a problem in the workplace, but it can also make them uniquely suited to freelancing. ISFPs usually enjoy being able to set their own schedule, to work according to their muse and their interests, and to be able to work from anywhere in the world their curiosity takes them. They just need to remember that they will have to do work they don’t particularly like sometimes, if only to pay the bills.
Unsuitable Careers for the ISFP
ISFPs want to be creative. More than that, they need it, and will feel stifled and frustrated if their workplace denies them this fundamental need. Because of this, ISFPs don’t usually do well in environments that are rigidly scheduled or tightly controlled. This kind of uncompromising organization can make the ISFP feel as if their creative mind is dying, and as if their greatest strengths are going unnoticed. Traditional workplaces such as banks, administrative work, or any type of cubicle work is likely to aggravate and stifle these needs and make the ISFP flee for their life. And routine and mindless tasks are among the worst things in the world for this type, and they’ll avoid any job that requires them.
ISFPs don’t enjoy thinking about abstract ideas and will usually avoid focusing on them. This type is very firmly grounded in the moment, in gathering the information from their extraverted sensing auxiliary and enjoying every sensation and impression. This makes them unsuited to jobs that rely on long periods of isolated thinking, and most ISFPs will avoid fields like this. They prefer to come up with practical solutions for problems, not spend all their time trying to define the problem itself.
Workplace Roles
ISFPs don’t often find themselves in a leadership role unless it’s as a freelancer. This type has trouble staying around long enough to move up the career ladder, and will take menial jobs while they wander and explore and try to decide what to do with their time. They do tend to settle down more with some maturity, but this tendency never really goes away and can negatively affect the career success that this type achieves. And this is a shame because the ISFP has a natural creativity and innovative mind that a lot of businesses could benefit from.
ISFPs don’t always make good employees. This type doesn’t like routines, schedules or rules, particularly when they’re put in place by other people. They won’t usually complain about them, they don’t like conflict, but they will simply ignore them or walk away. This type needs more freedom than other types to feel happy and to work at their best and most workplaces don’t offer this kind of freedom. Which often results in the ISFP moving from job to job while they look for an environment that suits their needs and tendencies.
Final Thoughts
To an ISFP, a job isn’t as serious or as binding as it is to other types. This personality type has other priorities and interests that will always win out over their career responsibilities and this can make them a little less involved with and devoted to their work. But to an ISFP, that’s only natural, because there’s a lot to explore in life and their career is only one aspect of it.
References
- Dr. Drenth, A. J. “Introverted Feeling (Fi) vs. Ti, Ni & Fe“. (Retrieved Mar 2018).
- “What Is An Introvert?“. (Retrieved Mar 2018).
- “ISFP – The Artist“.
- “The ISFP in the Workplace“.
- “The ISFP as an Entrepreneur“.
- “Best Jobs For Your Personality“.