My top 10 careers (and about 300+ more) - one writer reviews MBTIonline Careers
Vanessa, MBTIonline Contributing Writer
“What do you want to when be you grow up?”
In kindergarten, my very confident answer to that question was: “a mermaid.” I still see the appeal. Who wouldn’t want to be a magical sea princess?
But as I got older, my answer changed. First it was “geologist.” Then it was “author.” And then “third grade teacher,” followed shortly after by “magazine editor.”
By the time I got to college, I needed some direction. In fact, I ended up changing majors twice. It would have been really helpful to know which careers would pique my interest and fit my vibe.
Fortunately, I fell into a career I love (PR and marketing). In fact, I’m still swimming in those waters today (yes, that was a mermaid pun).
I got lucky.
But that’s not the case for everybody.
If the MBTIonline Careers tool was available back then, I could have figured things out a lot sooner.
What is MBTIonline Careers?
MBTIonline Careers is a self-paced, virtual experience that uses the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality assessment to offer detailed insights into how you think, feel, and behave. The tool uses your results to scour its database of more than 1,000 jobs and provide a list of career ideas tailored specifically for you.
Whether you’re just starting out or you want a 180° career switch, this tool provides the clear, accurate data you need for those important life decisions. Even if you’re already doing what you love, maybe there’s a way to branch out and advance your career in the same industry. MBTIonline Careers can help show you that vision.
Plus, you can save your results and come back as many times as you want to search the database, bookmark your favorites, and learn more about proposed job outlooks.
I recently went through MBTIonline Careers and documented my experience. Here’s a step-by-step look at what I did:
1. I took the MBTI personality assessment
This part took about 30 minutes to complete. Going in, I knew I needed to give my honest response to each question – even if both answers applied. I simply had to choose the one that was most true to my natural preferences. For instance, while my “work persona” might be more enthusiastic and analytical, I know that’s not how I operate at my core. The accuracy of MBTI results depends on this kind of honesty. Here’s a screenshot to give you a closer look at what kinds of questions to expect:
There are a total of 143 questions. Some were formatted like you see in the screenshot, and others were posed in a different way. The goal? To pinpoint my four-letter personality type. More on why getting your best-fit MBTI type matters, here.
2. I discovered more about my personality type
After I finished the assessment, the MBTIonline Careers portal led me through three learning modules. This took about 30 minutes. During the session, I learned more about the elements of personality types, and what makes each one unique. During the last module, I received my results and confirmed I have a preference for INFP. Here’s what each of those letters mean:
- Introversion (how I get my energy)
- Intuition (how I learn)
- Feeling (how I make decisions)
- Perceiving (how I organize my life)
I learned I’m most likely to enjoy a career that enables me to engage in meaningful work that honors my inner values. I also gravitate toward careers that allow me to express my creativity, be authentic, and have plenty of time for reflection. Spot on.
3. I learned practical, customized career development tips
This part of the experience gave me a closer look at what kind of work environment suits my personality. The “Your Type + Tips” section offered detailed info about my potential blind spots and the best methods for seeking new opportunities. It even gave me customized tips for how to enhance work performance by using my non-dominant preferences. And wow was it accurate! Here’s a small excerpt from that section:
You can enhance your performance by flexing outside your natural preferences and taking on thinking-related activities, such as engaging in uncomfortable conversations, standing up for yourself when faced with unwarranted criticism, and giving more weight to the needs of organizations or systems – especially when those activities help make your relationships or causes stronger.
There was more where that came from. And to be honest, it made me slightly uncomfortable to read the full list of those tips. That’s how you know it’s good advice.
4. I got matched with my top ten careers (and 300+ more)
In the next section of the portal, I was met with a list of top ten careers that aligned with my specific personality type. In fact, there were 300+ career options that were potential good fits. Each career idea also included salary expectations, education requirements, job outlook, and more. Here’s a glimpse of my top three:
I was really surprised by the top ten list. Mostly because many of the careers had never even crossed my mind. But the more I looked into them, the more they made sense – especially my top result: arbitrators, mediators, conciliators.
While I don’t love conflict, I do enjoy helping people resolve their issues. I often find myself thinking, “why can’t everybody just get along?” Harmony is a priority, so I could totally see myself leaning into that, had things gone differently in my life. While I’m satisfied with my PR and marketing role, the career matches did give me some ideas about industries to pitch.
Sidenote: the top ten careers list is organized by likelihood of satisfaction. The “sat score” percentage listed in each box indicates the probability that I’d be satisfied in that career. So if the sat score is 95%, it doesn’t mean I’ll be 95% satisfied with that job. It means I have a 95% chance of being satisfied.
To calculate that percentage, the database uses a sample size of at least 200 people per occupation.
Beyond the list of career matches, I also browsed the larger database of occupations and used the portal’s search function to see what else was out there.
This is how I learned my sat score is around 74% for a marketing manager, and only 50% for a writer. I enjoy content writing and copywriting the most out of all my work tasks, so those 50/50 odds turned out pretty well.
Another cool function: you can compare careers. Take a look at the comparison between my current role as marketing manager and my top match of arbitrator/mediator:
Overall, I’m really impressed with MBTIonline Careers. It gave me new insights and ideas about how to shape the next era of my professional life. And I can see how invaluable this tool would be to high school/college students or even executives who want to transition to something new.
If that’s you (or you’re somewhere in between), the Careers portal will help point you in the right direction. Try it today.