After much happenings in my life I have come around to looking very seriously at going to Uni and getting a degree. I'm so tired of where I am at in my life and I hate my job, I see no other way out other than this. Thankfully I am still in my early 20's so it makes me feel a bit better I am not "too late" to the game.
The first thing I am wanting to do first is get my general education classes out of the way so that I can do my degree classes the last two years and not have to much to worry about (hopefully). It is quite a bit less expensive this way getting it at a community college as well.
So as I look at the pool of things that interest me I thought I would reach out to the community of other INFJ's to see if you guys have some of your own careers that you are in and like. While everybody is different in their own way of how they operate, wants and interests I am trying to get a feel of if there is an area that we best work in. Or if there are things to steer clear away from your own personal experiences.
The biggest thing I am interested in is Psychology, with this I am not sure just yet where I would want to take it but looking at what jobs are available I am very open to and ready to take it further onto a Masters degree. I just want to make sure that what I go into will be able to provide a good market value and something that I will enjoy (side rant, I have never had the feeling of doing something I enjoy). The only other thinsg right now that interests me is becoming a history teacher (a little worried since its a lower paying job) and only as a last ditch I would think about Web Development/Web Design. I really dislike IT since I am currently in it now and feel like I am moving no where but Web Development sounds like it could work better with me rather than fixing clients stupid computer issues.
This is not the most sorted out thread but I wanted to start here to bounce around ideas and go from there.
I'm personally in architecture (undergraduate student), and I love it! It's a really nice mix of everything.
I would also highly recommend community college. I was homeschooled through high school and ended up talking many of my classes at community college for that, so it ended up working out naturally just to transfer since I'd already gotten a lot of credit. I don't think I'm liking my university any less because of that, or getting anything less out of it necessarily. It certainly saves costs as well should that be a concern!
In most places in the US you need a Masters in Psychology to be able to do anything with it. Masters is when you can start doing therapy. Below that, you may be looking at jobs like visitations and family court, group homes, or residential mental health wards. All of these can be high stress though, and you have to go into it realizing that you might not be able to truly "fix" any of the people you see. As one of my own mentors told me, you're doing the job right if your client doesn't even remember your name.
That said, family court stuff is what I do and I enjoy it, as every day and every family is different, so I am always learning, and I am never bored. You have to use your problem-solving skills, both at the detailed level and at the bigger picture level. There is a lot of turnover in the field though; I think it's mostly related, again, to that most of these families will never really pull it together, and some will harass you simply because you represent "the man": the evil people that took their kids away from them through no fault of their own (or some such self-delusion on their part). You have to be able to distance yourself from that and not take it personally, not believe everything you hear whether from your clients or the court, while still wheedling your clients to take an honest look at whatever issue got them into trouble with the law in the first place. Not easy! I think that probably holds true for any client that is in therapy or mental health treatment involuntarily; voluntary clients will see you more positively, but they may still have the web of self-delusions, ingrained unhealthy habits, and sometimes outright lies to wade through and de-tangle. Good work for Ni, but may drive your Fe a little crazy.
So that's the Psychology field. The others I just know of secondhand--
From what I've heard, Web Development can sometimes depend what kinds of companies you do web development for--almost every business under the sun needs a website these days, and sometimes you can work in secondary interests by marketing to businesses that relate to those industries. Like if you enjoy working with animals, you might be able to sell your skills to an animal shelter or a breeder.
History is one of those things that doesn't have a lot of job opportunities associated with it. You could become a teacher, but in some areas, teaching is poorly paid, especially considering the amount of schooling they want you to have (Masters or above sometimes). You could be a museum curator as my cousin currently is; you might also be able to write a book that hits it big, though that can be a long shot. I think it'd probably be one of those careers you should look into only if you have a passion for it and are ready to sacrifice a comfy income for its sake; otherwise it may be better as a hobby, or something to pursue while you maintain a "day job".
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