[Ray035]

Dear fellow INFP's,

Nice to meet you all and thanks for reading. I will now tell you a little personnel story about being an INFP in corporate for whom it may concern.

The first time I took the MBTI-test was at my previous job at a corporate bank and I can vaguely remember I came out INFP, this job was temporary and barely made it without too much conflict and drama.
Now at my new job (the same bank) I found myself constantly misreading management signals, having difficulty fitting in, having arguments with colleagues, colleagues telling me I am daydreaming and after six months this job is properly going end soon.

I decided to took the MBTI-test more times and I came out INFP every time, it first states that the outcome of the sixteen personalities has nothing to do with success in life and such. But the puzzles didn’t fit, seeing the same failure and failure over and over again in the working field.

After reading the profile of an INFP it a person who is a dreamer and has career preferences like art, being creative, drawing and music and that’s the exact opposite of what I am doing right now and the exact opposite of an ESTJ who is successful in the business field. I googled INFP in corporate and then I saw many blogs of people who have the same problems and that INFP will stay at the bottom of the corporate ladder (at best).
Now came to realize I DID like drawing in elementary and I DID like history and wanted to be a television director, but I thought it was just a phase and it was going to be pointless and have a low income.

But now I wish I made a different choice and I feel hopeless and miserable because I have a business degree which I even had difficulty graduating on and the only jobs I can get with this degree is controlling balance statements, doing (financial) administrative work and accountancy.

Not to be all negative: I have had some fun at school when I got a good grade, and the English lecture was like a relief, also working life can be fun with colleagues.

I am thinking about re-schooling and teaching accounting to people who want to start with a course of accounting or something, my grandfather did the same so I am guessing this is more my line of work. Not that I care for accounting in such a matter, only the prospect of teaching an individual something or having to sit in front of a computer all day the choice is easy.

Greetings,


Ray

 

[bigstupidgrin]

I have a very similar story. I was in Accounts Payable jobs for 5-6 years. Started with one decent (if boring) job with a great environment that crumbled with the housing crisis of 2008. Then bounced around crappy job after crappy job, either quitting or getting fired. I looked into my past, and thought that maybe I could try a career in history. Took one semester's worth of history classes, and a combination of too much uncertainty, and my wife finding a job 121 miles away took that possibility away. I fell into work as a TA, fell in love with it (always liked the idea of teaching, but figured I wouldn't work well with kids), and I'm student teaching in the fall.

I think teaching appeals to INFPs specifically because of the potential autonomy involved. It's your classroom, your lessons. We also get to deal with real people, and see the fruits of our labor.

Welcome to the forums, and good luck on your career journey.

 

[Wulfex]

I think teaching appeals to INFPs specifically because of the potential autonomy involved. It's your classroom, your lessons. We also get to deal with real people, and see the fruits of our labor.

Funny you mention teaching, after paying of my HUGE student loan I took out to be a software engineer, I think I'd love to teach. I would love to be able to teach high school students and try to help them realize their own potential. Plus you get the summer of if you teach in America. :happy:

I didn't realize how much I loved the creative world until AFTER I ended up at this job. I love to draw, play music and write. For some reason, I was always told to make money, and there wasn't any money in the creative world. It's sad really, because you can still live as an artist. You can find any way to live with any amount of money, it just takes a little extra work.

You're not alone though. I think most of the INFPs here have similar stories. INFPs are very lost souls trying to find a way to live in this world.

 

[telepariah]

Another corporate INFP here. I am in a small company now that seems to value and allow me my creativity. I am an instructional designer, so I have a skill set that nobody else has and the way I structure my work creates variety and opportunities to be creative at least some of the time. I worked in a major financial company and then for the world's biggest consulting company for 12 years. I learned a lot there about how to be more political--though I fucking hate that you have to be. Sometimes I tell myself just to keep my mouth shut because it has got me in so much trouble in the past.

I'm lucky though. I found a skill set that companies need and that I am good at. That makes it easier to survive.

 

[CircusCat]

Dear fellow INFP's,

Nice to meet you all and thanks for reading. I will now tell you a little personnel story about being an INFP in corporate for whom it may concern.

The first time I took the MBTI-test was at my previous job at a corporate bank and I can vaguely remember I came out INFP, this job was temporary and barely made it without too much conflict and drama.
Now at my new job (the same bank) I found myself constantly misreading management signals, having difficulty fitting in, having arguments with colleagues, colleagues telling me I am daydreaming and after six months this job is properly going end soon.

I decided to took the MBTI-test more times and I came out INFP every time, it first states that the outcome of the sixteen personalities has nothing to do with success in life and such. But the puzzles didn’t fit, seeing the same failure and failure over and over again in the working field.

After reading the profile of an INFP it a person who is a dreamer and has career preferences like art, being creative, drawing and music and that’s the exact opposite of what I am doing right now and the exact opposite of an ESTJ who is successful in the business field. I googled INFP in corporate and then I saw many blogs of people who have the same problems and that INFP will stay at the bottom of the corporate ladder (at best).
Now came to realize I DID like drawing in elementary and I DID like history and wanted to be a television director, but I thought it was just a phase and it was going to be pointless and have a low income.

But now I wish I made a different choice and I feel hopeless and miserable because I have a business degree which I even had difficulty graduating on and the only jobs I can get with this degree is controlling balance statements, doing (financial) administrative work and accountancy.

Not to be all negative: I have had some fun at school when I got a good grade, and the English lecture was like a relief, also working life can be fun with colleagues.

I am thinking about re-schooling and teaching accounting to people who want to start with a course of accounting or something, my grandfather did the same so I am guessing this is more my line of work. Not that I care for accounting in such a matter, only the prospect of teaching an individual something or having to sit in front of a computer all day the choice is easy.

Greetings,


Ray

Just my two cents, but if you can go back to school and follow another course of study maybe you should. It sounds like it would make you so much happier. Maybe you could teach History? Good luck, whatever you do. :happy:

 

[Ray035]

So you took up teaching? Did you do some re-schooling? And what does TA mean?

 

[nicoloco90]

I've got a degree in business administration now and yes, corporate seems like a logical next step. I'm not sure if I like it, i've worked at two american companies (carrier and thermo king) for one semester each. I think I was lucky that I personally knew my boss already, via the family, even though he was strict and clear with me. I can't imagine how it would be if that were not the case. I must admit though that in both cases everybody seemed to be old (at least twice my age), so that probably didn't help the feeling of fitting in.

My boss always told me I fit in (or know how to fit in I guess) very well in the business environment and have the skills to deal with different people/business cultures. He would always tell me stories about upper management levels that he was dealing with and how much of a political correct struggle it was ( @telepariah ). He would often ask me for my perspectives and what I would do in certain cases.

To me the whole business world feels unfulfilling, especially if the product or service they provide is not interesting at all. I don't care how much money I make or how much money the company makes at the cost of about everything. It feels like I am wasting my time and skills being in such environments! For me, just vaguely contributing to society and earning my pay-check for self sustainability is just not good enough.

I have the chance right now to figure out what direction I want to go in from here. Should I maybe pursue a new study program, or try to find a job that impacts people more directly in a positive way? I'm clueless atm.

 

[Ray035]

I have a very similar story. I was in Accounts Payable jobs for 5-6 years. Started with one decent (if boring) job with a great environment that crumbled with the housing crisis of 2008. Then bounced around crappy job after crappy job, either quitting or getting fired. I looked into my past, and thought that maybe I could try a career in history. Took one semester's worth of history classes, and a combination of too much uncertainty, and my wife finding a job 121 miles away took that possibility away. I fell into work as a TA, fell in love with it (always liked the idea of teaching, but figured I wouldn't work well with kids), and I'm student teaching in the fall.

I think teaching appeals to INFPs specifically because of the potential autonomy involved. It's your classroom, your lessons. We also get to deal with real people, and see the fruits of our labor.

Welcome to the forums, and good luck on your career journey.

Thanks for your reply. I first wanted to ask you something but I clicked the quick reply button and now see I have to press the "QUOTE" reply button.
To bad history didn't work out, the uncertainty is big yes. What does working as a TA mean?

 

[Ray035]

Just my two cents, but if you can go back to school and follow another course of study maybe you should. It sounds like it would make you so much happier. Maybe you could teach History? Good luck, whatever you do. :happy:

Thanks for your reply. I off course could do that, the only problem is that I am 29 and have done 8 years of administrative/business work and studies. Then there would be a big chance of unemployment.

 

[bigstupidgrin]

Thanks for your reply. I first wanted to ask you something but I clicked the quick reply button and now see I have to press the "QUOTE" reply button.
To bad history didn't work out, the uncertainty is big yes. What does working as a TA mean?

Teacher's assistant.

 

[Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar]

Dear fellow INFP's,

Nice to meet you all and thanks for reading. I will now tell you a little personnel story about being an INFP in corporate for whom it may concern.

The first time I took the MBTI-test was at my previous job at a corporate bank and I can vaguely remember I came out INFP, this job was temporary and barely made it without too much conflict and drama.
Now at my new job (the same bank) I found myself constantly misreading management signals, having difficulty fitting in, having arguments with colleagues, colleagues telling me I am daydreaming and after six months this job is properly going end soon.

I decided to took the MBTI-test more times and I came out INFP every time, it first states that the outcome of the sixteen personalities has nothing to do with success in life and such. But the puzzles didn’t fit, seeing the same failure and failure over and over again in the working field.

After reading the profile of an INFP it a person who is a dreamer and has career preferences like art, being creative, drawing and music and that’s the exact opposite of what I am doing right now and the exact opposite of an ESTJ who is successful in the business field. I googled INFP in corporate and then I saw many blogs of people who have the same problems and that INFP will stay at the bottom of the corporate ladder (at best).
Now came to realize I DID like drawing in elementary and I DID like history and wanted to be a television director, but I thought it was just a phase and it was going to be pointless and have a low income.

Vast majority of artists and history writers have an unrelated day job.

 

[tiredsighs]

Very interesting reading everyones' replies... funny some of you have decided to become teachers! I have considered that as a profession in the past, but am not very confident in leading others, much less teaching them things, so I have decided against it. I don't even know what I would teach!

Like you, @Ray035, I work a "corporate" job - I'm actually a corporate employee working at a branch, though.

My job caters to my introverted nature, so I can't complain too much. I don't really have much room to express creativity or anything fun like that, so I kind of save that for my downtime at home.

My problem is - I can't do this job for the rest of my life. It doesn't pay nearly enough for long-term (granted, I've been with the company for 3 years), and there's not really any opportunity for upward mobility (I am the only one in my position within the entire company).

And with that being said, I'm very comfortable here. I'm not someone who likes to "challenge" myself. During my teen years and very early twenties, I bounced from job to job with very little stability, and would quit over the simplest things, as long as I had another job lined up first. So this is my first real, stable job and I'd like to stay here as long as they'll have me/as long as I can stand it.

I'm just afraid that I've gotten far too comfortable here - too comfortable to either go back to school and change my career field altogether, or to even begin looking for a new job (where/why would I look anyway?)

To me, it seems like a lot of people either go to college and get a degree in something they know is lucrative, but they end up not liking it (you) or they go to college and study something easy/interesting and can't find a job in the field, and end up taking a random job that has nothing to do with their studies (me).

If I were you, I would see about maybe substitute teaching first, or offering tutoring services of some kind, just to make sure you really like the art of teaching. If there's anything I've learned, it's to wet my feet a little bit before jumping into the deep end and making all these big, expensive, and long term decisions that I end up regretting.

 

[Ray035]

Very interesting reading everyones' replies... funny some of you have decided to become teachers! I have considered that as a profession in the past, but am not very confident in leading others, much less teaching them things, so I have decided against it. I don't even know what I would teach!

Like you, @Ray035, I work a "corporate" job - I'm actually a corporate employee working at a branch, though.

My job caters to my introverted nature, so I can't complain too much. I don't really have much room to express creativity or anything fun like that, so I kind of save that for my downtime at home.

My problem is - I can't do this job for the rest of my life. It doesn't pay nearly enough for long-term (granted, I've been with the company for 3 years), and there's not really any opportunity for upward mobility (I am the only one in my position within the entire company).

And with that being said, I'm very comfortable here. I'm not someone who likes to "challenge" myself. During my teen years and very early twenties, I bounced from job to job with very little stability, and would quit over the simplest things, as long as I had another job lined up first. So this is my first real, stable job and I'd like to stay here as long as they'll have me/as long as I can stand it.

I'm just afraid that I've gotten far too comfortable here - too comfortable to either go back to school and change my career field altogether, or to even begin looking for a new job (where/why would I look anyway?)

To me, it seems like a lot of people either go to college and get a degree in something they know is lucrative, but they end up not liking it (you) or they go to college and study something easy/interesting and can't find a job in the field, and end up taking a random job that has nothing to do with their studies (me).

If I were you, I would see about maybe substitute teaching first, or offering tutoring services of some kind, just to make sure you really like the art of teaching. If there's anything I've learned, it's to wet my feet a little bit before jumping into the deep end and making all these big, expensive, and long term decisions that I end up regretting.

@tiredsighs.

Thanks for your reply. Shame to see your degree was not lucrative in a career type of way. Perhaps your degree was not that easy, but easy for you because you are interested in the subject.
Your idea of substitute teaching sounds like a good idea, but the new school semesters start in one month so then I'll have to wait another year and I'll be a year older. I'm not a leader as well, but I can teach somebody something for sure because I know how difficult it is to finally understand accounting and other finance related theory. I hope the fact that teacher schooling and being an authority in the classroom will balance out the "not being a natural leader'' difficulty.

Having a business degree and or not having a degree will probably not even matter in the end because you see, it’s how you operate at your job and a lot of the preferred corporate quality’s come from within and I have to really put in effort to function.

I make decent money but in my department I feel like a doormat, everybody is fake-friendly to me and some people make annoying semi-funny comments to me, but also to each other so I don’t know.

Lucky you don’t have to worry about that in your job. Are you still applying for any other jobs in your degree field or could you even find a similar function to what you are doing now, but can grow a little bit, in a different field?

 

[Ray035]

@bigstupidgrin And what are you going to teach in the fall?

 

[tiredsighs]

@tiredsighs.

Thanks for your reply. Shame to see your degree was not lucrative in a career type of way. Perhaps your degree was not that easy, but easy for you because you are interested in the subject.
Your idea of substitute teaching sounds like a good idea, but the new school semesters start in one month so then I'll have to wait another year and I'll be a year older. I'm not a leader as well, but I can teach somebody something for sure because I know how difficult it is to finally understand accounting and other finance related theory. I hope the fact that teacher schooling and being an authority in the classroom will balance out the "not being a natural leader'' difficulty.

Having a business degree and or not having a degree will probably not even matter in the end because you see, it’s how you operate at your job and a lot of the preferred corporate quality’s come from within and I have to really put in effort to function.

I make decent money but in my department I feel like a doormat, everybody is fake-friendly to me and some people make annoying semi-funny comments to me, but also to each other so I don’t know.

Lucky you don’t have to worry about that in your job. Are you still applying for any other jobs in your degree field or could you even find a similar function to what you are doing now, but can grow a little bit, in a different field?

Well, as long as you understand what you're teaching, I suppose it would be fun/easy for you! I actually work in payroll (but I'm very far from an accountant!) I really just type numbers into Excel and provide a clear line of communication between clients, branches, and corporate - I'm basically just a middleman, lol.

And yes, I do feel very fortunate to have little to worry about with my job. I am not currently applying for anything else because I'd like to be here for at least another year or two to have a solid job on my resume with a lot of experience in the field.

I could probably find something with a little growth potential in this field, but... meh :tongue:

 

[bigstupidgrin]

@bigstupidgrin And what are you going to teach in the fall?

Fourth grade. I'll teach all subjects, will probably do my work sample with math.

 

[Afropastepanda]

Got another INFP that's trapped in a cubicle...that's oddly the same size as a grave plot.

I've basically been working at a brokerage firm since I graduated 'school' (it was a freeway exit, for profit tech school, that's now an empty building roud: ) and i'm pretty much in the same boat as you.

I fucking hate it.

Its taken my about 9 years to realize that i'm basically unhappy Monday through Friday, from 730a to 4p. working with old mean retirees that have NO IDEA what they're doing and are pretty nasty and mean, (Ive gotten death threats before) working with pushy financial advisors that just really yell at you, talking all day on a phone about shit I really don't care or have a passion for. Just the same thing over, and over, and over and over again.

But you wanna know the kicker? I'm actually really good at what I do, hence why they won't lay me off (I made it through 4 rounds of lay offs) and I have a proven track record at my company, with promotions and awards and a lot of good comments from other employees.

i'm pretty much gonna work here until the day I kill myself.

that was a joke by the way.

If I would of know that i'd be yelled at on a daily basis by old people when I was a teenager, I would of just joined the Army/Marines instead of agreeing to work here. At least I would of got to shoot a bunch of cool guns...and possibly lost a few limbs and came back with PTSD.

 

[Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar]

I fucking hate it.

Its taken my about 9 years to realize that i'm basically unhappy Monday through Friday, from 730a to 4p. working with old mean retirees that have NO IDEA what they're doing and are pretty nasty and mean, (Ive gotten death threats before) working with pushy financial advisors that just really yell at you, talking all day on a phone about shit I really don't care or have a passion for. Just the same thing over, and over, and over and over again.

But you wanna know the kicker? I'm actually really good at what I do, hence why they won't lay me off (I made it through 4 rounds of lay offs) and I have a proven track record at my company, with promotions and awards and a lot of good comments from other employees.

Wow D: . Is such abusive toxic atmosphere typical or is it just that company D: ? Do you have any chance to find some more civilized place?

 

[Named]

Corporate beginner here, now still quite creative busy on help some business solutions, but I've had periods where bureaucratic stuff was draining my energy insanely. Going to finish my graduation internship soon and will have to see what to be doing then.

One of my biggest problems at the moment are overcoming a kind of anxiety coming when I have to ask for help (interviewing), feeling a bit like a burden to people.

 

[Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar]

Do you guys have any hobbies?