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Whatever you like! I may not be the best to speak her because I am right in between t and f (but still leaning f), but I love biology and chemistry. Both would make for realistic job opportunities and it seems that is what you are interested in. I cannot explain these sciences or tell you to like them, but here is why I like them:

-Biology puts me in touch with the natural world and just makes life seem so much more REAL. It is, after all, the study of LIFE and that is just such an amazing and overwhelming concept to me it is so precious and unique to our world. If you decide to study biology you could do all kinds of things besides becoming a doctor like many assume. You could work to preserve endangered animals, keep the ecosystem in balance, work with plants, or become a teacher and I bet there are loads more jobs if you look it up

-Chemistry is like a very intricate puzzle to solve and once you understand one part of it, you just keep going deeper and deeper. I love how the whole world is made of chemistry. Everything can be broken down into the simplest parts of matter then build back up to create something amazing and unique. Chemical reactions help explain many of life's greatest mysteries and some of the most beautiful changes things go through. Chemists can work to create safe products for people, help create new types of medicine to save lives, and also become teachers of course! and other stuff im probably just not thinking of or articulate enough to explane
 
Hi all, I just joined and figured I'd throw in my two cents on INFPs in science. I'm an INFP physicist. I've always been interested in the sciences, among other things, and ended up studying physics all through grad school. I have almost ten years of work experience now and I'm certainly no different than many INFPs here in being completely lost in terms of job and career. Let me say this first: I've always love the sciences and discovered physics as an undergraduate. It focuses on the big picture and the underlying ideas of how the world works, and I love that. Honestly I could do without the tedious details of calculating this or that. It has always been about understanding the underlying concepts that make nature work and how different phenomena relate to each other. However, being a practicing researcher in one of the hard sciences is not all it's cracked up to be. Unfortunately I was well into grad school before I figured that out. Working with faculty and attending conferences taught me what I needed to know, but way too late. Scientists and engineers are among the most closed minded people I've ever met and many are almost impossible to work around. They are incredibly egotistical, stuck in their ways and ideas, and always ready to tear apart anyone around them if they don't like something about their work. Whether in academics or industry, it can be quite a nasty environment to work in for an INFP unless you can figure out how to build a thick shell around you, something I have not been able to do. If relationships with your co-workers or customers is important to you, then think long and hard about a career in science because you are bound to be working with some arrogant and intolerant characters.

Another thing I didn't realize when I entered grad school is that the whole "publish or perish" thing is completely true and getting tenure at a university completely revolves around pumping out publications in major journals and bringing in grant money. The focus is not so much on quality science or papers, but on the money you bring in and the sheer quantity of papers you publish. You better be able to get along with the peer reviewers at the journal too, because if they don't like your paper for any reason, they'll shut you out and prevent you from publishing it. After five or six years, you will be judged by your peers on whether you are acceptable to the academy by your papers and grant money, and if you don't cut it then out you go. Academics is a cut throat and political business and if that doesn't fit your ideals, you will suffer. I chose not to go into academia once I learned this.

As for research, you must specialize in some tiny corner of your chosen field and pour your energy into working in that tiny area and publishing paper after paper on the same subject matter. Looking at journals you can quickly see the same professors publishing essentially the same papers over and over again with some small detail changed. Usually it is just an extension of their dissertation. It is not the idealistic world of being some free spirited professor that can study whatever they want and whenever they want. Maybe after you go through the tenure ordeal, you can make that happen. If you survive that, then you're in and you have more freedom--subject to teaching demands, university committee assignments, and bureaucratic administration.
Grants: grant funding is determined by government bureaucrats and political interests. if you want funding for something that is not the flavor of the day, good luck getting some money. Science is an intensely political enterprise these days, far from the ideal of a bunch of open minded intellectuals pondering the nature of things.

How did I manage? I worked in the federal government for a while and now I'm working for a company, though most of our revenues are supported by government funding. I work with jerks for co-workers and customers, in general. The egos are incredible, the attitudes are cynical and nasty, and good luck with forming any kind of satisfying personal relationships with them that give your work greater meaning. For me, the people i'm around have always shaped whether I've had a good day or bad day far more than the details of the work I'm doing on any given day. It took me a long time to realize this but it is crystallizing and all I want to do now is get away from these people.

So my point? I would never discourage anyone from the sciences-they're wonderful and I don't regret studying physics--but no one sat me down when I was younger and discussed with me the realities of working in science and engineering and I had to find out all of this for myself. I'm not sure what I would have done differently, but at least I would have not been so surprised at how nasty of a business it can be. Please just beware of this before you take the plunge!
Thank you for sharing your experience, physicist. I'm studying science (i'm not very far into it), doing an advanced degree, which is really just a degree that is for people who want to go into research. I have been browsing through information about what it's -really- like to be involved in science for some time now, (thank the heavens for the internet) and found out many of the things you reiterated above, probably late last year. Thankfully i'm not invested in the idea of doing academic research, and intuitively figured out a lot of downsides to it. I was always aware of the bullshit and bureaucracy involved, and luckily the better lecturers here (i'm Australian) actually reveal their trials and tribulations- even to first years.

It actually dawned on me in one of my classes (basically a "learning to be a scientist" class), the type of people who are drawn to research. In a class of 30, just over 10 were Nf's and Nt's. My microbiologist teacher (an awesome person and great researcher) took a liking to me and another girl (a maths major) and I wondered why. There were more brilliant and smarter students there, but now I can see that we were one of few who had any passion for our areas of interest. We had to have discussions online, and we even did modules on ethics. And I was one of few who actually took that seriously. I was also one of few who had any interest in past science communicators, or had any "vision". I never expected science to be a perfect institution, but I quickly realised that for an infp, going down the path of research would be perilous. I knew from my very first year of doing study, that I had a very different perspective on ethics and science in general than my peers. Personally I think science could do with some more nf's, if they could actually survive... with their souls intact :p. I have been shocked, but not surprised, at some of the experiences my professors have been through. Bullying, lying, misrepresentations, using people, holding grudges, ignorance, manipulation, bribery... the list goes on.

I'm exploring other avenues to take my interest in neuroscience. I have a particular interest in neurodegenerative diseases, and would love to be "hands on" in being involved with treatment for those conditions. I've also considered clinical psychology and teaching. I'm taking my time with my degree so I can explore all my options away from research.
 
Please please please do not give up.

The older I get, the more realistic my worldview is. BUT, please do not let this sway you in any way. I genuinely hope that NFs and NTs, will indeed go into science, and really be creative and create something very real, and new? I just left a bio-tech company, and I can assure you that whether it is the academia (and I have heard of horror stories too from my own brother, and friends, BUT... it is still a realistic money-driven, applicable environment, but I have always thought that it is less commercially driven or as pressurised as a corporate environment?), or it is the corporate environment, I do think that there are individuals in a high-level environment, who will indeed champion for you, to genuinely create something very innovative and new? I remember my old manager who always emphasized that I should allow the working environment to be creative. I should put less pressure on my customers (R&D scientists). I can see why. Cos if you are *more* pressurised, your brain is not going to think straight. It will fear instead. There are so many good decent managers like mine, who will do well by science, and are ethical, and can play the corporate game, AND churn out good decent scientific researches. Saying that, you do have to provide *some* kind of proof on feasibilities, and hence possibly why the high number of papers and patents to keep that door open.

There had been many kind of examples in the UK alone. Like viagra! It was a research for hypertension (high blood pressure), and angina (heart disease), but then it was later cross-marketed, and tested for other functions. The infamous one, like erectile disfunction. (Who would have thought?)

One thing as a scientist is that, you got to accept that what we do discover has to be applicable to mankind, and have to be commercialised. Unless it is the very very early stages of the research whereby nobody knows what use it has for the industry, or human development, but then if your uni think this, then they are very out of touch with the real world too. Or rather, they don't know what society needs. I think across the world, there are possibly a few unique university or research centres who are truly doing "forefront" technological and scientific researches, and if you want to get into those kind of places, you really got to seriously prove yourself ? I can see how some universities can churn out papers continuously to hold onto the prestige. Also, if you are that good, then you are indeed already the world best. In which case, ANY reputable university will want to headhunt you.

I think INFP can be creative scientists, but you got to take it with a pinch of salt, and also not to let the process stop you and your idealism cloud the system too. Cos you can indeed get the most out of it for yourself, and for society... As INFP'ers, I hope you persevere?

I myself was a chemistry graduate, and then I went into IT and caught that wave. I could've, before the big IT boom, did molecular modelling, or chemical databases. However, there isn't a high demand even back then, and only a handful of companies already did this and provided this in the real world. I just went into the next big thing, which was commercialised IT financial systems. You also had people who wrote the softwares, but they needed people to fix and to resolve system issues. Hence support, system analyst, support analysts role, or business analysts role are rife. That is how I stayed in the job market. Cos there was a need for my skills and background.

In this new scientific age, something called bio-infomatics is the new generational thing after the IT boom.... It is a current forefront field, which lacks the people to do the work, cos it is a multi-disciplinary area. You need a biology background (relating to genetics, DNA sequencing), computing (if you are doing algorithms), and statistics. It is worth considering going into these particular areas.

Now, I am hoping to change field, and go into something which would be quite next generational and more applicable to the masses like dietician... It will definitely be more commercialised.

I can also say that, after the informational age, the miniaturisation phase will indeed happen. So any kind of scientific researches now which will allow us to either
1- recycle materials, or
2- mass produce semiconductors using less raw materials like silicon
3- design smaller components, or find efficient way to miniaturise something, (and therefore use less materials)
4- find ways to be energy efficient, or to find ways to power-up gadgets (for miniaturisation)


The reasoning is that, businesses need to keep afloat. Only way to keep afloat is to sell more items, and bring in more businesses. Therefore if they sold many more items, using less materials, then they are likely to produce this for ALL humans across the globe.
This is the rationale. So any part of this area will indeed be wanted by the commercial world.


Also, don't forget that, you yourself can be an individual innovator, scientist at home. In the UK, I think this is quite common. Mr Dyson. Who did not like the current product, and he went and built his own prototypes, and did his own research at his own home? He believed in what he did. So he went out and proved to the world how efficient his concept was. He also built on this same science-efficient-innovator brand, and created several other types of products solving every day problems. (He found a way to create a new type of hand dryer that definitely kills germs and bacterias, and also is energy efficient?) Or you can go extreme, which is to always create something new, and try to solve every day problems. Yoshiro Nakamatsu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Highest number of patents for a Japanese guy?)
 
Whatever you like! I may not be the best to speak her because I am right in between t and f (but still leaning f), but I love biology and chemistry. Both would make for realistic job opportunities and it seems that is what you are interested in. I cannot explain these sciences or tell you to like them, but here is why I like them:

-Biology puts me in touch with the natural world and just makes life seem so much more REAL. It is, after all, the study of LIFE and that is just such an amazing and overwhelming concept to me it is so precious and unique to our world. If you decide to study biology you could do all kinds of things besides becoming a doctor like many assume. You could work to preserve endangered animals, keep the ecosystem in balance, work with plants, or become a teacher and I bet there are loads more jobs if you look it up

-Chemistry is like a very intricate puzzle to solve and once you understand one part of it, you just keep going deeper and deeper. I love how the whole world is made of chemistry. Everything can be broken down into the simplest parts of matter then build back up to create something amazing and unique. Chemical reactions help explain many of life's greatest mysteries and some of the most beautiful changes things go through. Chemists can work to create safe products for people, help create new types of medicine to save lives, and also become teachers of course! and other stuff im probably just not thinking of or articulate enough to explane
This is such an INFP way to describe the pull towards the sciences!
 
I want a career that have psychology, music and art, wrapped into one. I'm into psychology but I have had a history of depression. I don't think being a counselor would be a good idea if I'm on meds. I think I have bi-poler. Have lack of motivation and I have anxiety that never goes away. There's some things that you need to except in life to make things better for yourself instead of struggling to move forward in life. I want to learn about myself, know why I and other think the way they do. Music, I'm always listening to music. I'm very musically inclined, love singing. Would love to learn how to play an instrument. I love dancing. I memorize songs easily. Art, my surrounding are very important to me. Where I'm like a cafe, my apartment and bookstore, they all have to be inspiring. I need feel creative and imagine, atmospheres help me to. All these I love. Oh and I love to motivate people, encourage them to be better people. I love pushing people in the right direction, I care for people in that way a lot. Maybe I can be a career counselor and have a really cool inspiring office with indie music on. haha Encourage people to find the right career for them based on their personality type and passions.
 
It is very nice to see other INFPs in the sciences! I started out in environmental science, but switched my major to natural resources earlier this year because I was really struggling with the math in physics I had to take for environmental science. Natural resources, although very similar, seems to be more applied, like how you would use what you know in the real world. It might just be that I've now gotten through most of the mindless, 600-person lecture general science classes. I'm really clueless on the career area though. I was just trying to find something I enjoyed studying. I guess with a year of school left I should probably be figuring that out.
 
I want a career that have psychology, music and art, wrapped into one. I'm into psychology but I have had a history of depression. I don't think being a counselor would be a good idea if I'm on meds. I think I have bi-poler. Have lack of motivation and I have anxiety that never goes away. There's some things that you need to except in life to make things better for yourself instead of struggling to move forward in life. I want to learn about myself, know why I and other think the way they do. Music, I'm always listening to music. I'm very musically inclined, love singing. Would love to learn how to play an instrument. I love dancing. I memorize songs easily. Art, my surrounding are very important to me. Where I'm like a cafe, my apartment and bookstore, they all have to be inspiring. I need feel creative and imagine, atmospheres help me to. All these I love. Oh and I love to motivate people, encourage them to be better people. I love pushing people in the right direction, I care for people in that way a lot. Maybe I can be a career counselor and have a really cool inspiring office with indie music on. haha Encourage people to find the right career for them based on their personality type and passions.
It sounds like music therapy, art therapy, or dance therapy might be a good fit for you. Even if your history of depression makes you hesitant to work with psych patients as an arts therapist you could work with stroke patients, Alzheimer's patients, etc.

Music therapy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Art therapy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dance therapy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I too love music, psychology, and art and considered music therapy for a while but my complete lack of musical background (unless singing around the house counts) kinda forced me to rule it out. Maybe in another life. I've always been really interested in the sciences too and love working with theories but I also like for there to be some practical application so I considered things like forensic science and neuroscience in the past too. A few months ago I decided to pursue occupational therapy because it combines psychology, hard science, and some creative aspects. The further I go down this path the more doubts start to creep in that maybe I would be happier doing something less physically-based and a bit more solitary, but I can't tell yet if those are legitimate concerns or if it's just my INFP tendency to question and criticize every decision I make. In the meantime as an INFP who's borderline T/F it's good to see other INFPs with scientific tendencies.
 
Psychology or engineering would both be good choices. As an engineer, you can design things and put your artistic ability to work, and as a psychologist, you can help people who are in distress. Both are qualities that INFPs tend to value in the workplace.
 
It sounds like music therapy, art therapy, or dance therapy might be a good fit for you. Even if your history of depression makes you hesitant to work with psych patients as an arts therapist you could work with stroke patients, Alzheimer's patients, etc.

Music therapy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Art therapy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dance therapy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I too love music, psychology, and art and considered music therapy for a while but my complete lack of musical background (unless singing around the house counts) kinda forced me to rule it out. Maybe in another life. I've always been really interested in the sciences too and love working with theories but I also like for there to be some practical application so I considered things like forensic science and neuroscience in the past too. A few months ago I decided to pursue occupational therapy because it combines psychology, hard science, and some creative aspects. The further I go down this path the more doubts start to creep in that maybe I would be happier doing something less physically-based and a bit more solitary, but I can't tell yet if those are legitimate concerns or if it's just my INFP tendency to question and criticize every decision I make. In the meantime as an INFP who's borderline T/F it's good to see other INFPs with scientific tendencies.
Thanks for the suggestions, I really appreciate it. I've heard of art therapy before but have never heard of music or dance therapy. I'll definitely have to check all of out. I'm not really good at art, though the owl that I just painted surprised with how well I can actually paint. Van Goth-unlike Picasso-was a bad drawer when he was young but diligently taught himself how to draw. You may be surprised how well you sing if you sang in front of people, got there advice with how you sing. Maybe take some voice lessons. maybe in another life-funny lol. I always tell people that I'll be an ant in my next life or a piece of grass haha. How happy I'd be lol :).

I would like to work with theory's too, be a philosopher, anthropologist or social scientist(in my book). You can be a researcher(in my do what you are book for INFP's) I think INFP's are good at thinking, analyzing. I know someone that doesn't like massage therapy because it's physical and is going into occupational therapy because it pays more and she likes psychology. As a massage therapist, my job is very physical. I don't like how it's physical, that I'm touching strangers. I'd rather talk to people, I think i can make more of a difference doing that. Some people think that massage therapy is a solitary job but it's not, you're very intimate with people and everyone wants to talk to you. They want to warm up to you so they can build trust with you.

I think occupational therapy will sort of be the same. I don't like working with people honestly, especially people I've never met before. I am so indecisive, I have to ask everyone for their opinion. I'm coming to the realization that I need to make decisions for myself, take what I need from peoples advice but don't take it all if I don't want to. Listen to yourself, just make sure you're making good decisions. What I see with you is that you have doubts about occupational therapy, if you have any doubts at all I would run away from making the decision of going into that career. I've had doubts about massage therapy and majoring in business, ran away from business right a way in college but not MT.

You should read; "Do what you are", it's a book about finding a career that suits you with your personality type. The book got it wrong that it would be good for me to be a massage therapist because I hate the career. Maybe I just don't like it and other INFP's do. I think Massage Therapy is for outgoing people more so. So maybe you shouldn't read it haha. Looking at the book and it has occupational therapist as a good health care job for INFP's, it give you the ability to work closely and intimately with clients or patients. It's creative and often spiritual with diagnosis and treatment. Lets you use your intuition and feeling preferences. Provides autonomy that INFP's prefer. You can be a Ethicist or Geneticist also. More careers to come, I'll research more since you helped me out. :)
 
Well, I'm in computer science and I love programming. A lot of INFP are unsure of what they want to do but luckily for me, I've always been sure that this is what I've wanted to do. A lot of people also have this idea that coding is a boring job. It depends on the kind of code you're writing.
Personally for me, programming is really cool because I get to make stuff and some of the problems require really creative solutions.
as much as I hate programming for money (as I can't do what I want generally) ... I would say it is one of the most flexible fields for "money"...that is, if you have other pursuits outside of it... If I ever made any money from writing that was stable enough to do it full time, I would definitely say goodbye to that world forever. I could think of much worse... And it isn't really political at all, you generally just come in, and mostly left alone. Or you can freelance or start your own company. I gave up the idea of trying to find a love that is also a career long ago...I came to the conclusion they are all just jobs, and computers came rather easy to me. Although I do think it is right to select the type of company you work for... I try to work for companies I see as doing a good service to the world/community, etc...and avoid the giant corps.

While I like the idea of doing things to help people i.e. those art therapy/massage therapy/psychiatrist roles... I don't really like that role. I'd rather conceptualize something through writing (or art) or just be more behind the scenes altogether instead of the more direct role. I think all those jobs are actually more ENFP...while an INFP would probably make a better writer/scholar/behind the scenes humanatarian about something they cared about...

that is my understanding anyways.
 
You may be surprised how well you sing if you sang in front of people, got there advice with how you sing. Maybe take some voice lessons.
I love to sing and the very few people I have sang in front of have told me my voice is good, but I don't think I could do it for a career. I don't really have any experience with music, I can't read music, and I don't play any instruments so it would be pretty difficult for me to get started doing something with music now. When I was little (maybe 7 or 8 years old) I begged my mom to let me take voice lessons but it never happened. I don't think I have the money to do it now and don't even know if I'd enjoy it now since I'm shy about singing in front of people. (Kinda bad trait for a musician to have I guess unless you're a recording session musician or a background singer.) I remember my friends used to complain to me about how they had to take piano lessons and I thought they were crazy to complain because I would have loved learning to play the piano. If I had gotten started with music when I was younger maybe I would have pursued it but I'm 22 now and at the stage in my life where I really just want to have a tolerable career that allows me to support myself. If I started with music now it would probably be years before I could get good enough and make enough connections to make money off it, assuming I ever could.

I would like to work with theory's too, be a philosopher, anthropologist or social scientist(in my book). You can be a researcher(in my do what you are book for INFP's) I think INFP's are good at thinking, analyzing. I know someone that doesn't like massage therapy because it's physical and is going into occupational therapy because it pays more and she likes psychology. As a massage therapist, my job is very physical. I don't like how it's physical, that I'm touching strangers. I'd rather talk to people, I think i can make more of a difference doing that. Some people think that massage therapy is a solitary job but it's not, you're very intimate with people and everyone wants to talk to you. They want to warm up to you so they can build trust with you.

I think occupational therapy will sort of be the same. I don't like working with people honestly, especially people I've never met before. I am so indecisive, I have to ask everyone for their opinion. I'm coming to the realization that I need to make decisions for myself, take what I need from peoples advice but don't take it all if I don't want to. Listen to yourself, just make sure you're making good decisions. What I see with you is that you have doubts about occupational therapy, if you have any doubts at all I would run away from making the decision of going into that career. I've had doubts about massage therapy and majoring in business, ran away from business right a way in college but not MT.

You should read; "Do what you are", it's a book about finding a career that suits you with your personality type. The book got it wrong that it would be good for me to be a massage therapist because I hate the career. Maybe I just don't like it and other INFP's do. I think Massage Therapy is for outgoing people more so. So maybe you shouldn't read it haha. Looking at the book and it has occupational therapist as a good health care job for INFP's, it give you the ability to work closely and intimately with clients or patients. It's creative and often spiritual with diagnosis and treatment. Lets you use your intuition and feeling preferences. Provides autonomy that INFP's prefer. You can be a Ethicist or Geneticist also. More careers to come, I'll research more since you helped me out. :)
Thank you for your feedback. Honestly I'm with you - I don't really like working with people either. I'd rather do a behind the scenes kind of job where I could help people but not have to deal with them directly. I'm okay working with people one-on-one but I still prefer to work alone. I'm very indecisive too, but I don't really ask the people in my life for their opinions because most people I know are very different than me. They'd probably tell me to get an office job or whatever job they know of that makes a ton of money. My mom keeps trying to convince me to take receptionist-type jobs, which I've done before and hated (she's ESFJ and doesn't understand that not everybody is a people person like her - she thinks there's something wrong with me because I like spending time alone). I've considered probably a couple dozen career paths over the past few years (psychology, forensics, audio engineering, healthcare, etc.) and for every one of them I come up with reasons why that path wouldn't be a good fit for me.

I do have doubts about occupational therapy but I feel like I just need to pick something and act on it or else I'm gonna sit around debating my options forever because I doubt I'll ever find any job I really love. I'm not one of those lucky people who turns their passion into a career - I don't even know what my passion is. There are plenty of things I'm interested in but I don't think I would enjoy them as careers. I don't expect occupational therapy to be perfect, I'm just hoping I will be content doing it. I also don't expect it to be my lifelong career. I'm going into it hoping it will be a stable and somewhat enjoyable career I can do to support myself until I come up with some other path I'd like to pursue. Occupational therapy isn't set in stone for me yet though because I don't apply to programs until later this year and don't have to make a final decision until about a year from now so I'll keep researching other careers until then. Thanks for recommending that book, I'll check it out and see if I can get any new ideas from it. Oh, and looking back at your original post you said you're influenced a lot by your surroundings. Maybe you should consider interior design or even set design.
 
I'm thinking about becoming an occupational therapist or speech pathologist.
 
Hi all, I just joined and figured I'd throw in my two cents on INFPs in science. I'm an INFP physicist. I've always been interested in the sciences, among other things, and ended up studying physics all through grad school. I have almost ten years of work experience now and I'm certainly no different than many INFPs here in being completely lost in terms of job and career. Let me say this first: I've always love the sciences and discovered physics as an undergraduate. It focuses on the big picture and the underlying ideas of how the world works, and I love that. Honestly I could do without the tedious details of calculating this or that. It has always been about understanding the underlying concepts that make nature work and how different phenomena relate to each other. However, being a practicing researcher in one of the hard sciences is not all it's cracked up to be. Unfortunately I was well into grad school before I figured that out. Working with faculty and attending conferences taught me what I needed to know, but way too late. Scientists and engineers are among the most closed minded people I've ever met and many are almost impossible to work around. They are incredibly egotistical, stuck in their ways and ideas, and always ready to tear apart anyone around them if they don't like something about their work. Whether in academics or industry, it can be quite a nasty environment to work in for an INFP unless you can figure out how to build a thick shell around you, something I have not been able to do. If relationships with your co-workers or customers is important to you, then think long and hard about a career in science because you are bound to be working with some arrogant and intolerant characters.

Another thing I didn't realize when I entered grad school is that the whole "publish or perish" thing is completely true and getting tenure at a university completely revolves around pumping out publications in major journals and bringing in grant money. The focus is not so much on quality science or papers, but on the money you bring in and the sheer quantity of papers you publish. You better be able to get along with the peer reviewers at the journal too, because if they don't like your paper for any reason, they'll shut you out and prevent you from publishing it. After five or six years, you will be judged by your peers on whether you are acceptable to the academy by your papers and grant money, and if you don't cut it then out you go. Academics is a cut throat and political business and if that doesn't fit your ideals, you will suffer. I chose not to go into academia once I learned this.

As for research, you must specialize in some tiny corner of your chosen field and pour your energy into working in that tiny area and publishing paper after paper on the same subject matter. Looking at journals you can quickly see the same professors publishing essentially the same papers over and over again with some small detail changed. Usually it is just an extension of their dissertation. It is not the idealistic world of being some free spirited professor that can study whatever they want and whenever they want. Maybe after you go through the tenure ordeal, you can make that happen. If you survive that, then you're in and you have more freedom--subject to teaching demands, university committee assignments, and bureaucratic administration.
Grants: grant funding is determined by government bureaucrats and political interests. if you want funding for something that is not the flavor of the day, good luck getting some money. Science is an intensely political enterprise these days, far from the ideal of a bunch of open minded intellectuals pondering the nature of things.

How did I manage? I worked in the federal government for a while and now I'm working for a company, though most of our revenues are supported by government funding. I work with jerks for co-workers and customers, in general. The egos are incredible, the attitudes are cynical and nasty, and good luck with forming any kind of satisfying personal relationships with them that give your work greater meaning. For me, the people i'm around have always shaped whether I've had a good day or bad day far more than the details of the work I'm doing on any given day. It took me a long time to realize this but it is crystallizing and all I want to do now is get away from these people.

So my point? I would never discourage anyone from the sciences-they're wonderful and I don't regret studying physics--but no one sat me down when I was younger and discussed with me the realities of working in science and engineering and I had to find out all of this for myself. I'm not sure what I would have done differently, but at least I would have not been so surprised at how nasty of a business it can be. Please just beware of this before you take the plunge!
I am uni lecturer (for a few years now) and I am seriously considering quitting. I had an inkling that it might not suit me during completion of my phd but i needed a job and after a phd being a lecturer seemed to be the job i was most qualified for. The thing I like most about it is the relative autonomy but this is negatively outweighed by feelings of isolation (co-workers lock themselves away in their offices, no lunches together) and when you do work in a team it can be a bit political and forming friendships doesn't happen on any deep level. I have also become frustrated with the all the effort that goes into an article but who really reads it (like I want to do something positive for the world but this form of 'helping' feels so blunt..). Like, surely instead of writing about the agricultural problems of a valley in Africa and presenting it at an International Geographical Conference (and being applauded on your academic and scientific brilliance) it would be a more worthwhile to actually go there and help out physically when there's a drought etc.. It feels this (Western?) desire to document and write about everything (particularly in academia where you are judged on the number of articles/books you write) is getting a bit extreme.

I would love to use my knowledge of the natural environment in an applied manner, to help solve problems on the ground, but those kind of positions seem few and far between; there are positions where you can do research but when the research is hardly ever applied it just seems that academics are doing it for the sake of it. Most NGO positions in developing countries seem to revolve around managing people, dealing with stakeholders etc....sounds stressful and a turn off for an INFP. It feels a bit sad but I do not think I will be able to use my environmental knowledge in a way that suits my personality in the workplace. I am actually considering to become an English teacher abroad as I know that at least I will be in a more social setting that will satisfy my need to work in a situation that is at least a little bit of fun.

Apologies, venting a bit here. Can anyone else relate to this?
 
I absolutely love biology; I took it all through high school, and was for a while considering a career in marine biology. I'm not squeamish at all, dissections and the like don't phase me, and I just love learning about how life works. I knew I would have to take courses in sciences that I didn't like at all, namely chemistry (I wasn't horrible at it, but I hated it nonetheless), so I crossed careers in biology off my list unfortunately.
 
I earned a degree in geology but unfortunately never made use of it. I was interested in the concepts but I struggled with the classwork and in the end didn't feel I was adequate enough to pursue a career in it.

I've always been fascinated with archaeology but just never had the opportunity to take a class. However, I finally decided to join an archaeological field school in South America this past summer and absolutely loved it!! Through studying archeology I was also able reconnect with my geology background, as they go hand-in-hand. I'm really hoping one day to pursue archaeology in Grad school.
 
A job in a laboratory can be good for an INFP or any other introvert as long as its well paid. You have to interact with coworkers, patients etc but you have your periods of alone time. You can work quietly in a corner without nobody bothering you unless you work for a huge lab corporation where things can get stressful and overwhelming. You have to get used to the routine though and know how to troubleshoot.

I think that intuitives do well in lab research but those jobs are very hard to get.
 
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