[WarriorDreamer]

I think it would be interesting to see what all of you INFP's do for work as in career and if they correlate with the described or suggested careers on other MBTI related websites.

Or, if you are not actually working do you have an ultimate dream or career goal or at least an interest of direction?

 

[krentz]

I work as an IT Assistant in a medium-sized business; private sector. I'm not a corporate type at all, but the environment is fairly relaxed, my boss is an amazing person which I don't take for granted, and I do enjoy what I do. I think from a technical perspective, I have greater aptitude than my superior however my organisational skills as well as my business mind and decision making are my Achilles' heel. All in all, I don't think I do too bad, though. My coworkers seem to like me and I think my contributions thus far have made my employment worthwhile, though that is not for me to decide.

I decided I wanted to be involved with computers ever since I was about 7 or 8 years old. The dream was to become a computer games programmer, however, between projects I worked on in my spare time and the course I went on at University, I learned something: I am far more enthused and spiritually nourished by the creative process than I am by the means in which I pursue it. By which I mean that insofar as I have complete creative control, I really enjoyed teaching myself how to program, but I actually find the technical aspects of it rather dull. I was only interested insofar as I could apply it as a vehicle to achieve my visions and not for its own sake. How should I say... it's like my love affair with (human) language. I love language because it allows us to communicate and to express ourselves. However, the fundamentals of language like syntax, grammar: as much as I realise they are necessary, I cannot find fulfilment in such minor details.

If I can't get on board with an idea, then I can't work. I never could work well with others in that sense. In retrospect, that is mostly all I would have been doing in a corporate environment - coding for the public, the directors, the managers - so perhaps I was lusting after the unattainable. It's why I'm reluctant to try it again.

Currently, I'm persuading myself to either take up some new hobbies or reprise some old ones, as I don't want to let my creativity languish overmuch. That said, I've been thinking the same way for a couple of years now, so take me with a pinch of salt. My lack of downtime during the week combined with wrist pain (and major procrastination) is dissuading me from trying to write properly. I've been planning on learning keyboard for ages and promised myself I'd buy one the next time payday rolls around however I don't know where I will put the thing, because we don't have a whole lot of space in the house as it is.

As far as long term plans, I don't really have any. I had one for many years and the shock of seeing it fall through was quite devastating - even if I had succeeded I don't think I would have found what I was looking for. I have learned that having dreams is good because it propels us forward, however hedging all your bets on something without being realistic about it could potentially set you up for disastrous results. Looking back, I've always enjoyed the options, the freedom, the potential of being able to do something as much or more than I have actually doing it. I guess I am a bit of a puer aeternus in that sense. I just hope that I'm not setting myself up for a fall as I get older.

 

[DarwinsBastard]

Just a summer job, but I drive one of these -_-

it's the only thing I can do to make enough to pay for school.

it's not at all an "INFP career" but at least I get to be alone and talk to myself all day at work

 

[Acey]

I'm in IT as well. It's actually very nice because I can just sit in my cubicle all day and surf the internet. Although I feel like I'm not applying myself, it seems like the perfect fit for me at this stage of my life. The less stress, the better.

 

[Zebedee]

Unemployed! 5 months strong!

*Edit to add: I'm technically not unemployed. I'm currently a Disney employee performing a stage show that only runs in the months of November and December. LOL

 

[krentz]

I'm in IT as well. It's actually very nice because I can just sit in my cubicle all day and surf the internet. Although I feel like I'm not applying myself, it seems like the perfect fit for me at this stage of my life. The less stress, the better.

Haha, alright for some! Wouldn't work here. Company policy is for personal use during lunch hours only. All Internet access is recorded and one of the things I do is keep a record of which IP address and device name relates to which user. We're not nazis about it but we don't like it to get out of hand. (The things some people will look at on their work computer truly astounds me. Even I'm not so stupid as to go looking up porn for example...!)

I can understand your approach but I don't think I'd feel comfortable with it. I generally either want to do something well or not at all. (Probably the only time I really slacked off was towards the back end of my teen years, but that's likely only because I put so much effort into competitive gaming that I had none left to give for anything else. Hey, it was fun while it lasted.)

 

[Laeona]

I've worked as a 3D Environment Artist for 12 years (if it helps, think "computer games"). I also work as a park ranger at a State Park in the summer. I love both jobs, probably because they give me alot of variety and challenge me to constantly learn new things. And like krentz noted, having great bosses to work for makes all the difference.

I took another job for a time, at a well-known department store (everyone is feeling the economic downturn). I did not miss my calling in life on this one. The retail environment is not for me. This job absolutely made me miserable.

My dreams? Just to do things that make a difference. I want to affect positive change. So my hobbies usually reflect that.

@DarwinsBastard Love the Tonka truck! I want a ride

@dog8food I've often wondered what it's like to work for Disney in their shows. Like, are the visitors crazy nuts? Do your cheeks hurt from the constant pasted smile? What's it like? Give us insight!

@WarriorDreamer Hey, what do you do? What are your dreams! Input! Input!

 

[JoCZker]

Social worker. Working with people with learning disabilities. Love the idea, hate the huge stress involved. Dont know how long I will be able to take it. I would give anything for something interesting without so much pressure every day . . .

 

[Uncouth Angel]

I'm a recent graduate with an MFA in Writing, and I have been severely underemployed for the last year, though I've still done things to keep myself occupied that I can put on my resume, like an unpaid internship at a publishing company in Easthampton, Writer's Conferences, and a Writer's Residency. I've applied to various PhD programs in Writing and Literature in addition to various part-time and online teaching positions. What I'd really like to do is teach Fiction Writing workshops at the college level, but they usually won't look at your application unless you either have years of experience teaching (which I don't have), or a book or two published already (which I'm working on).

The best thing I have going for me at this time is my novel in progress, which is incredibly difficult to write, but worth the effort. It's attracted the attention of agents from both the Algonkian Wharf Writer's conference and at Author Salon and the Agent Query - Writer Workshops and Writers Conference. Hopefully, I can get a draft completed by the end of the summer and submit it by then.

I also have a few shorter pieces I'm trying to submit to various magazines for publication, but they've all been rejected so far.

There are also editing jobs I'm looking into at the moment.

 

[Mulberries]

Civil servant in a customer service role. Most days I want to slash my wrists because of the repetition and dealing with idiots/assholes. No INFP should be doing this. The only thing keeping me here is a few awesome friends and decent enough pay.

I've got something else up my sleeve, but it's on hold for the moment.

 

[frietfriet]

I'm still a student, but I hope to become a web designer some day :blushed:

 

[davidbeacon]

I grow tiny plants. By tiny plants, I mean in special flats called plug trays that hold anywhere from 72 to 512 seedlings. At the right height for sale, they're around an inch and a half tall. Tiny plants.

I work as an assistant grower for one of the biggest greenhouses on the eastern side of America. My boss is in charge of one of the ranges there; he's given me two houses to manage watering and lets me make a lot of my own decisions, so that's cool. It demands a lot of Si, Te, and Se, so it's a challenge, but good for personal growth, I guess. I really do like my job, and kind of hope that I get my own area eventually. I'd appreciate the raise in pay.

I used to work with trees in a nursery. I had a few crews that I had to manage; they pruned trees. That was my first experience building my Te, and I wasn't very good at it at first. I learned pretty quickly, though. INFP's learn quickly.

You'd be surprised how many different chemicals go on the plants you buy. Look up "paczol". It goes on most annuals.

Also, I've learned a lot of Spanish from the Mexicans I've gotten to work with in the last three years. Mexican culture is pretty fun. The lunch room smells like the best friggin' Mexican restaurant you've ever stepped in, and they share their food all the time: they put their lunches on the table, and they take a little of everyone else's food. No one goes hungry. ¡Qué vato! Pasame el mole, por favor. Está bueno con pollo.

 

[kagemitsu]

Officially unemployed. But...

- Sometimes I do graphic design for the web. I find clients online on a few dedicated forums and send them my application. If they reply, we go over what do they need me to do and I deliver as soon as I can.

- Sometimes I work with a local photographer and I post-process his photos. Yesterday we did a shooting with a local metal band who's releasing their CD soon and they wanted me to make their CD cover.

- I help my family with our family business, being a funeral house. I mostly help with computer stuff because my father is too old to understand how to turn a PC on and my brother can do barely that. So I scout the web for online shops that sell what we need, in order to save some money, or make contact with foreign clients (yeah, sometimes people living out of the country want to be buried in here), and I do secretarial work for them (and I don't wear a miniskirt)

- I help out in the kitchen of an high class restaurant in here. I'm officially a dishwasher, but I help with all things kitchen related. I prepare basic stuff, help put stuff in the plates, help cooking, lift weights and so on.

I'm waiting for a real job, hoping it happens soon. :\

 

[ThatOne]

I know this is almost completely unrelated, but this made me randomly wonder if there were any Feelers who were strippers. Not to imply I have anything against them, it just made me wonder whether a Thinker or a Feeler would be better at the job.

 

[Luis Fuego]

Currently, i'm unemployed, but i've worked about 12 different jobs in the last 12 years (some lasted multiple years, some lasted a fraction of years). the majority of them are graphic design (6) or retail (3) and some other odd jobs in there. i have no real career plan, as i am kind of "over" design, and looking for a new career, or, uh... job, haha.

 

[Luke]

I just got a job as a research assistant at a university. I'll be running experiments on cognition. I don't have to do any of the theoretical aspects of the experiment, I just oversee the general running of the experiment and the admin side of it. The job won't last for long, but hopefully it will lead to further jobs in the future. In the end I want to either be a researcher in cognition or perception.

 

[Silent Night]

Currently, I am unemployed. I am looking for part-time work in anything at the moment (retail, cleaning, etc.) just to get me by while I look for a proper job. Ideally, I would like to be an educational assistant, but that requires a few college courses to get the official certificate and I need to save up money for that first. This isn't really my career or dream, but it's something I would be good at and could do since teaching didn't work out for me. I found out that my suspicions of it not being something I'm suited for were in fact right. I won't let my teachers college and child and youth studies degree go completely to waste! I hope to earn some extra money tutoring as well.

 

[Mulberries]

I know this is almost completely unrelated, but this made me randomly wonder if there were any Feelers who were strippers. Not to imply I have anything against them, it just made me wonder whether a Thinker or a Feeler would be better at the job.

I think stripping or anything in the adult industry would be dripping (sorry!) with Se. I could see ESFPs or ISFPs stripping. Not so much ISFJ or ESFJ or any of the intuitives. I'd imagine ISTP and ESTP would be quite common.

 

[ThatOne]

I think stripping or anything in the adult industry would be dripping (sorry!) with Se. I could see ESFPs or ISFPs stripping. Not so much ISFJ or ESFJ or any of the intuitives. I'd imagine ISTP and ESTP would be quite common.

...Nice. XD But thanks, that does seem very much true. Considering me personally, I'm not very aware of my surroundings (which I assume comes from iNtuition)... it would be a disaster :tongue:

 

[ethylester]

I've been working in textbook stores since 1998. I probably will continue doing so until they all run into the ground. Then I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do. It's such a niche market, I don't know how my skills will transfer when I finally have to look for a new career, but I'm not gonna worry about that right now. I actually don't mind the job. The tasks I have to do are interesting enough to make the day tolerable. The only thing I don't like is dealing with customers, who are all university students, and who I think are getting dumber every year (no offense to any college kids out there). Or maybe I'm just getting jaded. Plus, it's not fun to sell a product that no one wants to buy. Rarely do I get a customer that looks at the book I hand him/her and says, "Oh cool, this book looks really interesting, I can't wait to read it!" No, it's more like, "OH MY GOD, this book is $80?? WHAT THE $*#[email protected]$#@, I don't want to buy this book, you guys are ripping us off, what a racket, how ridiculous, I hate books, i hate my professor, I'm not buying this piece of crap, blah blah blah, whine whine whine." It gets really old.

BUT I do like doing pretty much everything else in the bookstore that doesn't involve customer service. I love setting up the shelves, alphabetizing the books, shipping & receiving, organizing shit, all that good stuff. It's pretty fun. And I work for a private bookstore, not a corporation, so that makes my job more meaningful to me since I work right along side the owners. This aspect is very important to me. I wouldn't be at the bookstore if I had to work for a corporation. I did that for a few years and I hated it so much. Now that corporation is in bankruptcy, so I am glad I got out when I did.