Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type [Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron, Kelly Tieger. Review: Do What You Are. Tieger and Barbara Barron. Do What You Are introduces the highly-respected and widely-used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test for.
Revised and Updated Edition Featuring E-careers for the 21st Century Now updated for today's hottest jobs--including telecommunications, biotechnology, and health care professional--this bestselling career guide shows people how to determine their personality type, and then explains which jobs are best suited to each type. Already a classic in the genre, Do What You Are has Revised and Updated Edition Featuring E-careers for the 21st Century Now updated for today's hottest jobs--including telecommunications, biotechnology, and health care professional--this bestselling career guide shows people how to determine their personality type, and then explains which jobs are best suited to each type.
Already a classic in the genre, Do What You Are has helped hundreds of thousands of people find truly satisfying work. Do What You Are introduces Personality Type - how you process information, make decisions and interact with the world around you - and shows you which of the 16 types describes you best. It lists dozens of occupations that are popular with people of your type. Then, using workbook exercises and real-life examples to highlight the strengths and pitfalls of each personality type, it shows you step-by-step how touse your unique strengths to customise your job search,ensuring the best results in the shortest period of time.And if you plan to stay in your job, Do What You Are provides savvy advice for getting the most out of your current career.Every other career guide offers generic, one-size-fits-all advice. But because it is based on personality type, Do What You Are helps you determine what you need to be more successful and satisfied. I used this book as a mid-career re-evaluation to make sure I'm headed in the right direction. It did the job of focusing me on 4 variations of my career that I will research for future growth.
And it helped me understand the nuances of Myers Briggs personality types and how to apply them to a career evaluation. I would find it at the library vs. Buying it, since i'm not sure what re-read value it has. While this book uses the Myers Briggs framework for career analysis, it does not contain the of I used this book as a mid-career re-evaluation to make sure I'm headed in the right direction. It did the job of focusing me on 4 variations of my career that I will research for future growth. And it helped me understand the nuances of Myers Briggs personality types and how to apply them to a career evaluation.
I would find it at the library vs. Buying it, since i'm not sure what re-read value it has. While this book uses the Myers Briggs framework for career analysis, it does not contain the official Myers Briggs test. It relies on self analysis. In the end, I narrowed my self evaluation to two (of the possible 16) personality types.
And that was sufficient to get to some tangible career options. But if you're looking for real confirmation of what Myers Brigss type you are, this book might not provide it. This book does explain well what a Myers Briggs personality type means and how you can use it to understand your natural preferences towards types of work and company cultures. I liked the explanation of dominant and auxiliary components of Myers Briggs. For example, an INFJ finds its 'Intuitive' component dominant but uses that internally instead of externally. I got this book out of the library based on a passionate recommendation from Penelope Trunk, a blogger I read often.
I thought I'd adore it, as I love her blog, think she has amazing insights into job and career advice, and anyway, I like self-help books of all stripes. I even read self-help books for problems I don't have.
I love personality tests. I love enneagram, OCEAN, “What Color is your Aura” and even Chinese and western zodiac tests.
I have books on palm reading and phrenology and that th I got this book out of the library based on a passionate recommendation from Penelope Trunk, a blogger I read often. I thought I'd adore it, as I love her blog, think she has amazing insights into job and career advice, and anyway, I like self-help books of all stripes. I even read self-help books for problems I don't have. I love personality tests. I love enneagram, OCEAN, “What Color is your Aura” and even Chinese and western zodiac tests. Sample Tupperware Order Form Template. I have books on palm reading and phrenology and that thing where they tell how easy you are to hypnotize by looking at your eyes. I adore this stuff.
I want to like Myers-Briggs. I think it sucks and I can’t figure out why so many people put such store into it. Unlike the enneagram, “What color is your aura”, and zodiac, Myers-Briggs doesn’t give you an easy-to-remember answer, like a number or a color or an animal.
They have some shorthand, like “mastermind” or “artisan” or “enforcer” and these are great, but not universal. All the four letter jumbles look and sound pretty much the same. Unlike enneagram, Myers-Briggs says who you are is set in stone, and can not ever be changed or altered. If you can’t change, what’s the point in any self-help book ever? If you believe you are x and will always be, what’s the motivation to expand your horizons?
Change may be the reason I get a completely different result every time I take the Myers-Briggs. 5 tests, over a period of 20 years, 5 different answers. I think it's because personality traits as determined by the MBTI are learnable skills. I was shy, but I learned to be social. I used to daydream, but I’ve learned to take care of details. To say these are not meaningful changes is like telling someone who lost a lot of weight, “you are still a fat girl.” Unlike OCEAN, Myers-Briggs type indicators don’t allow for a spectrum. In Myers-Briggs, you are one or the other.
I think many (if not most) mentally healthy people are close to the middle of the spectrum. Being an emotionally healthy and mature adult means learning to balance empathy with logic, and knowing when to focus on the big picture, and when to focus on the details, for example. In Myers-Briggs the difference between ENTJ and INTJ is huge, which means that if you're in the middle of the spectrum, it's easy to get the wrong answer. By far the biggest problem with this type indicator test is that it’s all self-assessment, and self-assessment isn’t necessarily accurate. Callous jerks can think they’re nice guys. Finnish people can think they’re extroverted because they speak to at least one person every day. And whom are you comparing yourself to?
Among ranchers in Wyoming, I’m high-strung and neurotic as a purebred cat. Among overeducated underpublished Brooklyn 30-year-olds, I’m suddenly a zen master. The “good” tests ask about sometimes, always, never, but people generally think about whatever looms large in their mind.
If you live with 8 brothers who are always hounding you, you’re likely to think you’re an introvert. If your co-worker reminds you ever day about tiny things that he remembers and you don’t, you might think you’re bad at details. Most of us don’t have a plethora of examples for these “sometimes, always, never”, and we’ll go with whatever looms largest. This book has a lot of nice tools for explaining what EINSTFJP mean, but even picking and choosing, I couldn't really come up with anything that seemed right. Even when I did find one, it wasn't long before I read something else and thought, 'well, I guess THAT's wrong.' Perhaps it is because I am vast and contain multitudes. Another problem with this book, though it could be a feature rather than a bug for some, is how in-depth it goes into the personality types.
The amount of detail is astounding, and shows great foresight and complexity of mind. Too bad the facts are all imaginary. This reminded me of when I was a kid and I'd read about the zodiac signs and they'd say 'As a Taurus, your favorite color is pink and your lucky number is 5.' And I'd kind of sigh, because I hate pink, and how is 'lucky 5' in any way verifiable? Some people might like the 'this is who you are, so this is what you're like' didacticism, but I think it's limiting and wrong. Your four letter alphabet soup MBTI type is not who you are.
It's frustrating for the same reason why I get frustrated when my kids and their friends try something once and say 'I'm good at this!' Or 'I'm not good at this!' And think that's the end-all-be-all. Let's put everyone into a box where they stay and then we don't have to work to change (or admit that people are complex.) Another reason why this book isn't as useful as it could be is that there isn't much of a way of being able to tell what a job is going to be like before you're into it. When I was a kid, I thought that being an artist meant spending all day painting.
Now that I know some artists, I know that it's more like being a small-business owner, heavy on the marketing. Some novelists spend 95% of their time writing in a room alone. Others travel 6-8 months of the year, selling themselves at cons and readings.
Same 'job', vastly different work. So even if this were wonderful and accurate about telling you who you were, it wouldn't be helpful because you don't really know what X profession does all day unless you either have X profession or can talk to someone who does.
And so many jobs are not one-word jobs anyway. Personally, I think instead of asking 'do you like to work with facts, or with people' it's more useful to ask 'do you prefer to work on commission, or salary-based.' You shouldn't need to take a personality test to know if you just want to work for money or if you need your job to have meaning. You should just know. If I felt that any of the information in this book was based on a system that had some kind of scientific validity, I might have had a different reaction to it. As it is, it's kind of like 'zodiac guide to getting a one-word job you're not qualified for and don't know what it's like anyway.' This book might be fun to read, if you don't take it too seriously.
If you're the kind of person who might read 'the zodiac guide to relationships' or 'the enneagram diet,' you'll probably find this amusing in an 'everyone likes to hear about themselves' kind of way. Unsurprisingly, this book told me that I am an ISTJ (introverted, sensing, thinking, judging), for which that chapter's subtitle is 'take your time and do it right'--exactly my perspective on life.
Key takeaways for me: 1) Career satisfaction involves the ability to use and remember facts/details; creating a real product/service, preferably with SOPs; the ability to work independently; tangible results; explicit objectives; increasing levels of responsibility, with a minimum of social politics, w Unsurprisingly, this book told me that I am an ISTJ (introverted, sensing, thinking, judging), for which that chapter's subtitle is 'take your time and do it right'--exactly my perspective on life. Key takeaways for me: 1) Career satisfaction involves the ability to use and remember facts/details; creating a real product/service, preferably with SOPs; the ability to work independently; tangible results; explicit objectives; increasing levels of responsibility, with a minimum of social politics, where I am evaluated on how well I have achieved the requirements of the job description; and working in an environment where my practical judgement is valued and rewarded. Overall: my current job.
2) Popular occupations include: auditor (for which I am thinking about going back to school), accountant (possible career change), government employee (hello!), gunsmith (could be fun), or librarian (another possible career that I've been weighing). 3) Civil service careers appeal to ISTJs' desire to serve the community. ISTJs use and remember facts (is this why I can remember random--albeit useless--details?), and 'because they take nothing for granted, ISTJs catch slips and oversights, and follow necessary procedures and systems faithfully' (252).
Orderly environments and rewarding task-orientation are work aspects ISTJs enjoy. Strengths include conscientiousness, desire to work hard, and ability to keep careful track of details. 4) Strengths: accuracy, desire to get it right the first time, ability to work alone, strong organization skills, attention to detail, strong sense of responsibility, clear work ethic, common sense, perseverance 5) Pitfalls: limited (but targeted) networking, fewer questions asked in interviews, reluctance to embrace new ideas, discomfort with change, impatience with processes that take too long, inflexibility, hard to see the big picture (yup.), lack of sensitivity, unwillingness to support change. I knew this book wouldn't do much for me--I don't like self-help books in the first place and I haven't had much luck with the career guidance books I've read.
But I didn't mind this one. I learned more about Myers-Briggs than I ever expected to (which I'm not entirely sold on but which I found insightful just the same), and I read that as an INFJ I am preoccupied with the meaning of life. Which is true! But I'm still no closer to knowing what career path I should pursue, and so I shall continue I knew this book wouldn't do much for me--I don't like self-help books in the first place and I haven't had much luck with the career guidance books I've read.
But I didn't mind this one. I learned more about Myers-Briggs than I ever expected to (which I'm not entirely sold on but which I found insightful just the same), and I read that as an INFJ I am preoccupied with the meaning of life. Which is true! But I'm still no closer to knowing what career path I should pursue, and so I shall continue to conclude that there is no meaning in life.
But you tried, book. I feel a passionate loathing for this book. Something clanged in me as soon as I started reading it, and then based on my personality type it told me I should work independently from home on creative and artistic pursuits. I'll get right on that. Let me call my agent and set something up. I'll talk to my buyer and see what the market is asking for. Let me just head to my studio and whip something into existence just after I finish writing the op-ed piece my editor is demanding.
Come the f*** I feel a passionate loathing for this book. Something clanged in me as soon as I started reading it, and then based on my personality type it told me I should work independently from home on creative and artistic pursuits. I'll get right on that. Let me call my agent and set something up.
I'll talk to my buyer and see what the market is asking for. Let me just head to my studio and whip something into existence just after I finish writing the op-ed piece my editor is demanding.
Come the f*** on, how is this helpful? Looked through this in detail last night. It went a bit beyond what I remember from. It covers: * the four dimensions of personality typing (chpt 2) - Introversion/Extraversion - iNtuitive/Sensor - Thinking/Feeling - Judging/Percieving * the 16 personality types (chpt 3) * the 4 temperaments (chpt 4) - Experiencers - SP - Traditionalists - SJ - Conceptualizers - NT - Idealists - NF. All of which I was familiar with, plus.
* the hierarchy of functions (chpt 5) - your dominant, auxilia Looked through this in detail last night. It went a bit beyond what I remember from. It covers: * the four dimensions of personality typing (chpt 2) - Introversion/Extraversion - iNtuitive/Sensor - Thinking/Feeling - Judging/Percieving * the 16 personality types (chpt 3) * the 4 temperaments (chpt 4) - Experiencers - SP - Traditionalists - SJ - Conceptualizers - NT - Idealists - NF. All of which I was familiar with, plus.
I originally purchased this in the 90's on the advice of a psychotherapist I was seeing. She highly recommended it. I had taken a test in the 11th grade, many, many moons ago, and a similar test in the 90's when I was in a program in my state called Vocational Rehab or VocRehab for short.
The first thing VocRehab had me do was to go in every morning for a week and take a battery of tests, i.e. I.Q., interest tests, etc. At that age, my head swam.
On both tests, many years apart, I found out the s I originally purchased this in the 90's on the advice of a psychotherapist I was seeing. She highly recommended it. I had taken a test in the 11th grade, many, many moons ago, and a similar test in the 90's when I was in a program in my state called Vocational Rehab or VocRehab for short. The first thing VocRehab had me do was to go in every morning for a week and take a battery of tests, i.e. I.Q., interest tests, etc.
At that age, my head swam. On both tests, many years apart, I found out the same thing: I had the interest and aptitude to be a farmer, or a park ranger, or work in a greenhouse, or be a sewer plant worker, among other occupations.
When I took the first test, I was 16 and on track to go to college and major in fashion and marketing. But I got a dose of that career my senior year in a Distributive Education program, and worked in the best department store at that time in my city (a state capitol). That experience soured me on that career. I got some college under my belt, but ultimately I became a stay-at-home mom. Which I did love. And so years later, after the same kinds of tests I took in the 90's, I found out I had the same recommendations!
I was surprised, but pleasantly. I've since learned I love all things rural, organic gardening/farming, things like permaculture, backyard poultry, the lost arts that our grandmothers knew, like fermentation, sourdough baking, etc. I love the wilderness, and the wide-open spaces. I love goats, cows, chickens, turkeys, pigs, all raised in appropriate ways. So when I found this book, with the knowledge of personality type, and how to use it to figure out how my type would fit into a job, I found it very exciting. I feel, that, if followed it can save a lot of time and grief in one's life. It's a fascinating book!!
And very helpful, also. Things I loved while going through this material again: elements of chapters 4 through 7, which build upon your identification of your particular four-letter code, and which show you how some of the elements work together synergistically to create a unique, outside-the-code mode. I especially loved noting that while I am a strong introvert who likes to introvert my thinking function, I will comfortably extravert my intuitive function - I do have something of value to offer up and share with othe Things I loved while going through this material again: elements of chapters 4 through 7, which build upon your identification of your particular four-letter code, and which show you how some of the elements work together synergistically to create a unique, outside-the-code mode.
I especially loved noting that while I am a strong introvert who likes to introvert my thinking function, I will comfortably extravert my intuitive function - I do have something of value to offer up and share with others, and it won't leave me feeling like burnt toast when it's over. I think I had begun to identify too much with the introvert label and was using this as an excuse to do less than I can.
Running on a battery doesn't mean I have a dead battery and that's how I've been acting. Also, I had to admit to myself this go-round that I'm not a judger in terms of decision-making; I'm a perceiver. It's really hard for me to stick to a timetable and I enjoy when I can get to it 'sometime', so long as I make sure sometime shows up.
And on that note, I have to go so I won't be late for dinner. Note: above from date read, October 7, 2012; reading again in Jan 2014. 2/6/2014: I think I was wrong about the perceiver part. I got thrown off by always being late but I think that's particular to how I was raised. I'm straddling the P/J line but I identify most with INTJ now. I read the chapters describing the functions and it makes so much more sense to me that I introvert my intuition. So, I show up in about 1% of the population.
I am on the fringe. Well, I think I might like it here.
I'm going through a lot of career transition in my life, of trying to figure out what I want to do for the next 30 years, and I totally dig this kind of stuff. I'm big into self-analysis (I think most of my friends and family know that about me!) I recently did a StrengthsFinder analysis and did a MBTI test YEARS ago because my best friend's dad administered them as part of his job, and thought it was very interesting: ISFJ. In fact, i think a lot of how I've seen myself over the years Loved it! I'm going through a lot of career transition in my life, of trying to figure out what I want to do for the next 30 years, and I totally dig this kind of stuff. I'm big into self-analysis (I think most of my friends and family know that about me!) I recently did a StrengthsFinder analysis and did a MBTI test YEARS ago because my best friend's dad administered them as part of his job, and thought it was very interesting: ISFJ. In fact, i think a lot of how I've seen myself over the years was built around that framework--an introvert, strong feeling, makes judgments and decisions quickly, etc. But I woke up at 2am a few nights ago, and thought reading about personality types might lull me to sleep (ha!), and discovered that really I'm an ENFJ--an extroverted (although I don't mind spending time by myself) intuitive feeler (still making the judgments!) The extrovert/introvert part really threw me--I always knew I liked people, but didn't realize how important it was for me to connect to them, to develop them, to see growth.
All of that is very satisfying for me. So this book really helped put that into words--it accurately described the personality for each of the 16 types, and then had an in-depth profile of each type with individual case studies, possible careers, using your strengths, etc. I really liked the layout, and found it rather compelling.
It also included a great list of resources in the back. Highly recommended for job seekers/career changers. Disclaimer: I didn't actually read this entire book.
The first section is designed to help readers determine their type, then you can just read the information that is pertinent to your type. This is what I did. I'm not really concerned about what careers might be good for the other 15 personality types.
On the plus side, the book helped to confirm my Meyers-Briggs type for me - I am definitely an ISFJ. The chapter specific to my type was also somewhat helpful. It includes a list of possible car Disclaimer: I didn't actually read this entire book. The first section is designed to help readers determine their type, then you can just read the information that is pertinent to your type. This is what I did.
I'm not really concerned about what careers might be good for the other 15 personality types. On the plus side, the book helped to confirm my Meyers-Briggs type for me - I am definitely an ISFJ. The chapter specific to my type was also somewhat helpful. It includes a list of possible career choices for that type and indicates which careers are likely to be in demand. I'm already contemplating a career switch to one or two of the suggested career choices for my type.
On the negative side, Tieger and Barron's writing style is not terribly sophisticated; they seem to be aiming for a very simple-minded audience. The authors actually talk about 'surfing the web' and make the same lame joke two times about how it doesn't involve surfboards. Even though this is the most recent edition of the book (published in March 2007), it already seems very out of date. I picked up Do What You Are to help me confirm my personality type after taking the Myers-Briggs test (which I recommend doing before reading this book). The authors give a good description of each of the four personality types and the sixteen temperaments.
Reading this book (and a few others) help me confirm my personality type and better understand the personality types of my children. (I already had a good grasp on my husband's personality type, but this book confirmed that too.) I will defini I picked up Do What You Are to help me confirm my personality type after taking the Myers-Briggs test (which I recommend doing before reading this book). The authors give a good description of each of the four personality types and the sixteen temperaments. Reading this book (and a few others) help me confirm my personality type and better understand the personality types of my children.
(I already had a good grasp on my husband's personality type, but this book confirmed that too.) I will definitely be checking out this book again when my children begin thinking about their career paths. I appreciated the advice the authors gave for each personality type while job hunting. It gives clear suggestions base on each persons comfort-zone.
Something which as an introvert, I greatly appreciated. My hope is this book (among others) will some day help my children, especially my son, see how they can use their gifts in a meaningful way. I found this book to be moderately interesting but not terribly accurate. I landed pretty solidly on INFJ and as a result the book kept steering me toward counseling and various jobs that involved working with people's feelings.
Man, I spent most of my undergraduate degree (in psychology of course) doing various counseling type jobs and all that I learned was that I NEVER want to do that work again. I found this book useful in that it validated some things I already knew about myself but doubted I found this book to be moderately interesting but not terribly accurate. I landed pretty solidly on INFJ and as a result the book kept steering me toward counseling and various jobs that involved working with people's feelings.
Man, I spent most of my undergraduate degree (in psychology of course) doing various counseling type jobs and all that I learned was that I NEVER want to do that work again. I found this book useful in that it validated some things I already knew about myself but doubted (it's okay to be an introvert yet still like working with people) and that it helped me identify and refine my preferences as I mentally argued with the book (I don't like working with people's feelings, but I do like working with people on logical tasks). A worthwhile read, but I don't feel all that much clearer in terms of my own career path. Totally not my fault. I’m unemployed and this was on my roommate’s shelf. It’s a rite of passage, okay?
I think the four axes of the MBTI are interesting frames for the world. It paints a positive picture of introversion, and mentally redefining “sloppy” and “together” as “perceiving” and “judging” has made it possible for me to live around other people. The lists of values and work environment preferences were remarkably helpful—I read through all the types and got a much clearer picture of my o Totally not my fault. I’m unemployed and this was on my roommate’s shelf.
It’s a rite of passage, okay? I think the four axes of the MBTI are interesting frames for the world. It paints a positive picture of introversion, and mentally redefining “sloppy” and “together” as “perceiving” and “judging” has made it possible for me to live around other people. The lists of values and work environment preferences were remarkably helpful—I read through all the types and got a much clearer picture of my own needs than I’d had previously.
That said, the thinking/feeling binary is BS, “sensing” tends to be a euphemism for “stupid,” and type definitions are basically extended wishful thinking. Incidentally, I’m an INFJ. I don’t have a supernatural grasp of other people’s feelings, maybe because I extravert my judging. (That's a joke.). I read this book a couple years ago. I already knew my type, but wanted more information and wanted to confirm what I suspected.
Jung's types and the MBTI have been extremely helpful to me. The MBTI is not something to get boggled down. I know several people who've come across trait theory and reject it as 'limiting'. I think they're really missing out. The MBTI is a great tool for personal growth, but even better when working in groups.
For me, as an INTP, it's priceless to have a way to under I read this book a couple years ago. I already knew my type, but wanted more information and wanted to confirm what I suspected. Jung's types and the MBTI have been extremely helpful to me. The MBTI is not something to get boggled down.
I know several people who've come across trait theory and reject it as 'limiting'. I think they're really missing out. The MBTI is a great tool for personal growth, but even better when working in groups. For me, as an INTP, it's priceless to have a way to understand people and their motivation. I tend to 'type' the people around me and approach people based on my suspicions. The book is somewhat redundant, as their is a wealth of information online regarding Jung's types.
But it is a great quick reference and is probably more consistent. I gave this 3 stars because it was a good tool, but not great. Learning about my type certainly helped and it did help me to narrow down my ideas of what i might like to do.
This book is probably NOT going to leave you with a 100% answer of what you want to do with your life, so if that's what you're looking for, good luck. If you're in that place that i find myself in where you know you're unsatisfied with what you're currently doing and are searching for tools to help you narrow down what it is i gave this 3 stars because it was a good tool, but not great.
Learning about my type certainly helped and it did help me to narrow down my ideas of what i might like to do. This book is probably NOT going to leave you with a 100% answer of what you want to do with your life, so if that's what you're looking for, good luck. If you're in that place that i find myself in where you know you're unsatisfied with what you're currently doing and are searching for tools to help you narrow down what it is you want to pursue instead, i recommend it. It will help with that but it left me with just as many questions as it did answers.
Because a book can't make decisions for you. Now i'm off to do some research on the careers it left me interested in! For those of the field this must be an absolute earth-shaker given its weight when addressing the Myers-Briggs personality types. Just the fact that it has interested me too, a purely confused and curious person, admits that it addresses some accurate points with a fluid and light narration.
It has helped a lot in understanding what my personality type entitles and what are predicted to be my strengths and weaknesses given my mental functions. As a big skeptic I can't give enough credit to this v for those of the field this must be an absolute earth-shaker given its weight when addressing the Myers-Briggs personality types.
Just the fact that it has interested me too, a purely confused and curious person, admits that it addresses some accurate points with a fluid and light narration. It has helped a lot in understanding what my personality type entitles and what are predicted to be my strengths and weaknesses given my mental functions. As a big skeptic I can't give enough credit to this volume, although I must say some of it is damn right and on point. For anyone who truly relies on tests and gives them greater credibility than I do this could be of real help.
As is often the case with a book like this, the authors deliver a bit less than promised. To their credit, this is not a bad thing, and few people reading this book should expect anything differently than the authors' somewhat salesy approach. This book is more enjoyable if one is as fond of exploring the applications of personality theory as I am [1], an interest that many people share given the popularity of these books with publishers and audiences alike. Simutech Troubleshooting Keygen Crack.
Yet it is a book that very few people As is often the case with a book like this, the authors deliver a bit less than promised. To their credit, this is not a bad thing, and few people reading this book should expect anything differently than the authors' somewhat salesy approach. This book is more enjoyable if one is as fond of exploring the applications of personality theory as I am [1], an interest that many people share given the popularity of these books with publishers and audiences alike. Yet it is a book that very few people will read all the way through, since the way it is structured makes it somewhat repetitive for that fashion and far more suited to finding oneself within the pages and then recommending it to someone else, likely of a different personality type, who can read the book for the advice to them and so on and so forth. There is a certain interesting quality about the professional domains that are selected and highlighted based on one's personality type, but a lot of this book is more than a little repetitive. That does not make it bad, just not as enjoyable read as it could have been. The book's contents and organization make it clear that the focus of this book is armchair career counseling by MBTI personality type.
The first part of the book encourages readers to unlock their personality type by looking at it as an aspect that leads to career (dis)satisfaction and encourages readers to discover and verify their personality type. The authors then, in the second part of the book, discuss the matter of the four different temperaments, the innate strengths of each character type, the public and private faces of strengths, and give a developmental view on how those strengths are honed over time. The third part of the book, which contains about 2/3 of the book's 320 or so pages worth of material, gives a detailed breakdown of the career preferences of the sixteen personality types one after another. Each of these chapters includes 2 or 3 profiles of people with this personality type and their career arc and explanations of why their career is a good fit for them, along with common threads among the disparate profiles, what career satisfaction means, strengths and weaknesses of that personality type in the workplace, implications for the job search, pathways to success, and possible pitfalls based on the weaknesses of that personality type. The end of the book briefly tries to put everything in the book together, encourages readers to look at their career options, and provides resources about personality typing for further reading should the reader so desire.
Despite the fact that this book is a fairly obvious sort of cash grab for people either at the start or at a transition within their work life, does this book in fact work as a worthwhile extension of personality theory? I think the answer is a qualified yes.
The book is not specific enough to replace more detailed career typing or specific career counseling, but the book is certainly worthwhile as far as self-education for people is concerned. Our personality does influence what sort of work we enjoy and what sort of work we are best suited for, and the authors do a good job of being broad enough in the recommendations given to allow the reader to choose from a variety of options or to extrapolate from the options provided to other areas one so chooses. I found, for example, what the book said about my own larger personality type rather revealing and quite accurate: 'A good job for an NT might be one that provides autonomy, variety, plenty of intellectual stimulation, and the opportunity to generate ideas. NTs must find their work challenging to be satisfying. Since they can be impatient with others whom they consider less competent than they, NTs need to be surrounded by very capable supervisors, colleagues, and employees.
Many NTs value power and gravitate towards powerful positions or people (61).' Guilty as charged on most of that. No doubt those readers who are fond of personality theory will find a lot to be of interest here. [1] See, for example. Through his ground-breaking book Do What You Are, Paul Tieger changed how career counseling is conducted around the world.
The author of five books on Personality type and the preeminent expert in this field, Paul has helped over one million people find career satisfaction and success. On any given day, Do What You Are is the most or second most popular career book on Amazon.com. From Through his ground-breaking book Do What You Are, Paul Tieger changed how career counseling is conducted around the world. The author of five books on Personality type and the preeminent expert in this field, Paul has helped over one million people find career satisfaction and success. On any given day, Do What You Are is the most or second most popular career book on Amazon.com.