Career Chemistry: The Best Jobs for Six Personality Types Part 4
When seeking your true love, you had better look for someone with a compatible personality. The same thing is true when choosing your career.
As part of its Best Careers guide, U.S. News has selected the top careers for each of six personality types. Sure, everybody’s an individual, but researchers have observed that most people have certain characteristics that can be grouped into a small number of categories. We’ve used the methodology developed by respected career psychologist John Holland, who identifies six general types of people. For each, we’ve selected careers>both white-and blue- collar>with good job availability and respectable pay, in fields that offer psychological satisfaction and reasonable quality of life. Most people will recognize themselves in at least one of these categories:
Social people often end up in “helping” professions where attributes like patience, empathy, and generosity make a difference. They’re often strong team players good at achieving consensus. Compatible careers: school psychologist, mediator, nurse, physical therapist, social worker.
Best Jobs for Social People
Lots of people enjoy helping others–whether it’s simply offering a kind word or propping up a friend or family member during a crisis. And, of course, many people choose service professions in fields like medicine, education, or counseling. As part of our guide to career chemistry, here are our top choices for “social” types of people who prefer to work in a cooperative environment–rather than a competitive one–and have a knack for helping people:
School-based counselor. The job today requires more sophistication than simply dealing with kids kicked out of class for chewing gum. School counselors coordinate activities that often include sex education, health awareness, career counseling, gang violence prevention, and on-site social-work services. And yes, counselors still spend a lot of time telling Johnny that he’d better shape up–or else. The quality of these jobs varies: Some counselors are respected members of the faculty, while others are glorified clerks.
School psychologist. Typical assignment: Melissa is doing poorly in school. What should teachers and parents do? In comes the school psychologist, who will observe the child, test and talk with her; powwow with parents and teachers, and write a report. School psychologists may also conduct parenting workshops and screen children for gifted-students programs. Among the pluses: You work one on one in a peaceful setting, you get summers off, and pay and prestige are high.
Personal coach. Struggling people, from unfulfilled executives to shy singles to disorganized housewives, are increasingly forgoing therapists in favor of a personal coach. These mentors focus on developing practical solutions, not probing psychological depths. Personal coaches are usually self-employed, so to succeed, you must be a willing and able marketer. Anyone can hang a coaching shingle, so consult some training resources to help set yourself apart.
Mediator. Instead of hiring a lawyer to settle disputes, more people are turning to mediators who can reach resolution with less fighting and expense. Typical client pairs include warring spouses, landlord and tenant, or employer and employee. A good mediator needs the listening skills of a suicide counselor, the patience of Job, and the wisdom of Solomon. The marketing skills of P. T. Barnum help, too.
College student affairs administrator. It’s a little like going to college all over again. Student affairs administrators coordinate the nonacademic part of student life, from student orientation to graduation. For example, they supervise fraternities, coordinate residence hall activities and intramural sports, and sponsor antidrug programs.
Employee trainer. New employees, from fresh college grads to aging baby boomers, often need guidance to succeed in today’s globally competitive workplace. Enter the trainer, who may teach anything from basic reading to advanced Oracle. The ability to develop and teach online courses will be particularly helpful in coming years.
Teacher. Demand will be strong at all levels, from preschool through college. Although colleges increasingly hire instructors course by course, with no benefits, teaching generally offers good job security, with lifetime tenure possible after just a few years. Teachers usually get summers off, and there’s the satisfaction that comes from helping the next generation to flower. A growing downside: Political mandates are requiring more public schools to have mixed-ability classes, which can water down the curriculum and challenge even the most talented and hardworking professionals.
Registered nurse. Jobs are plentiful, in settings ranging from hospitals to homes and specialties in every medical field. Just be detail-oriented: Every year, many patients die from medical errors. If you’re capable of carefully deciphering a physician’s scrawled orders, calculating doses perfectly, assiduously administering a wide range of treatments, and reassuring anxious patients–often under stress, in the middle of the night–please sign up.
Physical therapist. Today, the job involves less one-on-one time with patients, working muscles or joints, and more effort designing each patient’s overall rehab program and training. The physical therapist often trains lower-level assistants to implement the program. Another change in this field: Training requirements have been ratcheted up. A three-year doctorate in physical therapy is increasingly needed, in addition to a college degree.
Social worker. This career affords unmitigated do-gooding, often including the pleasure of giving away cash and other resources, compliments of taxpayers. And the pay is improving, averaging about $50,000 per year. Plus, social work offers great job security: It’s hard to foresee conditions under which the need for social workers in the United States will decline. This is another career in which the training requirements have been ratcheted up: Now, a master’s degree is usually needed.
Occupational therapist. This job calls for big-time patience. The tools are a combination of computers, psychology, and limb braces, plus a healthy dose of common sense. Using those, you help people with physical setbacks, like stroke survivors and accident victims, regain the ability to do life’s basic tasks, from buttoning a shirt to driving a car.
Employment interviewer. Human resource departments and employment agencies use these interviewers to match applicants with openings. This career demands an excellent BS detector to suss out how legitimate that glowing reference is and distinguish between strong candidates and those who have merely been coached on how to interview well. A college degree is usually required, but the training mostly comes on the job.
