I'm sure you have heard of the popular personality test conceptualised by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI for short)! It was heavily influenced by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types.

There are 16 personality types within the MBTI framework, with each of these types identified by a combination of four letters. To determine your type, your preferences along four continuums are evaluated:
(i) How you direct and receive energy (Extraversion or Introversion)
(ii) How you take in information (Sensing or Intuition)
(iii) How you make decisions (Thinking or Feeling)
(iv) How you approach the outside world (Judging or Perceiving).

So which MBTI type are you? Are you an INTJ like Elon Musk—or an ESFJ like Taylor Swift? Fun fact: the most common type is the ISFJ, which comprises 13.8% of the entire population. The rarest type is the INFJ, which only makes up 1.5% of the population.

Regardless of what your MBTI type is, discovering your type is extremely useful. It will not only reap dividends in your personal life but also in the workplace. Here are 4 ways you can utilise the MBTI to supercharge your career:

1. Leverage Your Unique Strengths

Knowledge of your type will give you a better understanding of what your unique strengths are. For instance, ISTJs are detail-oriented workers who adopt an orderly and methodical approach to problem-solving. It is no surprise that ISTJs truly excel in the arena of project management.

This is in contrast to the ENFPs whose greatest strengths are their persuasive communication and networking skills. ENFPs shine in the world of entrepreneurship. Therefore, when you find out which type you are, you can identify and leverage your strengths more effectively.

2. Choose Your Ideal Work Environment

You can get a glimpse of what makes you tick through your MBTI type. This will aid you in choosing the ideal work environment for you so that you can realise your best potential. If you’re extroverted, offices with open floor plans and shared workspaces are built with you in mind. You thrive on constant face-to-face interactions with your colleagues.

If you’re introverted, the availability of quiet spaces where you can spend time alone and recharge is essential. As such, you may prefer working from home—even if it’s only two or three days each week in a hybrid work arrangement.

3. Understand Your Struggles at Work

Your MBTI type is able to shed light on specific work-related struggles you may have to overcome. For example, the Perceiver types (types with ‘P’ as the last letter) may find mundane routines and rigid company policies stifling. As much as Perceivers desire spontaneity, they cannot ignore deadlines or show up late at work.

Certain blind spots will be revealed as you learn more about your MBTI type. This enables you to develop self-awareness, which in turn enhances your professional growth.

4. Collaborate with Your Colleagues More Effectively

Besides being a useful tool for self-awareness, the MBTI can help you tremendously with your interpersonal interactions at work. Depending on their respective types, your colleagues may have different modes of processing information and making decisions.

Conflict can potentially arise between different MBTI types, such as Thinkers and Feelers. By way of illustration, Thinkers may occasionally come across as brusque when they are giving constructive criticism. Knowing the MBTI will thus aid you in figuring out how best to respond to your colleagues and defuse a tense situation.

Seeking Your Next Career Move?

Visit our job portal or Submit your CV.

We’re also hiring—join the Reeracoen family today!
 

Read more:

How Much can Fresh Graduates in Singapore Earn?

We Asked ChatGPT If It’ll Make Us Jobless