What are ENFJ Careers?
For most people, choosing the right career is often a daunting task, especially if they do not know their personality. Selecting among available ENFJ careers can become easier by taking the Myers-Briggs test. The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator can help people discover their personality and the combination of characteristics that can help them find their dream career.
By knowing his/her specific personality type, an individual can narrow their job search down to a career path that is both enjoyable and rewarding. People with an ENFJ personality type prefer looking for ENFJ careers that give them an opportunity to help other people. They typically show a genuine interest in helping people in need and are characteristically known to be friendly, considerate, organized, empathetic, and supportive.
Characteristics of ENFJs
One of the distinguishing characteristics of ENFJs is that they are less inclined to job hop than other personality types – such as INFJs. If they find a position that they love, ENFJs tend to stick with it for a long time, as they enjoy the interaction with their colleagues at the workplace.
Due to their love for people and social intelligence, they are usually good at networking, and they quickly develop networks of friends and acquaintances, both in the workplace and at social gatherings.
ENFJs are also good at reading people and assessing their emotions, expressions, and body language. They make ideal candidates for jobs in education, sales, counseling, and public relations.
Best ENFJ Careers
The following are examples of careers that are considered well-suited for ENFJ men and women:
Education
ENFJs love helping people, and the education sector gives them an opportunity to do what they love. As teachers and lecturers, ENFJs can offer guidance to students and, by equipping them with the necessary skills, assist them in becoming successful professionals and responsible adults. They take a genuine interest in people and can help weaker students improve their performance.
In the case of special education, teachers work with physically and/or mentally challenged students and aim to equip them with skills that will help them discover their talents, find good employment matches, and function well living on their own.
Community and Social Work Jobs
ENFJs like to be involved in their community and help those people who are in need. The ideal careers in this sector include positions such as health educators, counselors, social workers, career counselors, and marriage therapists. Their ability to read other people’s emotions well gives ENFJs an advantage in this field because they can usually better understand other people’s feelings and advise them accordingly. ENFJs are sociable and they can easily strike up a conversation with a stranger and quickly establish a personal connection and friendship.
Business, Management, and Sales Careers
For a business to thrive, the people tasked with dealing with the customers, employees, and other stakeholders must be able to effectively interact with others. The ideal candidate to fill such roles is often a person with an ENFJ personality. This makes ENFJs good candidates for positions in sales departments, as members or heads of a human resources team, or acting in general executive management functions. ENFJs also tend to make excellent customer service representatives.
As a sales personnel or manager, a person must have excellent people’s skills and be able to read potential customers. ENFJs tend to have the ability to establish the kind of strong customer relationships that secure customer loyalty. As a human resource manager or member of the human resource team, one needs to have excellent negotiation skills to deal with labor relations and administer labor contracts. ENFJs have the ability to keep a business organized and running efficiently by using their considerable people skills.
Media Jobs
The media sector requires people who are creative, imaginative, and organized to develop new stories and keep their audience informed. ENFJs make good journalists and editors for media companies, due to their creativity and hunger for new challenges. They can help a company by planning or reviewing content before it is released to the public.
ENFJs are usually good at delegating duties and managing team members. Therefore, they are good at ensuring that things run smoothly and that tasks are accomplished in a timely manner. This can make them good candidates for managing or working in a fast-paced newsroom environment where deadlines are an everyday fact of life.
Legal Positions
The work of attorneys is to help people get justice for a fee. ENFJs can derive satisfaction from working in the profession of law because it gives them the opportunity to assist people in obtaining satisfaction through or from the legal system. ENFJs can offer a helping hand to people in conflict, enabling them to find an amicable solution for both parties before a conflict escalates to unmanageable levels.
Apart from working as attorneys or paralegals, ENFJs are also well-suited to work in mediation or negotiation positions, such as agents working as representatives for professional athletes – or as negotiators of international M&A or other business deals.
Healthcare Work
People working in the healthcare sector spend a lot of time in hospitals attending to people in need. ENFJs can work in this industry as doctors, nurses, therapists, or dentists, just to name a few possibilities. The heightened capacity for empathy makes ENFJs ideal for work in the rapidly growing healthcare field. The healthcare sector needs the services of people who are passionate about helping other people, and who can handle the often strenuous and demanding work schedules. ENFJs fit this description.
Finance and Accounting Jobs
Even though finance and accounting are usually thought of primarily as very analytical roles, there are still good opportunities for ENFJ personality types, especially in leadership roles where they are helping to manage a team of people.
To get a sense of the technical skill set required, check out CFI’s free accounting courses, as well as CFI’s free finance courses, to see if a people-related position in the financial services industry might be a good fit for you.
INFJ vs. ENFJ Personality Types
Both INFJ and ENFJ personality types are some of the rarest personality types out of the 16 recognized personality types on the Myers-Briggs scale. INFJs account for only 1% of the population.
ENFJs are warm, charismatic, persuasive and talkative, and their objective is to change or influence the world through their influence with people. Their dominant function is extraverted feeling. They are quick to assess things and make a judgment, and, in most cases, tend to sacrifice accuracy for speed.
On the other hand, INFJs tend to differ from ENFJs primarily due to their inclination toward introversion, which often gives them a preference for working alone rather than as part of a team. INFJs tend to be artistically creative, making them good analysts and problem solvers.
More Career Resources
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading CFI’s guide to ENFJ careers. CFI is the official global provider of the Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst (FMVA)™ designation, a leading financial analyst certification program. To continue learning and advancing your career, these additional resources will be helpful:
