ISFJ

Your Type and Your Career

The best employment options for you will allow you to use your natural strengths and limit your exposure to tasks and situations that will drain you.

Here are some suggestions about what is likely to suit you in terms of personal strengths at work, preferred environment and your leadership style. There is also an indication of possible areas of weakness you should watch out for when you are assessing career change ideas.

Your strengths at work

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• Strong work ethic
• Excellent at developing and implementing routines and procedures
• Enjoy supporting and helping others – colleagues and customers
• Practical and down-to-earth
• Take needs of others into account
• Accurate, meticulous and patient with detail
• Willing to take time to support and help others
• Can be depended upon to get things done
• Good at getting things organised
• Preserve what works
• Build consensus and stability
• Excellent people skills
• Loyal and traditional

Your preferred work environment

• Contains colleagues who are conscientious
• Provides stability and security
• Offers clearly structured systems and tasks
• Calm and quiet
• Efficient and well run
• Provides opportunities for privacy
• Has a service orientation

Your leadership style

• May be a reluctant leader
• Will take the lead if necessary for the sake of others
• Operate within organisational structures and hierarchies
• Follows rules and procedures & expects others to do the same
• Focus on practical and operational aspects where concrete results can be achieved
• Work hard to create harmony in the team
• Support and encourage others

The weaknesses you should watch out for

• May be reluctant to make tough decisions
• May feel undervalued if their work is not appreciated, with praise rather than money or status
• Can be inflexible in preferring to stick with clear and existing procedures
• May not be able to change direction quickly or at the last minute
• Can get stuck in the detail and fail to see the bigger picture
• Uncomfortable with rapidly changing work environment
• May not be assertive regarding their own needs
• May get stuck in a job that is not right due to loyalty
• Find it hard to say no to work so can be overworked

These points should help you identify if a job or an area of work is worth considering. But remember that there are successful people of ALL types in ALL jobs. Particular types may find certain areas of work especially satisfying and others more challenging. Use your understanding of your own ISFJ preferences to help you explore and develop your career ideas, not to limit them.

Not sure if this is you?

Then take a look at the other similar types, where only one of the preferences is different. You may find that they are a more comfortable 'fit'.

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