ENFP CAREER CHOICES?? DECISIONS! DECISIONS!!

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Good to know I'm not the only one that's going through this. Weird how I kind of feel like I'm living somebody else's life. Out of touch. I know it's my body trying to tell me that I'm doing the wrong thing. Call it fate or whatever you want but I think that most people just ignore these feelings / symptoms and just keep going through the day to day hoping that something will change or improve but don't take the proper steps to change it themselves. Then the next day they wake up and they're lives have passed them by and the don't feel like they've accomplished anything and wonder why they are miserable and depressed.

Yeah I definately know what you mean by not being able to interact with people in the tech field. I hate sitting there with my head down working all day, feels like I'm missing out on life and should be out doing something. I actually did go and pick out that book - Do what you are. Very interesting. I'm still reading through the ENFP section and can really relate.

I can also very relate to ESFP - person who lives for the moment. I can never sit still for very long when I'm not at work feel connected to kids & small animals etc. I guess the only difference between ENFP & ESFP is that ENFP's are more creative in generating ideas etc but the rest of them both appear to be the same.

I remember when I first was looking at college I was gravitating towards the helping professions. I had norrowed it down to Paramedic & Social Worker. But I wasn't sure if I'd be able to deal with hurt / dying people as a paramedic & wasn't sure if I wanted to listen to people's problems all day as a social worker. So I thought about other courses that I enjoyed through out high school and it came down to drama & marketing. I was always good and enjoyed acting in plays through school but there is no future.

And with marketing I enjoyed coming up with new ideas for products. So I decided to go to school for marketing. After my first year when I found out that most marketing grads landed in sales positions I switched because I hate sales. So when I switched I only had enough credits to finish up in two areas, either accounting or computer systems so I went with computer systems because I hated accounting. So that's how I got to where I'm at.

I guess my biggest thing is narrowing it down. Because I do feel strongly that I have to work for more than just a paycheck so I am leaning more towards the health care/social service as oppose to creative side of things. I also have good social skills. I did enjoy bartending when I did that but there is no future in it, it is very hard physically on the body after long periods of time and it is very lucritive. You could go in to work one day and the manager could just tell you to go home. It has one of the highest turn over rates. I use it as something to fall back on. Or something I could do part time while going back to school.

My girlfriend is very supportive too. Plus we are looking to settle down over the next few years so that's why too I'd like to go back soon and get this moving. My problem is just picking one idea and sticking to it. I keep changing my mind. And it's very frustrating.
How do you go about picking one area that you want to try and stick to it? I just don't want to end up in the same boat down the road.

Thx,
-TommyBoy.

Hi fellow ENFP!,

I'm in this area too, digital/interactive marketing dealing with data analysis, I hate my current job and am looking to move to an agency.
Do you enjoy what you do? From this mail I don't think you do!

I want to move towards a planner/Account manager role and keep getting dragged back to the dataside by annoying recruiters who think that they know better than me, but to be honest I'm not certain that this would solve the problem.

I'm also thinking of trying something completely different; make-up. Would you be able to send me some of the book or jobs that are in the book you are talking about?

About Marketing/Planning and Technology and then anything creative re: make-up or film/tv stuff?

I'm so miserable and I'm now about to go home after sitting by myself at a desk all day :-(

Quoted
"Creative, Marketing/Planning, Education/Counseling, Health Care/Social Service, Entrepreneurial/Business, Technology."

My thoughts below:
Sigh, I am 25, but I am crossing the line between BBA in HR, or BA in General study in psychology that later would become a MA in counseling.

My parents and friends think I only take any ideas seriously for three days or worse, three second. But I am just figuring what I like to do.

I thought I would like to be PR or Marketing, since I enjoy presenting ideas and opinion a lot. I love to talk. I thought HR or Management or Event Planning fit me since I love coordinating projects, love to creative problem solving. Then I think of how I love my cash job in meeting and greeting people everyday, make me think insurance broker might fit me.

I love working with children, and thought I would be a day care teacher. I love teaching others or helping others to solve problems. I love encouraging and so I thought I would like to be a professor.

I was good at programming cuz I like the logical flow. I would read the source code of website that I visited and so I thought I would be a web designer.

I love writing. I used to write a lot of English and some Chinese free verse. I wrote many articles before or so I thought I could be journalist or a writer.

I love to sing and thought I would be in entertainment business.

Sigh.......

NOW I think I need to continue to keep my mind open and decide where I want to go after trying a few course of those areas I like to be or become, and not make a decision until my general study BA is done.

I need career advice, too.

ENFP need focus!

I am another easily distracted ENFP. I've spent the last 8 years building costumes for theater. People who meet me assume I must be fantastically happy in my dream job, but after being focused on one thing for that long, I'm beginning to get bored. Okay, and also tired of being broke all the time because I work in theatre. I love solving 3-d problems, and juggling 7 projects at a time, and the fact that we start and finish a show ever 6 weeks suits my attention span, but I'm getting tired of the same old stress filled routine and I want to be able to afford a vacation.

I think I have come to terms with the fact that I am the sort of person who is going to change careers every 6 years or so. That is just the way I am.

I am contemplating going back to school to get an MBA. I am wary of the fact that this pretty much sets me on a path into the corporate world, but I figure it would open doors in many different directions. I am interested in marketing and management. Either I'm helping people do what they need to do, or predicting how people are going to behave. All I'd have to do is get over my dislike of finance.

First I must say how glad I am to have found such an incredible conversion. I am a 20-year old ENFP and like all of you who have posted, I have the worst time making decisions, committing myself to something, and sticking with something for long periods of time. I also absolutely love working with people and being very social. I am creative and enjoy anything artistic in nature. Anyway, I am currently in college in hopes of eventually obtaining an education fit for a counselor, my chosen career path (today anyway...ha). So to answer your question, Tommyboy, in order to be any type of counselor you must have a master's degree in counseling psychology. In addition, to even work on your own in the field, you must obtain a PhD. This is the downside to the career for ENFP's because while we are usually good and school and do enjoy it, we get bored easily and have issues with committing and following through with a decision. For example, I stress everyday about whether or not I should really do counseling. It's hard being an ENFP... :) I am also interested in Advertising because I am creative, I love working with people and I would love all the traveling and meeting new clients. Plus you switch projects all the time so I'm wondering if this would help with the whole boredom in a career thing. I have had too many jobs to even count on my fingers and toes and I am only 20! I have done every part time job you can think of...from a tanning salon operator to a waitress to a clothing store associate. Any advice from all you older ENFPs? Thanks!

I'm thinking of becoming a Realtor....partially because I'm fascinated with houses and always want the chance to poke around inside! *laughs*

I think it would be a neat job. Right now I work for my area's Real Estate Board - putting listings on the MLS (multiple listings service) website. It takes a lot of different skills to do real estate - being good with people, writing skills (you have to write little 'blurbs' about the houses), attention to detail. It could be a lot of fun....

Still just a forming idea, but it would beat being behind a desk all day!

I am so glad that I came across this site. I am a 28 year-old ENFP. I have struggled with the decision of what I want to do with my life all of my life. I have jumped from job to job, major to major searching for my niche in life. I am so glad to see that I am not crazy that this comes with the ENFP teritory.

I graduated from high school and started at a junior college majoring in Computer Science because everyone told me that is where the money is. I worked on this major until I joined a volunteer fire department and fell in love with the emergency field. I had some friends that were paramedics and they talked me into becoming a paramedic, and I changed majors to Emergency Medical Services and got a job at the local ambulance service as a driver while I went to school at night. I found that I was very good at EMS and enjoyed it. I got my Emergency Medical Technician- Basic license and my EMT-Intermediate license and was about to enter Paramedic classes in the fall of 2000. I really enjoyed EMS, but I was feeling restless, not because of the job, but because I felt like I wanted to move away and go to a university and experience the "college life". So instead of entering Paramedic school, I entered a university and majored in Business Management.

Business Management did not interest me too much, but I was tired of changing majors so I stuck with it until my junior year. The college of business introduced a new program which was Management Information Systems, so I changed my major again and graduated from the first MIS class from my university. Needless to say, I did not find the big money IT job and got an entry-level job at a bank in the mortgage department. It was some mundane and boring and I hated it. I had worked there 6 months when the company laid off 32 people from the mortgage department. After losing that job, I got a job at a cable company in in-bound sales. Basically I was connected to a phone all day and took orders. I worked there 5 months and got a job as a claims representative for an insurance company.

As claims rep I was hoping to eventually work my way into the adjuster side of claims and go around writing estimates, but I was stuck again behind a desk on the phone 8 hours a day. I worked there for a year and a half and ended up getting fired because of my performance. I wasn't performing up to company standards because I was bored and depressed.

After getting fired I enrolled at the university where I had graduated 3 years earlier and I majored in English. I thought about being an English teacher. I got a student worker jobship at the university and it turned into a full-time position, and this is where I currently am. Working at a university and finishing up my degree, but I am having doubts about being a teacher. I don't know if this is what I want to do now. Oh well. I will find myself one day...

Anyway, Tommy I was a EMT and I loved it. If I would not have let my licenses lapse I would probably still do it on the side. The only thing about EMS is that the hours are sometimes weird. When I was working at the ambulance service, I would work 24 hours on and 48 hours off-duty. The pay was okay, but most of the paramedics I knew had two or three jobs because of the nature of the business.

LOL!

What do you do?

Hi guys,

Well I am tired right now but I just saw this topic so I had to say something in it.

I am currently in Medical school (draining the living shit out of my self).

I have worked as an EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate, and finally Paramedic with the fire department for the last three years. I also did the firefigter training but thank god never had to deal with it, because we got a good fire team here.

Also with this job I worked at my university tutoring between classes and doing supplemental instruction for two years.

Before that as a kid I worked with Best buy as a computer tech and also did at MCI before they closed down here in albuquerque. If anyone has any questions I will be more than happy to answer them tomorrow.

how about take a hiatus from a job after college. Im saving the monies, traveling with a friend around the world, and then settling to teach biology in New Zealand for a one year contract! Careers are important but as an ENFP i think its important to live with purpose and with a story to tell, aka traveling!

Hey everyone,

Ditto to pretty much everything everyone has posted thus far. My sincerest condolences to all my fellow caring, quixotic nomads. I'm a 26 year old male ENFP, and I too have suffered from spontaneous career diarrhea with acute allergic reactions to stability. I empathize with you all- but then I again, I empathize with pretty much everyone. Nevertheless, I'm glad I can finally lay to rest any notion that I am special. Thank you? Only kidding...but not really. Despite my disappointment with reality (something I’m used to by now), it was comforting to see that there are others who suffer from the same restless woes. I've tried to articulate these issues to many "normies," over the years. Several baffled faces, alienating reactions, and frustrated conniptions later, I began thinking that a lobotomy might be my only recourse. However, I have to admit that it’s a little unsettling to read how persistent the tendency to change careers and dissatisfaction with work are amongst our type. I had hoped that by my mid 30’s I would find some stability of self.

The posts here have been pretty consistent. So, in the spirit of originality, I thought I'd offer a brief summary of my situation. Hehe. I, like many ENFP's, am naturally artistic and creative. I have been an artist all of my life. Ever since kindergarten my drawing skills were highly pronounced and my creations wowed my teachers. My parents, however, were very traditional and judging and they hardly saw my doodles as anything to pee their pants over.

Instead, they insisted that I get into sports. I of course tried my absolute best to please the folks, but I could not shake the feeling that sports were absolutely mindless, if not silly. That's not how I feel now, but back then I thought that running around, bouncing, throwing, or hitting a ball back and forth repeatedly, was about as attractive an idea as punching myself in the crotch every 5 minutes- and equally impressive. It didn't help matters that my younger sister was a star athlete. So clearly I felt alienated from the get go. Despite my parents’ best attempts, I hated sports. I was a good swimmer, but I derived virtually no satisfaction from it.

I continued to draw for hours on end, all day, everyday. Eventually I could draw anything I saw or that my imagination could conjure. I also began to play the guitar at the age of 12- something my parents also discouraged. At that point, I rebelled with conviction. I think deep down I did this in order to impress them. My belief was that eventually, I'd get so good that there was no way they could deny my talent or fail to appreciate me for who I was. I eventually picked up the drums at 17, and I took to it like a duck to water. I loved filming movies with my Dad's video camera. I have also always liked to make people laugh, and I really appreciate comedy. Some of my best nights have ended with me essentially performing for an entire party and cracking everyone up- spontaneously and inadvertently for the most part.

When it came time for me to graduate high school, I knew that I wanted to be an artist of some kind. I really wanted to go to art school more than anything. Unfortunately, my parents couldn't have found the idea more depressing. So, in true ENFP form, I tried to please them and not myself- denying my strongest wishes. I caved and ended up going off to college. I majored in business. Business was the supposed middle ground according to my parents, who tried to convince me that if I still wanted to be an artist after graduating, I would at least have something to fall back on, or they argued that I could use my education to capitalize on my talents. Before I stepped foot into a class though, I felt that I had already sold my soul. Not to mention feeling torn between what my parents wanted me to be and who I was and wanted to be. Initially, I got very good grades because I was surprisingly interested in so many subjects, even my business classes. The more I progressed into my major however, the more my enthusiasm dwindled (what a surprise).

Eventually, I was in too deep to switch majors and chose Marketing with a focus in Entrepreneurship. I saw this as the only tolerable option because I assumed that it would allow me to use my creativity more than other business fields. The more marketing classes I took though, the more I hated it. It was as intellectually stimulating as clipping my toe nails. I was fortunate in that I tested out of a lot of credit hours before I started school, so I had an extra semester to take plenty of elective classes and still finish on time. I took every intro class that peaked my interest just to not hate school. I fell in love with philosophy, anthropology, sociology, political science, etc. I ended up graduating on time with almost a years worth of extra credit hours and a complete decline in G.P.A. within my major. (I got very good grades in electives, go fig).

I felt so boxed in and uninspired by business classes. I had dismissed the entire field of Marketing as complete B.S. (and no I don't mean bachelor's in science). At this point my parents had done such a good job of pounding it into my head that a career in the arts would not only break their hearts but also win me a one way ticket to homelessville, I had completely disregarded art as an option. In the months before graduating, I remember feeling a paralyzing fear of the real world. The thought of having to work in a corporate world was pretty much the worst thing ever. Against my true wishes (again), I got a job working in marketing management and strategic business planning for a bank. (I interview well for some reason). I was told I was very fortunate. It didn't take more than a few months of sitting at a desk alone and hating my life, for me to quit. My parents couldn't have been more upset.

Leading up to my resignation, I had the brilliant idea that I was going to be a lawyer. I saw it as an opportunity to be an advocate for people who’d been wronged. I was attracted to the status, and it struck me as something that I would enjoy and could succeed at. I needed another job in the meantime though, so I started working as a mortgage broker. I didn't know the first thing about mortgages or the mortgage business. I knew it was a job and that my friend worked at the company and was doing very well-that’s it. I didn't expect it to go very far- just long enough for me to get into law school. Well, it turns out that getting into law school is pretty damn hard, especially for someone with my sub par G.P.A. I already felt like a failure, having disappointed my parents, who insisted that I was crazy to have quit my job for a commission-based sales position in mortgages. They were convinced that I would be starving in no time.

I was in serious need of some kind of success and affirmation, not to mention money. I was the youngest kid in an office of 80 and I had already been labeled as too analytical and sure to fail by my A-hole team leader, parents, and girlfriend. But all of that negativity, lit a fire inside of me. I busted my butt with the goal of proving everyone wrong. Probably for the first time in my life, I made a bold and courageous stand, solely based on my own wishes- no matter what anyone thought. In 3 months I was the top producer in the office. By month 6 I had broken every company record in the office. I was also a catalyst for my teammates, who were suddenly inspired. My team broke the office record in no time, and we were crowned top team in the nation. My manager was kissing my feet.

My first pay check was for $12k. No doubt, that is an insane amount of money for a 23 year old to make in a month and I was happier than I had been in a long time, if not ever. But the money had little to nothing to do with it. Calling my parents and telling them what my paycheck was...now that was priceless. My folks insisted that the first month was a fluke and that I should save my money because it was unlikely I’d have that kind of luck again. That lack of faith in me was infuriating. I told them, I thought I could do it again the next month. They laughed. I laughed louder when my next paycheck read $10k and again when I broke a record, shattering my quota for the third month in a row, earning me another 12k. I was on top of the world.

As for the job itself- the mundane day to day- I actually enjoyed it. I didn't know much about sales before I started. I, like most people, thought it was a morally depraved job that consisted of lying through your teeth and screwing people over. However, I was surprised to find out that my job was to get my clients to like me. I was thrilled to talk to people from all walks of life, in completely different states- people I never saw face to face but knew so much about. I was fascinated by their lives, and some of the unbelievable stories they had. I had so many opportunities to help people in need. One client, for example, was a single mother to a 3 year -old girl with autism. This woman’s car was on its last leg, all she had was a modest house, low paying job, and lousy credit after her divorce. I worked tirelessly, against all odds, to refinance this woman's house so she could have enough money to buy a new car to drive to and from work, and take her daughter to doctor’s appointments. It was a great feeling to help my clients. The satisfaction was total and the clients’ loved me. They sent me everyone they knew who was interested in refinancing. Eventually, I had too much business.

The reason I conquered the situation was because I focused. I focused because I knew it was what I wanted and because I mustered enough confidence to believe in myself despite what anyone thought, for a change. It wasn't easy, I admit. But I learned so much from that experience and I use it to remind myself to this day, that I can succeed at whatever I want. All I need is confidence, courage, and conviction.

I worked in mortgages for the ensuing years and started up a little business. Now, I'm in my second semester of law school, and I'd be lying if I said the environment is ideal for an ENFP. Sometimes I couldn't feel more constrained. The first semester was the most nerve racking and self-esteem shattering thing I ever experienced. There's no feedback at all in law school. You have one final exam at the end of the semester, and that is your only grade- no ifs, ands, or buts. There is a mandatory grading curve so 70% of students must get a C for any given class. Therefore, you are competing with everyone, usually your friends, for the few A’s and B’s available. Any ounce of confidence you have is immediately shattered. You're no longer "the smart kid." Your professor's love to make you look like a complete moron in front of all your classmates, and the amount of work given is enough to make your head spin. I forgot what it was like to have that confidence and focus necessary to overcome adversity. I constantly wondered all last semester, if I made the right choice. I am fully convinced now that what I want to do most, among my billions of interests, is to write comedy and screenplays or perform in some way, I can't imagine ever finding that unsatisfying.

Nevertheless, I didn't give up and I made it through the first semester. I didn't get the best grades, that's for sure. I lost my focus and was very miserable- always doubting myself and never going out with friends because I was afraid of getting distracted. But I was already distracted because I was afraid. My grades were disappointing, but having bested such seemingly unbeatable situations before, I know that there's nothing like an opportunity to completely destroy all preconceived notions of me. This semester, I have an entirely new lease on the situation. I'm actually enjoying myself. I released the need for affirmation and grades. I work twice as hard because my mind isn’t clouded by fear, and I’m able to notice my interest in the subject matter. I realized that the extensive analysis of the law, lends itself well to ENFP's who love to consider all possibilities. True, I have to temper it…a lot. But it's a huge advantage over other types. My biggest fault was doubting myself. I am much more efficient, organized, studious, and (most importantly) happy, this semester. I know that I will follow more creative pursuits eventually, but I'm here now and I've decided to kick the crap out of it and follow through. I'm locked into this thing for 2 and a half more years and I know that it seems like a nightmare for an ENFP. But it's not. I see it as an opportunity to show myself and the world what I can do.

I wrote this because I hope it'll help fellow ENFP's with a natural inclination towards self sabotage, fear, and distraction. It's true there are infinite possibilities out there, and I could spend eternity considering each and every one of them. But I realize now that this is a compulsive evasion of reality. I really believe that as soon as we are able to accept reality and that there will always be negative aspects to everything in life, the sooner we will go through with our ambitious plans and actually change that reality. Otherwise, we’re spinning the wheels, which we keep reinventing. It’s a choice to live in constant fear that you’re stuck, or of not being true to yourself. The times I’ve succeeded in life, I’ve let go of fear, embraced reality, had faith in my ability to chose what’s best for me, focused on my target, and said “screw the rest.” Ask yourself, “how will ever be able to truly help anyone, if I do not help myself?” Sure, you can do anything you want. Your potential is limitless. But if you don’t whole heartedly commit to something, a goal, a job, a grade, whatever, how will that potential ever become something more? I feel that the person who decides if it’s the right decision is yourself. Anyway, I hope that helps.

I think if you can find a way to make your ends meet financially this is an awesome way to live.

I would love to live this way for all the same reasons. My plan now is to invest in real estate until my passive income from properties is more than my monthly expenses and when that happens I can quit my job (if I so choose) and do exactly that.

hi everybody.

my name is stacey. i just classified myself as an enfp, found this group and promptly joined. it's pretty exciting that you're all as enthusiastic and multi-directed and dissatisfied and hungry as i am.

first, i will offer something for you all to try. i am a dancer, but this surely applies for musicians and actors and others.

in the practice of contact improvisation (a small subset of the modern dance community), strangers and old friends enter a studio and play with body mechanics, weight support and balance, while engaging in human interaction with each other. complex, abstract relationships develop and dissipate and you get to know people without ever talking to them.

i think that improvisation is a wonderful exercise for enfps, as you have the freedom to take off in any direction you please, and develop your sense of being acutely present. many, many cities have free or nearly free open improvisation jams, and the environment is quite accepting of non-experienced dancers. do try it.

now, the career choices part. i graduated from college with a major in chinese and minor in modern dance. i spent a year and a half in china (another activity i recommend for those with wanderlust) speak chinese and feel extremely involved with that country but refuse to live there. china is a bizarre place.

i am working at a non-profit in new york that deals with u.s.-china relations---- an organization with good intentions, but my role there is far too administrative. and it's inside, with fluorescent lights in an office. i've done well as a camp counselor, children's dance instructor and choreographer. i seem to gravitate towards teaching and children and creativity. that i know. i taught english china last year, and i'm not sure the traditional classroom setting would be right for me.

perhaps this is common for enfps--- to have two (or more) interests that are so fantastically strong it seems impossible to give either one up?

write back!

your pen pal,
stacey

Yes, we are who we are. I too decided to learn more about myself and discovered what we all here have in common, being an ENFP. How to focus on one career. Just the thought of learning one thing for 20 years is frightening. I have been asking my self this question for about 15 years now. I have a military background in Heavy Equipment Repairer, 5 year in Direct Retail, a BA in Business Management, 4 years selling computers for a call center, (which was great for the first 2 year), 1 year in inventory control, 2 year raising my children, 1.5 in sales over the phone again selling flat bed tarps to trucking companies, 2 years selling Modular and Manufacturing Homes, 1 year working part time as a bartender, 1 year working part-time for a wholesale supply company, entrepreneur in a small development company (no pay), 2 years helping with a startup importing company (no pay), and 1.5 years working as a mental health aide for the state. You would think after these adventures I would of figured it out. Although I look at this as an adventure and insight of developing myself and inner strengths, most employers look at it as unstable and disloyal even though I have succeeded and excelled in some of these positions. It is common for ENFP to loss interest in our fields if we are not challenged with opportunities or advancements or variety. I know I have 4, monitory successful brothers, I being the only one to not stay in a position long enough to climb the ladder. I'm now looking for a new position in the market place and worried about making the next mistake, which is how I evaluate it. Do I go back to school, for what Radiology, Nursing (nurses get treated like crap). MBA to another structured corporate org. with rules and more regs. Back to retail to climb the ranks, Military to be deployed, Back to school for Consoling. Out side Sales selling door to door, more quotes and dollars? Yes the pain of making that final decision which will solve my problems for the rest of my days! I guess as they say "the wrong decision is better than no decision", which the decision, it self, paralyzes us ENFP. So, even though this is a self analysis of my issue, I hope it will help those that feel alone or isolated, as I have felt in the past.

Amen to everything you said, Christine - finding a job better suited to your preferences/abilities is difficult, given the lousy economic situation...but then again, we ENFP's are highly idealistic and optimistic!!!

After being in industry for many years, I'm finally back to my true love - teaching. I have the opportunity to inspire and motivate students, have lots of autonomy, etc. The pay is not so great, but I'll find a way to survive. Anyway, good luck with everything!!

Cheers,
George