Many INFJs struggle to find the right career. We want to spend our lives helping others do something meaningful and important. We feel something pulling us to a higher calling. It pushes us to pursue things in our lives that are extraordinary, but it can also leave us feeling miserable and unfulfilled.
Why are INFJs miserable in their careers?
INFJs have a deep desire to please the people around us. We feel what they are feeling and know how to make them happy. It’s difficult for us to look at ourselves and determine those things, plus we like things being decided. We need a goal to reach for. When you combine all of this and factor in that most people are pushed to make big life decisions when we graduate from high school at 18 years old, we are left feeling overwhelmed and confused about what to do with our lives. We want a decision made (that’s the J in INFJ) and get stuck in this hopeless feeling of wanting to do something big, but not knowing what it is. So, too many of us look to what other people want for us and go with that decision.
If mom and dad want you to be a lawyer or an accountant, you go with that to make them happy and to make a decision. If a teacher you look up to suggests you become a writer, you jump at the idea, hoping that will be the thing, your thing.
Twenty years later you wake up feeling miserable in your job and your life and start looking for a change, but you have bills to pay and kids to get to college, so you put your desires on the back burner again.
I’ve coached so many INFJs who are going through this. Many struggle in high school and college to make a decision about what they want to do and many struggle later in life as well. I’ve experienced both in my life. I’ve spent many, many hours trying to find the perfect career for me, hoping that I could connect my personality type with a career that fits me perfectly. Here’s what I came up with:
10 Nonprofit
INFJs need purpose and meaning in our lives. A lot of us find both of those things in working for a nonprofit. If you can find a cause that you believe in, then you have a higher mission for your job, something to push you through all of the uncomfortable things at work and help you to know that you are making an impact on people’s lives. You’re making the world a better place even if your part is sweeping the floors or cleaning the toilets. Whatever part of the puzzle interests you will fullfil your needs.
9 Art
INFJs have deep thoughts and feelings that are difficult to express through words. Instead, we turn to other things to help us express who we are and how we are feeling. Art is a fantastic medium for expressing yourself. Most people think about art as painting or making sculptures, but there’s a lot of other options nowadays. You can be an artist through careers like graphic design, website design, video editing, making music, baking, cooking, etc. There are so many opportunities nowadays. Don’t get stuck in a box by only thinking about traditional careers.
8 Teacher
INFJs make great teachers because we can read people so well. We understand what they need to be able to learn and we can see if they are getting what we are trying to teach them. Plus, it helps immensely that we really care about people and want what’s best for them.
In order to be a teacher, you don’t have to work in a public grade school, although you can if you feel so called. You can teach people to do anything. Many companies have a training department where people teach employees things. Companies also have support for customers, where you could teach customers how to use products. Nowadays there are people who teach others things on YouTube, everything from baking bread to learning graphic design programs. And yes, you can make plenty of money through making videos for YouTube.
7 Religious/Spiritual Leader
If you’re looking for a career with meaning built-in, being a religious or spiritual leader might be your true higher calling. There are many people who coach others in religious or spiritual beleifs who aren’t connected with organized religions as well. People like Gabby Bernstein and Marianne Williamson are a great place to start looking for this type of work.
6 Dietitian/nutritionist
Dietitians change people’s lives. If you’ve ever struggled to lose weight, you know this is true. INFJs love the aspect of helping people live better lives and what better way than to help them be healthy and live longer?
5 Doctor
Along the same lines as a dietitian, nurses and doctors play a huge role in helping millions of people every single day. Whether you’re helping bring babies into the world or helping elderly people pass through this life to the next, your higher calling could lie in helping people get and stay healthy.
4 Mental Health Counselor
I’m sure you’re not surprised at all to hear that INFJs make amazing counselors. We have a natural ability to read people with our Intuition and Feeling functions. We are also amazing at seeing past what people are saying and looking at the biggie picture and the bigger problem. We thrive when we can give advice and help people in the process. All of these things make counseling a great career for INFJs. Also, remember that there are different kinds of counselors. There are counselors for big corporations for work, college, grade school… many different things. You can also be a coach, which you don’t need a college degree for.
3 Life Coach
Five years ago I had never heard of a life coach. When I heard the term I wondered why people would need someone to coach them through life. But once I started digging into what being a life coach is, then it all started to make sense. Life coaches usually have a specialty that they help people with, one specific thing that will transform your life. I’ve worked with business coaches, health coaches, dating coaches, coaches especially for INFJs and INFPs and I’ve seen coaches for many different things. Being a life coach is a great option for INFJs, especially if you’re older because you have tons of life experience that you can share with others. You get paid to share your knowledge and help people make big changes in their lives. Plus, you have your own business so you can set your own hours and do your own thing.
2 Writing
I get asked a lot if all INFJs are writers. I don’t know that all of us are as a
rule, but a lot of us are. We love to express ourselves through writing blogs or
books or poems. It’s easier for us to organize our thoughts when we write
and we can find people who are similar to us by sharing our thoughts and
feelings with them. We tend to write about things that we wouldn’t share with
our friends and family, so it’s nice to be able to get it out of our heads and to
be able to connect with other people who understand.
It’s also important to remember that you can be a writer in a lot of different
careers. Marketing managers write copy all day long. Journalists write, but so
do bloggers and podcasters. You’ll write working as an HR manager,
communications manager and virtual assistant as well. There are lots of
opportunities to use this talent.
1 Entrepreneur
I never thought that I would ever want to own my own business. It felt like a lot of pressure to make sure that you could make enough money to keep the lights on. That’s a lot of responsibility. But after I had worked for 6 or 8 companies and dealt with incompetent bosses and terrible company rules, my thought process started to change. What if I could make my own rules? What if I could do things the way that I think they should be done? What if I could help people and make money in the process?
Once I stepped into owning my own business I had the same feeling that I got when I moved out of my parent's house: FREEDOM!
I highly suggest that you think about owning your own business, whatever your chosen field of expertise is. You can be a writer and a marketer and a graphic designer all in one. You can be a health coach and a teacher too. You don’t have to choose just one thing. It’s like a whole new lease on life!
INFJ Community
Join the conversation about careers in the INFJ Community forum post INFJ Careers here.
Find your purpose in life
It’s important to remember that people nowadays don’t work for one company for their whole lives. In fact, most people don’t even have just one career. Millennials will have 9 different careers over their lifetime. That’s careers, not jobs. If you’re thinking about changing careers, you’re not alone. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re not lost or broken, even though you may feel that way right now.
The best thing that you can do to find the right career for you is to find your purpose in life. What have you struggled with the most in your life? How did you get through it or overcome it? You can help others through the same thing. Maybe that’s the whole reason for you being here. Maybe God (or the Universe or whatever works for you) knew that people would need help with this one thing and He created you for that special purpose. It’s time to find out for sure what that purpose is and get to work making it happen.
Join me for a life-changing 21-day challenge to let go of fear, align with your purpose, and make decisions with confidence. The challenge starts on May 1, 2022. Get all the details here.
