To get a better understanding of recommendations for INFP jobs and career matches, we will first cover a few important things about INFP personality.
Known as the “Healer” and “Mediator” due to their empathetic and compassionate nature, INFPs are one of the rare personality types among the 16 types of personalities in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
INFP is an acronym for introversion, intuition, feeling, and perceiving.
The INFP meaning is expressed in their personalities in the following way:
- Introversion – they draw their energy from spending time with themselves.
- Intuition – look at the overall idea and the big picture instead of the nitty-gritty.
- Feeling – consult their core values and emotions and when making decisions consider how it will affect others.
- Perceiving – generally are open and spontaneous rather than orderly or systematic.
INFPs are further grouped into two: turbulent and assertive types. The main difference between INFP-A and INFP-T lies in their level of confidence in their decisions and capabilities.
Assertive types are generally steady and cope better with stress, while turbulent types are perfectionists and tend to be sensitive.
Are you an INFP?
Take the free personality test to identify your true personality type. 16 Personality Types test reveals who you naturally are and why you do things the way you do. With this knowledge of yourself, you can build successful careers, find a dream job, build strong relationships, and live an authentic life.
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Jobs and Career Matches for INFP
In general, INFPs choose jobs they love or are passionate about, with most of their engagement in projects and causes driven by motivation and inspiration.
They are not attracted by fame, status, or money. On the other hand, their idealism drives them to look for meaningful work that will allow them to contribute to the greater good and serve and care for other people.
INFPs enjoy workplaces that offer them autonomy and independence. They also look for jobs that enable them to express their gifts of imagination and creativity.
Most importantly, the perfect job for an INFP is aligned with their value and belief systems. While they may succeed in nearly almost any career, there are certain career paths that INFPs have an affinity with.
Thus, INFP strengths should be considered when considering career options to ensure a good fit.
The best jobs and career paths for INFP personality type include the following:
Are you an INFP?
Take the free personality test to identify your true personality type. 16 Personality Types test reveals who you naturally are and why you do things the way you do. With this knowledge of yourself, you can build successful careers, find a dream job, build strong relationships, and live an authentic life.
TAKE THE FREE PERSONALITY TEST
Communication
Communication is one of their strengths, whether it be communicating themselves or communicating with others. Thus, INFPs are drawn to becoming writers and novelists.
Many famous writers are INFPs, including J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and Helen Keller. Other related careers in this area include being an editor, transcriber, copywriter, desktop publisher, and journalist.
Since communication is not limited to written form, some may even seek opportunities in corporate or non-profit organizations.
Jobs that entail communication, including interacting and liaising with people, are attractive to Mediators. These include being a customer relations manager, human resource specialist, public relations specialist, legal mediator, and interpreter/translator.
Marketing, coaching, and training are also careers that INFPs may excel at. Their gift at motivating and inspiring, along with their compassion and empathy, make them great at vitalizing any team or workforce.
While INFPs are not fond of enterprising careers’ competitive nature, being proficient writers makes them good marketers as well.
Their ability to understand people’s needs paired with their good ability to communicate makes them excellent at marketing.
Arts
INFPs are among the most creative types in the MBTI. INFPs enjoy abstract and creative elements. They like to explore their ideas and search for creative expression outlets, making working in this field desirable for them.
Not only that, these careers give them the freedom to express their individuality and uniqueness. Jobs for INFPs in this field include being an artist, composer, musician, poet, playwright, screenwriter, painter, and sculptor.
While they generally shy away from the limelight, they may find themselves drawn to the performing arts, including dance, acting, music, opera, musical theatre, and poetry.
Face-to-face Service Careers
Since INFPs enjoy learning and discovering truths about people at a deeper level to better understand and help them, they thrive in helping and service professions.
Their naturally empathetic and compassionate nature enables these healers to walk side by side with their clients.
INFP career options in this area include being a physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, social worker, home health social worker, coach, minister/priest, missionary, and religious worker.
In addition, their desire to discover patterns and help people, along with their good listening skills, make INFPs very well-suited to careers related to therapy, psychology, and counseling.
Design
INFPs are natural artists and tend to excel in whatever art form. Careers in design offer autonomy and allow INFPs to have a say in each project’s overall vision and concept.
Consequently, it gives them a platform to express creativity and imagination, making these careers alluring to any creative INFP.
Moreover, design not only utilizes their skill but also capitalizes on their ability to understand people’s needs and desires.
INFP career options in this area include graphic/UI/UX design, photography, videography, multimedia art, fashion design, and film editing.
Education
The INFP’s passion for helping and leading others to growth makes them good teachers as these idealists will invest their time in honing their students’ skills and individuality.
Their natural compassion, empathy, good listening skills, and good observation skills enable them to understand and read students better and engage with them at their level of understanding.
Also included here are some careers that entail one-on-one conversations and provide a mix of helping people and working independently. These include being a librarian, curator, and archivist.
Are you an INFP?
Take the free personality test to identify your true personality type. 16 Personality Types test reveals who you naturally are and why you do things the way you do. With this knowledge of yourself, you can build successful careers, find a dream job, build strong relationships, and live an authentic life.
TAKE THE FREE PERSONALITY TEST
Jobs and Careers INFP Should Definitely Avoid
In the same way that some occupations are good INFP career matches since they align with their work style preferences and natural talents, there are occupations that demand behaviors and approaches that don’t suit them well.
Generally, INFPs do not thrive in highly competitive, hectic, and critical workplaces. They also do not work well in open environments and large groups.
Based on studies, these are some of the careers to avoid if you are an INFP:
- Law Enforcement
- Sales and Finance
- Legal Careers
- Military Careers
INFP’s Strengths and Weaknesses in a Working Environment
INFP Strengths & Advantages
- Empathetic
Naturally compassionate, INFPs in the workplace tend to make sure that everyone’s needs are heard, and their feelings are considered.
They make good managers and leaders since these empathetic INFPs will likely be good at compromising. This is the same trait that they use in relationships, making them ideal partners. Read more about this on INFP best romantic match.
- Motivating
Committed to others’ growth and potential, INFPs are good at seeing the potential in other people. This makes them good encouragers and a good source of motivation and hope in the workplace.
- Flexible
INFPs are open and generally spontaneous; thus, they will likely accommodate you in their schedule. In addition, they appreciate and understand every person’s uniqueness and are thus more tolerant of differences in opinion in the workplace.
- Problem-solvers
Using their ability to look at the bigger perspective and see patterns in situations paired with their unconventional thinking and creativity, you can expect an INFP to develop innovative solutions to challenges that may be encountered in the workplace.
When making tough calls, INFPs use their intuition to make sure that the decisions are well thought of, considering how it will impact others in the team.
Are you an INFP?
Take the free personality test to identify your true personality type. 16 Personality Types test reveals who you naturally are and why you do things the way you do. With this knowledge of yourself, you can build successful careers, find a dream job, build strong relationships, and live an authentic life.
TAKE THE FREE PERSONALITY TEST
INFP Weaknesses
- Self-critical
Having high ideals and expectations of themselves, INFPs tend to take criticism personally and may take offense when people say negative things about them or their work.
They tend to dwell on their failures and may get stuck with disappointment when their ideals and expectations are not met. This may pose a problem if INFPs are in a highly competitive and critical work environment.
- Impractical
Due to their idealistic nature, INFPs are driven by a bigger cause or vision. This may make them set unreasonable or unrealistic goals and plans. This may also lead them to neglect tasks or components that do not seem to fit in the big picture.
- Unanalytical
Highly attuned to their emotions, INFP may focus or depend too much on their intuition and emotions and neglect available facts and data.
- Disorganized
While INFP’s creativity and ability to think outside the box work well for them, they may have the tendency to be lost in thought or get sidetracked with the many ideas they have.
Providing them with some structure will help INFPs stay on track with their work.
INFP Working in a Team/Group
While INFPs are introverts who prefer time alone, their other traits make them good team players. They are open-minded and supportive of other people’s views.
They are innovative thinkers who employ creative means in solving problems while making sure that other people’s ideas are incorporated and considered.
These Idealists are passionate about those that they value. Because of this, INFPs thrive in a workplace driven by purpose and likewise expect that each team member is committed to that same purpose.
Mediators are genuinely interested in others and are drawn to their well-being. Thus, they thrive in workplaces that practice a culture of unity and harmony and may find themselves drained in teams that are highly competitive and critical of each other.
INFP Working as a Leader/Manager
Deeply idealistic, INFPs in leadership roles steer their teams towards a vision or a purpose. In addition, their encouraging nature makes them good at motivating their teams to aspire towards greater heights and reach their goals.
This is balanced with their intuitive nature, allowing them to personalize their approach towards every individual, enabling the INFP leader to better understand each employee.
They are also great at seeing the potential in every person, allowing them to make better use of their skills or assign them to positions where they will be effective.
INFP leaders are good at keeping a harmonious team. Their compassionate and empathetic nature enables them to consider the feelings and emotions of others when coming up with a decision.
Aside from this, INFPs tend to avoid conflict at all costs and are generally tolerant of others due to their flexible nature.
INFP Career Stats and Facts
- INFPS are among the types who are likely to report poor job satisfaction.
- Being a writer is one of the most common occupations of this type.
- Male therapists are among the most prevalent representative demographic groups within the INFP personality type.
- INFPs are likely to be taken advantage of at work that focuses on individual achievements since they are not compelled to achieve such recognition.
Are you an INFP?
Take the free personality test to identify your true personality type. 16 Personality Types test reveals who you naturally are and why you do things the way you do. With this knowledge of yourself, you can build successful careers, find a dream job, build strong relationships, and live an authentic life.
TAKE THE FREE PERSONALITY TEST
INFP Career FAQ
Are INFPs successful?
Yes, there are many INFPs in the history of the world who have achieved success. Some examples of successful INFPs are John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, William Shakespeare, and Carl Rogers.
However, generally, average INFPs often feel unmotivated to pursue their goals and achieve success. That’s because of their intense emotions and frequent mood swings. Still, they often manage to overcome these ambiguities and achieve fulfillment.
What are INFPs known for?
INFPs are known for their idealism, dedication, and integrity. Individuals with INFP personalities tend to be very empathetic people with a deep sense of creativity and high values.
They are great at understanding others’ emotions and helping them overcome stressful times. Usually, the value helps, supports, and tries to follow these values to improve the world and do something worthwhile for people.
Conclusion
Considering one’s strengths and affinities is a huge help when weighing through career options. However, an INFP, and any personality type for that matter, should be mindful that there is no such thing as a perfect job.
While certain careers fit INFPs well while others do not, they can still thrive professionally in any career.
Because INFPs are driven by strong values and beliefs, as long as they find meaning in their work and feel a strong sense of purpose, they can overcome any hurdles and cope with the challenges in the workplace.
