People with the ENFJ personality type are considered to be skilled communicators who value relationships with others. Based on these characteristics, there are certain careers that ENFJ personality types are well-suited for.
The best careers for ENFJ personality types include teachers, therapists, and healthcare workers. ENFJ personality types work best in jobs where they consistently work as part of a team and can use their high social intelligence to interact with others.
Of course, there is much to be said about ENFJ personality types and their strengths. Each personality type is unique and includes many distinct characteristics. Based on these characteristics, some careers are a much better fit than others. Read on to find out more about what kinds of careers ENFJ personality types thrive in and why.
| Career Title | Why an ENFJ Thrives |
| Managers | High social intelligence and an ability to read others well. |
| Salespeople | Building relationships with others and maintaining sales relationships. |
| Teachers | Always in service to students, families, and the school community. |
| Newscasters | Utilize passion and creativity at a fast pace. |
| Healthcare Workers | Very compassionate for their patients. |
Types of Careers ENFJ Personality Types Thrive In
ENJF types do well in jobs that involve helping others. This could mean helping clients, as in the case of a therapist or counselor. It could also mean helping co-workers and team members reach goals in a collaborative setting. In addition to being skilled communicators, ENFJ personality types have a few other major strengths. These include:
- Recognizing and interpreting emotion
- Reading body language
- High social intelligence
- Interacting with colleagues
- Working as part of a team
- Developing close groups of friends and co-workers
- Expressing emotion
Because these characteristics come so naturally to them, ENFJ personality types are often called to jobs that require these skills to be used daily. In the following sections, we’ll outline some careers that ENFJ personality types would do well with. We’ll also talk about why they would excel.
ENFJ Personality Types Make Great Educators
As a teacher, you are constantly in service to others. Your primary job is to ensure the success of your students and help them reach their full potential academically. Teachers are there for students when they are needed most, both as a source of encouragement and guidance.
Being a teacher requires you to read the emotions and body language of your students so that you can communicate with them effectively. It also requires great communication both with colleagues and the families of your students. A great teacher is constantly communicating on many different fronts, and ENFJ personality types are naturally effective communicators.
This study from Teaching and Teacher Education helps confirm that ENFJ types make great teachers. It shows that among a group of 58 elite teachers in the state of Florida, a statistically significant portion of them was the ENFJ personality type.
In addition to teachers, other roles within education appeal to ENFJ personality types. For example, one may choose to become a dean of students or a guidance counselor. In either case, the goal is to work closely with students to help them reach their goals and full potential.
Although it is different from the traditional classroom setting, it appeals to ENFJs nonetheless because of the similar communication and interpersonal skills. These positions still work closely with students and other teachers and administrators.
ENFJ Personality Types Work Well as Managers and Salespeople
In the business world, two of the jobs that most frequently require the use of interpersonal skills and communication skills are managers and salespeople.
In the case of managers, your job is to serve your team and make sure they have the tools and knowledge they need to effectively meet goals and deadlines. This requires both trust and open lines of communication. Fortunately, ENFJ personality types are great at establishing and maintaining both of those.
Similarly, salespeople thrive on networking and linking together social and professional relationships to get deals done. Again, communication and trust are key, as nobody wants to close a deal with a salesperson they don’t trust. Additionally, if a salesperson isn’t a great communicator, they will likely fail to keep their clients happy and coming back for more business.
Many ENFJ Types Work in Media
Media jobs allow the creativity and passion of ENFJ types to shine through. For example, bloggers and influencers are always looking for the next big trend or story, and what better way to find that new trend or story than through a creative and well-connected professional network?
ENFJ types also do well working as members of a team. Picture, for example, a social media marketing team, where the goal is to creatively design a new social media marketing campaign. An ENFJ type would excel under these conditions because of their creativity and ability to work with others.
Similarly, consider how an ENFJ personality type would respond to the fast-paced demands of live reporting as a journalist. Not only would their interpersonal skills shine through in interviewing and conversing with others, but they would not shy away from being under the microscope or in the spotlight of the public eye.
Healthcare is Another Field for ENFJ Types
Another key aspect of the ENFJ personality type is the ability to serve others. They also have a high capacity for empathy, meaning that they can feel and relate to the emotions of others.
One setting that constantly calls for empathy and service to others is nursing. Here, we find a fast-paced work environment in which nurses are called to care for others and communicate with patients and their families as well as doctors and other nurses.
Additionally, social workers and psychologists fit the skill sets of ENFJ personality types. Imagine for a moment the responsibilities of a family social worker. They communicate with all members of a family to help repair broken relationships. They also foster cooperation between family members. It may also involve helping families during a time of need or crisis.
Other Career Opportunities for ENFJ Types
In addition to those mentioned above, there are several other careers and career fields that ENFJ personality types would thrive in. In other words, the list above is a good place to start, but it is certainly not an exhaustive list of all of the possible careers for ENFJs. Here are a few other suggestions along with brief reasons and explanations.
- Coaches are constantly interacting with players to build relationships with them and help them reach their full potential as athletes.
- Team managers and directors are in charge of delegating responsibilities which requires great communication and an empathetic understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of your team members.
- Event planners work closely with clients and help make their event ideas a reality. This requires them to be in constant service to their clients and have exceptional listening and communication skills.
- Human resource directors and recruiters help place people in the best jobs for them. This again requires communication skills and an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of others.
What Careers Should ENFJ Types Avoid?
In general, ENFJ types should avoid careers that don’t draw upon their strengths. For example, a job to avoid would be one that requires someone to work in isolation, going days or even weeks at a time without having to communicate with co-workers or members of a team. The following jobs are likely to have a low success rate for ENFJ personality types.
Avoid Careers with Monotonous Work
ENFJ types are not well-suited for jobs that require them to do the same thing over and over again, day after day. These jobs don’t require much creativity or room for growth. For example, this may include working in a warehouse or distribution center that requires you to perform the same job day after day.
A bank teller would be another example of a job to avoid. Although it does involve working face to face with customers, those interactions usually involve little to no room for creativity or to establish a working relationship with the customer.
Additionally, the monotony of being a tour operator would likely be a drag on the ENFJ personality type. Although you do get to work with people, it is not a lasting relationship as you likely never see tourists again after the tour. Further, repeating the same route several times a day would decrease new opportunities to be creative.
Avoid Jobs that Lack Creativity
ENFJ personality types should also steer away from jobs that don’t allow them room to take some creative liberties. For example, an auto-mechanic generally must follow the manufacturer’s recommendations when servicing a vehicle and does not have the creative power to go off on their own to fix the problem.
Other Careers for ENFJ Types to Avoid
Just like the list of great careers for ENFJ types, this list of careers to avoid is not exhaustive. Here are a few other characteristics and jobs that ENFJ types should steer away from.
- Jobs that involve little to no contact with others, like a web developer or software engineer.
- Jobs with a lack of organization or clear goal
- Jobs that don’t involve learning opportunities or ways to grow
- Jobs with a slow pace
Careers for ENFJ Personality Types
Based on the strengths of the ENFJ personality types, some careers are especially well-fitting. For example, ENFJ types should look for a career that involves serving others and working on a team, such as teaching or managing. When you choose the career that best fits your personality type, you can ensure that you will thrive in the workplace.
