ENFJ Career Matches – The Best Jobs and Jobs to Avoid

People with the ENFJ personality type are considered skilled communicators who value relationships with others. Based on these characteristics, there are specific 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 learn more about what kinds of jobs 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 They are very compassionate toward their patients.

 

Types of Careers ENFJ Personality Types Thrive In

ENJF types do well in jobs that involve helping others. This could mean assisting clients, too, as in the case of a therapist or counselor. It could also mean helping co-workers and team members reach goals collaboratively. In addition to being skilled communicators, ENFJ personality types have a few other significant 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 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 your students’ success and help them reach their full potential academically. Teachers are there for students when needed most, as a source of encouragement and guidance.

Being a teacher requires you to read your students’ emotions and body language so that you can communicate with them effectively. It also requires excellent communication with colleagues and your students’ families. A great teacher constantly shares on many fronts, and ENFJ personality types are naturally effective communicators.

This Teaching and Teacher Education study helps confirm that ENFJ types make great teachers. It shows that among 58 elite teachers in Florida, a statistically significant portion was the ENFJ personality type.

In addition to teachers, other roles within education appeal to ENFJ personality types. For example, one may 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 differs 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, the two jobs that most frequently require interpersonal and communication skills are managers and salespeople.

For managers, your job is to serve your team and ensure they have the tools and knowledge to meet goals and deadlines effectively. This requires both trust and open lines of communication. Fortunately, ENFJ personality types are great at establishing and maintaining both.

Similarly, salespeople thrive on networking and linking social and professional relationships to get deals done. Again, communication and trust are essential, as nobody wants to close a contract 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 return 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 whose 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 critical 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 where nurses are called to care for others and communicate with patients, their families, 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 assisting 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 an excellent place to start, but it is certainly not an exhaustive list of all possible careers for ENFJs. Here are a few other suggestions, along with brief reasons and explanations.

  • Coaches constantly interact with players to build relationships and help them reach their full potential as athletes.
  • Team managers and directors are in charge of delegating responsibilities which requires excellent 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 constantly serve 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 prevent would require someone to work in isolation, going days or weeks without communicating with co-workers or team members. The following positions will likely 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 repeatedly, day after day. These jobs don’t need 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 involves working face-to-face with customers, those interactions usually involve little to no room for creativity or establishing 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 get to work with people, it is not a lasting relationship as you will probably 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 avoid 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

Like the list of great careers for ENFJ types, this list of occupations 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 job that involves serving others and working on a team, such as teaching or managing. When you choose the job that best fits your personality type, you can ensure you thrive in the workplace.