ESFJ Careers: Jobs for the Caregiver to Seek and Avoid

ESFJs are helpers who are sensitive to the needs of others. Their personality types are suitable for an array of different careers. ESFJs come with many advantages and disadvantages that present themselves in different ways in the workplace.

Read on to discover what careers ESFJs would thrive in and what careers they would be better off avoiding. We will discuss some advantages and disadvantages of the ESFJ personality type in the workplace and how to interact with them.

ESFJ Careers Summary

ESFJs do well in careers where they can find or create a fixed routine and have an outlet for their personable side. They do well in many fields, ranging from education to sales to medicine. ESFJs do best to stay away from isolating or unstructured career areas.

Characteristics of an ESFJ in the Workplace

At work, ESFJs idealize cooperation. Here are some other characteristics of ESFJs in the workplace:

  • Fairness/holding everyone to the same standards
  • Feels responsible for ensuring the needs of others are met
  • Seeks harmony in the workplace
  • Value tradition and loyalty
  • Dedicated to their responsibilities

ESFJs see actions as either right or wrong and seek to hold everyone to a specific standard. An ESFJ will work tirelessly to dedicate their time and attention to their coworkers or subordinates. ESFJs take the concerns of others very personally, as if they were their own.

Advantages for ESFJ Personality Types in the Workplace

ESFJ personality types have advantages over other personality types because of their focus and loyalty. Strengths of ESFJs include they are:

  • Effective at daily operations because of their attention to tasks and routines.
  • Popular in the workplace because of their loyalty.
  • Empathetic leaders because of their genuine care of others’ feelings.
  • Social in the workplace and always in tune with others’ needs.

ESFJs are extroverted by nature and make great coworkers to socialize with. Paired with their empathy and genuine concern for the feelings for others, ESFJs make great leaders in the workplace.

ESFJs rise to the top in fields where they can use their personable side.

Disadvantages for ESFJ Personality Types in the Workplace

Though ESFJ personality types come with many advantages in the workplace, they are still sometimes at a disadvantage. Some disadvantages that ESFJs come with include being:

  • Rigid and judgmental because of their fixed ideas of right and wrong
  • Reluctant to improvise because of their respect for tradition
  • Needy because of their desire to be noticed and appreciated.
  • Weak at creative thinking because of their inability to escape routines.

ESFJs can be too reliant on routine and structure to think outside the box in the workplace. They respect tradition and rarely seek to create innovative solutions to problems. Though ESFJs make excellent leaders because of their social skills, their abilities can be thwarted by their inflexibility.

Best Careers for ESFJ Personalities

The ESFJ personality type’s social nature lends itself greatly to careers that require it. ESFJs also need to help others and nurture their emotions which is excellent for some career fields. Here are some professions that ESFJs would thrive in.

ESFJs as Corporate Trainers

ESFJs’ focus and appreciation for daily operations and routines make them incredible corporate trainers. Corporate trainers are responsible for the following:

  • Developing learning materials for employees
  • Creating training materials for corporations to use
  • Developing employee handbooks and manuals

ESFJs can use their knack for routines to teach processes and expectations through training materials, making them excellent candidates for corporate trainers.

ESFJs as Optometrists

Optometrists perform vision tests and prescribe glasses and contacts to their patients. ESFJs are dedicated to process and routine, which makes them perfect for this career path. The extroverted nature of ESFJs makes them great at keeping patients calm and collected during any tests or procedures.

ESFJs as Special Education Teachers

ESFJs can make incredible Special Education Teachers because of their ability to recognize and meet the needs of others above anything else. Special Education teachers require the patience that ESFJs typically have. ESFJs are empathetic and have a genuine care for others that this field requires.

ESFJs as Nurses

Nursing is one of the best career fields for ESFJ as it has a place for all the strengths that they usually bring to the workplace. ESFJs are caring and nurture the emotions of others while being extroverted and able to talk with patients in stressful settings. They also thrive in routine and process-based environments, and given how many routines nurses are required to follow, ESFJs may be good at this and very much enjoy the job.

ESFJs as Real Estate Agents

ESFJs’ awareness in social situations and their ability to read others can make them great real estate agents if that is a path they choose to follow. ESFJs often have no problem mediating negotiations between home buyers and sellers.

Worst Careers for ESFJ Personalities

There are many career paths that ESFJs should avoid, the bulk of them being jobs that require them to be alone. ESFJs have a desire to be part of a team that they can work and engage with. These careers prevent them from doing so and should be avoided by ESFJs:

ESFJs Should Avoid Becoming Software Developers

Though this career path is routine-oriented, software development careers caters to those with more introverted personality types that prefer to work alone. ESFJs need to be surrounded by and work as a part of a team to thrive truly.

ESFJs Should Avoid Working in Technical Support

This career path could offer the ESFJ more interaction with people than the others on this list, and it is relatively routine-based. To be successful in technical support, individuals must be out-of-the-box thinkers and innovative problem solvers, something that ESFJs tend to lack.

ESFJs Should Avoid Working as Farmers

Farming is quite possibly one of the worst career paths for an ESFJ, as there is very little opportunity for them to exercise their communication skills. This career path is truly built for an introverted personality, and farmers must be active and innovative problem solvers. ESFJs could find solace in caring for animals’ emotions on the farm, but it would not be enough to warrant a successful career in the industry.

ESFJs are often at a loss when faced with jobs in areas like farming, where each moment calls for a change.

How To Interact with ESFJs At Work

ESFJs are unique individuals who pick up instantly on social cues. They tend to be very to the point and ask for what they want. Knowing how to communicate and interact with an ESFJ is ideal for creating a harmonic work environment.

Here are some ways to approach an ESFJ in the workplace based on what they want:

ESFJ Desires: Approach Them With:
Clear Context-Purpose and Outcomes “We do things in this routine because….”
Definite Tasks List job duties in sequential order to understand
Positive Feedback Be clear and concise about what they are doing right and what needs improvement.
To be asked about their team or friends Ask them for feedback on the team’s performance
Practical ways to solve a problem Give them routine-based actions to take when confronted with a problem.

Interacting with ESFJs in a constructive and transparent manner will give you the best results for a cohesive environment. ESFJs are not challenging to get along with or communicate with but doing it the correct way will help them and the rest of the office stay positive.

Conclusion

ESFJs are natural leaders in the workplace and display an array of advantages in those positions. They are naturally social and loyal and always look for routine and structure on the job. ESFJs come with some disadvantages because of their appreciation for routine and tradition, and they may be hesitant to develop innovative solutions to problems or end up stuck in a routine.

ESFJs should choose careers that allow them to be social and extroverted, among other things; they would make ideal nurses or real estate agents. ESFJs should avoid any occupations that require them to work alone instead of being part of a team; when they are part of a team, specific methods of communication benefit ESFJs and their coworkers.