Do you want to find a job that you love? Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger can get you well on your way to choosing a career that's a great fit with your personality with their book Do What You Are - Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type.
When it comes to work, few people actually do what they enjoy most. People often choose a job without a lot of information. In the past, your career decisions may have been highly influenced by pressure from your family, other people's assumptions about you, or social expectations. You may have chosen the job that happened to be available at the time, or perhaps you pursued whatever career the media was touting as the hot job of the moment.
The best way to choose a career that will meet your long term needs is to silence the noise and expectations of others, and choose one that meets your own expectations and matches your own personality. That means you'll need to do a little work to get to know yourself and how your personality fits with different career options.
Do What You Are can help you to gain the self knowledge that's needed to make a smart career choice.
The book is based on the personality profiles described in the Meyers Briggs personality test (formally known as the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI for short). There are plenty of personality tests out there. I've done a lot of them, and I've used a lot of them with my clients. The MBTI is one assessment I really like. It's a well respected assessment which is based on Carl Jung's theories, and developed through vast amounts of objective scientific testing and volumes of psychological research.
In Do What You Are, the section "Unlocking the Secrets of Your Personality" will guide you through the concepts behind the Meyers Briggs personality profile and help you to assess which of the 16 personality types matches your own personality. Once you know whether you are an ENFJ (that's me!) or an ISTP, or any of the other 14 personality types, then you can dive into the core of the book, which is the "Getting to Work" section. Here you'll find in-depth profiles for each of the 16 personality types. You'll get suggestions for occupations that are typically a good with each personality type, and explanations about why certain careers typically do or do not fit with certain personality traits.
My only caveat about this book is that, ideally, to determine your MBTI personality type, the test would be administered and interpreted for you by a trained professional who can help you to understand and use the information to your best advantage. However, not everyone has access to this type of professional guidance, and for anyone who wants to develop better self knowledge related to career choices, but is not able to work with a trained professional, Do What You Are is a wonderful guide.
If you are serious about making a career choice that is a great fit with your personality, this book will be a great addition to your library.
Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type
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