Myers Briggs Personality Test

---

   
The Myers Briggs personality test (formally known as the Myers Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI for short) is a personality assessment which aims to give you insight into how you perceive the world and make decisions. It is used frequently by career counselors to assist clients who are making career choices. The Myers Briggs personality test can help you to determine careers that are a good match with your personal preferences. It can also be helpful in developing an understanding of and appreciation for your strengths and weaknesses as well as developing a better understanding of those around you at work on in your personal life.

The MBTI consists of a series of 93 questions. It must be administered and interpreted by someone who has trained to be qualified to administer and interpret the MBTI. This test does not assess your your abilities (the things you are already good at) or aptitudes (the things you have the potential to become good at). It is a personality test which will assess your preferences in four different areas:

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator assess the following:
How you focus your attention or get your energy (Extraversion or Introversion)
How you perceive or take in information (Sensing or iNtuition - the N is capitalized to distinguish iNtuition from Introversion)
How you prefer to make decisions (Thinking or Feeling)
How you orient yourself to the external world (Judging or Perceiving)

Your preference in each of the four areas (sometimes called dichotomies) are combined and used to determine your MBTI psychological type. For example, if you scored highest on Extraversion, iNtuition, Feeling and Judging your type would be ENFJ.

The four preferences interact with each other to create one of 16 possible personality types. Discovering your personality type can provide you with insight into your strengths and weaknesses as extensive profiles for each type have been developed. It can also help you to determine careers that are likely to be a good match for your personality.

Some career centers and career counselors offer this assessment to their clients. If you don't have access to a center that offers this assessment, or if the cost of completing the assessment is out of your price range, another inexpensive, simple and effective way to apply the the MBTI to your career decision making is by using the book Do What You Are by Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger.

Do What You Are is based on the personality profiles described in the Myers Briggs personality test; it will guide you through the concepts behind the Myers Briggs Type Indicator test and help you to assess which of the 16 personality types matches your own personality. Once you know whether you are an ENFJ or and ISTP, or any of the other 14 personality types, then you can move into the core of the book, which includes in-depth profiles for each of the 16 personality types. You'll get ideas for occupations that are typically a good fit for each personality type, and clear, helpful explanations about why certain careers typically do or do not fit with certain personality traits.

 
Get more Career Change Advice and Tips
Return to Career Placement Test from Myers Briggs Personality Test
Return to Career Choice Guide home page