ISTP Jobs to Avoid

If you’re still searching for a career to makes you want to get up in the morning. Or a job that you enjoy and feel like aligns with your skills and personality, you may need to take note of the ISTP jobs to avoid.

Being in the wrong careers will only sap your time and demotivate you. While working in a career you enjoy will bring you a great deal of personal and professional gratification. It’s not just your education, working background, and skills that you need to consider. Using the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator will help further align your personality with a job that hits you on a deeper, visceral level.

ISTPs are known as, ‘The Mechanics’. There are four pillars that make up this personality type, and these are broken down as follows:

(I) Introverted – quiet and reserved, prefer smaller circles of friends and acquaintances.

(S) – Sensing – focuses on small details, are attentive, looks at the immediate opposed to the future.

(T) Thinkers – use logic to make decisions over speculation.

(P) Perceptive – prefer to keep options open, will stall on decision making.

As you can see from the four pillars above, ISTPs are quiet and private, and great at focusing on small details. They much prefer to get hands on with physical work than repetitive office tasks. With their efficient work ethic and energy make them a productive part of any team when utilized right.

Careers ISTP Should Avoid

With the breakdown of the personality traits, we can look at the kinds of careers and jobs that are not suited to an ISTP. If you have or are currently working in any of the following professions it may explain why you feel unfulfilled in your work.

Here are some jobs to avoid if you’re an ISTP:

Actor

Although you will see Tom Cruise as one of the famous personality types below ISTPs traits do not make for naturally good actors. Being introverted is a huge fear to overcome. As well as being logical and struggling to make decisions. ISTPs are much more comfortable behind the camera or working on the production team than in front of the bright lights.

Writer/Author

While ISTPs do enjoy having the freedom to be creative and writing often allows this. They do however need to be doing something a little more physical and stimulating than sitting behind a computer for hours on end typing. Short articles maybe, books and longer writing assignments, no.

Entrepreneur

There are a lot of different types of entrepreneur and they run all kinds of businesses. ISTPs are not typically good at running and starting their own businesses. They are not big risk takers, and stall when making important decisions. Businesses need marketing to grow, and preferring to keep themselves to themselves can inhibit growth.

Receptionist

The role of receptionist means holding front of house, taking calls, and helping visitors to a building. There is not a lot of opportunity for creative freedom, and the repetitive nature of the role will bore an ISTP very quickly. Being the smiling, first person visitors see isn’t within their wheelhouse either.

Reporter/Journalist

You don’t come across many successful reporters that are introverts. ISTPs also struggle to make decisions under pressure, so being in a competitive career where snap decisions can make or break an interesting story isn’t likely.

ISTP Famous People

I always like to look up some famous personalities that match up with personality types to see how they fit the ‘mold’. There are some interesting and well-known ISTPs, here is a diverse selection, see if any come as a huge surprise to you:

• Steve Jobs – Co-founder of Apple
• Jack Dorsey – Founder of Twitter
• Vladimir Putin – President of Russia
• Yulia Tymoshenko – Ukraine Prime Minister
• Tom Cruise – Actor
• Simon Cowell – Entrepreneur, TV Personality

Best Jobs and Career Choices for ISTPs

Here are some of the best-suited jobs and careers for this personality type:

• Chef
• Private Investigator
• Mechanic
• Photographer
• General Office Manager
• Financial Planner

ISTP Career Choices in Summary

You should always keep your options open and understand that any personality type can make a success of themselves in any career with the right amount of dedication. ISTPs in particular can make a success of themselves outside of their comfort zone with their hands-on, hardworking ethic.

Trying to operate outside of your comfort zone can be stressful and frustrating however. You can end up burning out, becoming very demotivated, and physically and mentally drained. If you find yourself feeling like this you need to take a step back and evaluate your situation.

We all spend a lot of our lives working and deserve to be happy. These ISTP jobs to avoid are not exhaustive, but they give you a good understanding of the types of careers that are not suitable for an ISTP.