What is the most suitable degree for each personality type?
Personality is decisive when choosing the university degree that will turn us into professionals in a certain area. Discover the degrees that suit you best!
Character traits can go a long way toward determining how successful and satisfied you will be in your career. Experts say that our personality type affects our satisfaction with the work we do, our productivity, as well as how likely we are to persist in that type of work.
This connection between personality and career became the focus of researcher John L. Holland's studies in the 1950s, when he developed six personality types in relation to occupations:
- Realistic
- Investigative
- Artistic
- Social
- Enterprising
- Conventional
Personality type 1: Realistic
If you like practical work, then you are likely to fit into the realistic personality type. “Doers,” as they are also known, usually enjoy projects that require tools or machines. People with realistic personalities are the employees found in the largest number of occupations.
The best career options for realistic personality types include degrees for chefs and head chefs and electronic engineers. Degrees for those with a realistic personality can also be found in the healthcare industry, including pharmacy technicians and physical therapist assistants among other sectors.
Personality type 2: Investigative
Do you love analyzing and solving complex problems? Do you consider yourself a person with natural curiosity? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are very likely to fall into the investigative personality category.
For this personality, the ideal is careers that require workers to exercise their minds, such as actuaries and personal financial advisors, for these careers. To prepare for this type of position, earning a bachelor's degree in accounting or finance is ideal.
Occupations that require more research in search of clues and facts in order to do their job are legal assistants, who help lawyers with research. To prepare for this position, obtaining a certificate or an associate degree in legal studies is a great step. Another option would be being a researcher at a university or institution; for that, it is advisable to have a degree in the desired field and then complete a master's degree and, even better, a doctorate.
Personality Type 3: Artistic
If you have the artistic personality type, you will find your passion in creative expression. You are big on self-expression and most likely you like to work independently or in situations that others find too disorganized.
Artistic types' occupations involve working with shapes, designs and patterns and the career paths for artistic personalities include graphic designers and web designers, as well as animators.
In today's high-tech job market, workers with an “artistic” side are in great demand. To prepare for a career in this field, degree programs in graphic design, web design, animation or others of this kind can take you in the right direction.
Personality Type 4: Social
The gift of gab can pay wonderful dividends if you consider yourself a social personality type. If that is your case, working with tools and instruments will not be your best option, since social personalities prefer work situations in which they can help others learn and develop.
The best degrees for those with a social personality generally revolve around providing care and helping others. Nurses and mental health counselors are just a few examples. Another degree option for social personalities is becoming a middle or high school teacher. To enter this field, earning a degree in the subject you want to teach and completing a teacher preparation program would be your best option.
Personality Type 5: Entrepreneur
Are you an enterprising person with a great ability to see projects through from start to finish? Then you are the entrepreneurial personality type. Entrepreneurial careers are found in competitive work environments where strong leadership is needed. If that kind of environment sounds good to you, consider pursuing a financial manager position.
The degrees that require selling or influencing opinions, such as a marketing director or a relations specialist are also very good options. To enter this line of work, you will need to earn a bachelor's degree in marketing or communication.
Personality Type 6: Conventional
A conventional personality type prefers to follow guidelines and rules in all tasks. People who have this personality are the best fit when a job requires meeting the most demanding standards, since they are reliable and have the ability to organize and keep things in an orderly way. For a person with a conventional personality, chaos is probably their biggest nightmare. There are several degrees that are suitable for people with the conventional personality type, such as accounting, pharmacy technicians, dental assistants and many more.
