ESTJs are not one to sit down and wait for whatever life hands them. They are assertive and logical individuals who love to have detailed plans about everything.
The ESTJ is one of the 16 Myers-Briggs personalities and describes people with Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging personality traits. Most commonly referred to as “The Director,” this mixture of characteristics has earned ESTJs other nicknames such as Executive, Administrator, and Overseer personality type.
If you’ve taken an MBTI assessment which revealed you are an ESTJ, it’s no surprise that you stumbled across this article. Choosing a career is an intentional process for someone as purposeful and decisive as an ESTJ. No wonder you are asking, “What are the best ESTJ jobs?”
Fortunately, the MBTI can provide valuable and informative insights into the best career paths for an ESTJ like yourself. This article highlights the top ones that accommodate your values, strengths, and weaknesses as an ESTJ personality type.
However, before we get there, we must provide a word of caution. (You do want everything in order, right?)
When planning for a career, it is critical to remember that we all have individual differences and don't all like the same things (even if we have the same personality traits). It would be best to also consider your interests and work environment preferences before choosing the perfect career.
To take your career search to the next level, we recommend reading this article on John Holland's Theory of Occupational Choice.
ESTJS in the Workplace — Strengths and Weaknesses
If you are an ESTJ or "Director" personality, you probably have a mental picture of your life in 5 or 10 years. Your career choice will be one factor that affects the outcome of that future. Research shows that people are happier when their jobs match their personality. Still, for some reason or another, you may not be satisfied where you work (or you are just getting started on your first job search).
To ensure the career you choose is a good fit, it's essential to acknowledge the character traits (both good and bad) you most likely have as an ESTJ personality type that can come into play at work.
Here are some of the strengths of ESTJs that can help to make them an asset within certain work environments (and limitations in others).
- Living by the book: ESTJs love structure and rules because they believe there'd only be gross indiscipline without them.
- In-depth planning: ESTJs hate surprises, especially regarding your career. Hence, you are intentional when applying for roles or taking courses. Everything you've accomplished comes from proper planning.
- Extraversion: As one of the extroverted MBTI personalities, ESTJs are not afraid to be the center of attention. You are great when working in a team or as the front runner.
- Logical: Your emotions do not affect the quality of your judgment. So, your entrance to or exit from an industry or role is based on well-thought-out reasons rather than sentiments.
There are two sides to every coin, and with the strengths of the ESTJ personality type come the weaknesses. When choosing the right career, some personality traits may limit your options.
Remember that as an ESTJ, you may:
- Struggle with creativity and innovation,
- Have a tendency toward insensitivity,
- Be hesitant to work with methods that aren't tested and trusted, and
- Possess a strong dislike for risk-taking.
8 Top Careers for ESTJs
You’ll likely do better at your job and regularly show up smiling if it's a good fit for your personality type. While the core traits of ESTJs lend themselves to specific roles, subtle differences between ESTJ-A (Assertive) and ESTJ-T (Turbulent) personalities can influence career preferences and workplace approaches. Assertive ESTJs often feel more confident and decisive, while Turbulent ESTJs might gravitate toward roles requiring flexibility and adaptability. Consequently, based on the natural traits of ESTJs, here are some careers and industries that you'd want to explore as someone with the Director personality type.
1. Coaching
ESTJs possess the qualities needed to thrive as a coach in any industry. As a sports coach, your primary duty is to help your team improve through training and insightful feedback. Your natural leadership ability, no-nonsense attitude, and analytical skills will help you manage your athletes and create winning strategies.
Your logical mindset and attention to detail also make it easier for you to help others draft and gain clarity about their lives. You can also explore roles in corporate coaching, such as executive or leadership coaching, performance coaching, team coaching, life coaching, and mental health coaching.
2. Law
Law is a broad industry with a wide range of roles. For someone with the ESTJ personality, you'd do great with positions requiring critical thinking, thoroughness, and decision-making based on facts and evidence. You can consider being an attorney, legal analyst, judge, jury consultant, or mediator.
3. Military or Law Enforcement
The military and law enforcement are professions that involve many strict orders and instructions. As someone with the director personality type, you’d enjoy the sense of structure such roles offer you.
In the military, you can consider roles in your region's Army, Navy, Air Force, and other armed services. You can also explore law enforcement agency positions at the state and federal levels in the police department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration, etc.
Some job roles in these industries are soldier, pilot, computer programmer for the military, combat engineer, criminal investigator, crime analyst, police officer, etc.
4. Project Management
Project management involves planning a company’s resources to accomplish a particular goal. It could be anything from product launches to managing intellectual properties.
You can take advantage of your excellent planning skills and explore positions in project management roles like project manager, resource manager, and steering committee. You'd also want to take courses and get acquainted with popular project management models like Waterfall, Agile, or Lean.
5. Finance
Most finance roles involve making budgets, keeping financial reports, and tracking the overall spending of an organization. Your ESTJ personality makes you well-suited to thrive in the strict and analytical nature of the finance industry. You can explore roles like financial analyst, budget analyst, accountant, risk manager, investment officer, etc.
6. Sales
Most roles in sales are accommodating of different personality types. However, your extroversion and resilient attitude give you an edge in this industry. You can consider sales roles like business developer, sales operator, sales representative, SEO specialist, etc.
7. Public Relations
Public relations involve using all forms of media and communication to maintain the reputation of organizations and individuals. Your attention to detail and thorough planning will be helpful in this industry. Some of the best roles for your personality type include public relations manager, marketing coordinator, copywriter, media and communications manager, etc.
8. Management
Most management roles involve lots of planning and organizing, which is one of your strengths as an ESTJ. You can go for jobs that complement your critical thinking and need for structure. You may enjoy positions like business managers, executive assistants, records managers, resource allocators, etc.
ESTJ Careers to Avoid
Given the ESTJs’ tendency to lean towards analytical professions with grounded rules and regulations, they may not find the following career paths interesting:
- Art: ESTJs may struggle to meet up with the spontaneity and creativity needed in the art industry.
- Health Care: As a logical individual, ESTJs may not enjoy most direct healthcare roles as they require empathy and excellent interpersonal skills (although you would probably enjoy something like medical billing.
- Teaching: While ESTJs may be great at coaching, teaching requires a more emotional and sensitive approach to helping others learn. You may not have enough patience to nurture others.
Find the Right Job for Your ESTJ Personality!
As an ESTJ, you are built to last even in the most demanding professions, which sets you apart in the career market. You can take advantage of your resilience and love for planning to draft the perfect career trajectory using the above list as a guide.
If you are an ESTJ in the process of changing careers, you may be interested in reading this article.
Just remember, to maximize your chances of success and fulfillment, prioritize a career that aligns with your personality type and interests!
