Ever found yourself at a crucial crossroads in your life that could largely affect your future? You need to choose the right career path and don’t know whether to follow your heart or your mind. Whether to rely on intuition or logic?
When faced with this demanding and often overwhelming choice people often seek the assistance of others. You may listen to your parent’s or mentor’s advice, or simply follow your dreams.
This may help you find out which career paths will best suit your character according to the dominant preferences. These preferences will refer to core values and principles, the way someone makes decisions and approach different tasks to offer the most suitable career choices for 16 different personality types.
In case you have already completed the personality type that showed you are an ENTP personality, this article will offer you an extensive list of perfect jobs for ENTPs, focusing on your personality strengths. Also, you will find out what careers would not be a great match for the ENTP personality type, and what majors ENTPs should choose to completely showcase their potential at work. This article will also help others who have an ENTP person as a colleague or a manager to better understand this complex and often intriguing personality type.
Shortly, this article on ENTP careers will be a useful read for everyone who wants to find out what perfect ENTP personality careers are and also how ENTPs function in various work environments and roles.
According to the Extroversion, Intuition, Thinking, and Perceiving preferences that may shape this personality, ENTPs are usually friendly and charming people who want to impress others with their quick wit and a sharp sense of humor. As intuitive types, they like intellectual challenges where they can tackle various innovative ideas. Often called the Visionary, an ENTP will always think outside the box, seeking a non-traditional approach to different tasks or problems. This said, they will despise repetitive actions, always trying to find some loophole that will put them in an advantageous position. As future-oriented people fascinated by creative new ways of doing things, they may tend to bend or avoid rules to get to the wanted goal fast and effectively.
As they are confident in their intellectual supremacy, ENTPs will gladly challenge others, involving them in fiery debates where they will strive to convince others to follow their lead.
This personality type is an invaluable source of ideas when a fresh perspective is needed. Although this creativity is an amazing quality, ENTP’s unorthodox ideas may not be easy to execute. For this reason, and due to their Perceiving preference, ENTPs may fail to follow through with their innovative projects, which can make them seem unreliable at times.
Furthermore, they are highly adaptable to changes and are able to think on their feet. For this reason, they may get impatient with people who cannot follow their fast pace. Being Thinking types ENTPs may easily disregard other people’s feelings, worrying primarily about their project’s success. They rarely think about the way their behavior affects others. Although they may understand the concerns of others, ENTPs tend to use this knowledge strategically either to influence or direct colleagues towards the set goals.
ENTPs at Work
This introduction has offered a cryptic description of dominant ENTP preferences that may define the way these personalities make work-related decisions and what they rely on when they approach different tasks and issues. Let’s see now what can be expected from an ENTP personality at the workplace.
ENTPs prefer working in dynamic and intellectually challenging environments. Known as the personality type that likes to question everything (or The Debater), ENTPs will approach hypothetical problems with enthusiasm, seeking creative solutions. ENTPs will probably enjoy being in charge of things where they can showcase their vast talents and skills and influence others, and also because they greatly appreciate power.
ENTPs as Team Members
Being extroverted people ENTPs are optimistic, open-minded, energetic innovators who can easily convince others to follow their lead. As highly adaptable and flexible people, they will thrive in competitive work environments, sharing ideas with their co-workers. However, they will tend to bend the rules or completely avoid them. This may lead to confrontations with the team members who prefer following fixed plans. Furthermore, they may tend to take credit for the team effort, believing that they have come up with the idea and the others followed their lead.
ENTPs as Team Leaders
These creative personalities will create an intellectually competitive atmosphere within their teams, encouraging others to work independently and think outside the box. However, being Thinking types, ENTP managers will focus on how systems work, rather than on the interpersonal relationships within the team. Therefore, ENTPs may unintentionally disregard the feelings of other team members that may create a cold and detached atmosphere at work.
However, if they gain a better understanding of the importance of emotions, they may become inspiring leaders who encourage creativity and sharing ideas that may lead to wanted results
ENTP Career Matches
After we have discovered how typical ENTP personalities may behave in different roles at the workplace, we can compile a list of the best jobs based on their ENTP personality traits. Here is a list of ten best careers for an ENTP that align with their affinities and interests:
1. Stock Trader
The stock market is a dynamic, fast-paced environment perfect for quick-thinking and flexible ENTP personalities. This demanding career may present a true challenge for these creative and energetic types who like to show their intellectual strength. Furthermore, the stock trader may be one of the ENTP’s best jobs because this profession requires handling an array of important information. ENTPs who like to present themselves as experts in their fields will enjoy this opportunity to show their vast knowledge about the stock market. Besides, being a high-profile stock trader may offer ENTP an opportunity to enter the world of influential people in positions of power.
2. Engineer
This can be a perfect career choice for an ENTP personality for several reasons. First, Engineers are experts in their respectable fields that everyone goes to seek advice and solutions for potential issues. This will enable ENTPs to showcase their vast professional knowledge and act from the position of power. Secondly, the work of an engineer requires a quick reaction to challenging situations and allows creativity in devising effective solutions. Finally, the role of an engineer is a versatile one, including project managing, designing, or problem-solving. This will keep ENTPs busy and excited about their work.
3. Lawyer
As we have stated earlier, ENTPs are often referred to as Debaters, since they like to engage in light-hearted intellectual discussions to justify their ideas or opinions. For this reason, a lawyer can be one of the ENTP’s best careers. If they choose this career path, ENTPs will have the opportunity to share their opinions and discuss various arguments to support their cases on daily basis. Also, they will be able to use their charisma and power of persuasion to influence others and convince them of the firmness of their case.
4. IT Professional
We have witnessed that the job market expanded with the development of technology, offering an array of exciting, creative jobs in the IT sector. This provided ENTPs with new challenges, and they started exploring this emerging market, seeking the opportunity to learn new skills and develop innovative concepts. Numerous careers in the IT sector offer much-needed flexibility in working hours and other conditions to ENTPs who despise being constrained by strict rules and traditional ways of doing things. Furthermore, most of these jobs allow them to show their fascinating creative side. So it comes as no surprise that numerous ENTPs fit perfectly in the roles of graphic designers, game designers, software developers, and copywriters.
5. Film Producer
A career in the film industry will bring a sense of power that ENTPs value deeply. Therefore, a film producer, responsible for bringing artistic vision to life, may be one of the most rewarding jobs for an ENTP. Film producers are in charge of the entire film-making process, and they usually have the final word when it comes to casting, funding, budget, editing, and numerous other factors that affect the final result.
For this reason, ENTPs will enjoy this profession that combines creativity with the power of making crucial decisions. Besides, as producers, ENTPs will have the chance to take all the credit if their film turns out to be a great success.
6. Actor/Actress
Due to their extroverted nature, ENTPs will enjoy being in the spotlight surrounded by others. Also, they are charismatic and charming personalities who will enjoy playing out different fictional characters on the silver screen. Their insatiable curiosity will drive them to learn all they can about their roles and create unique and memorable characters. An ENTP actor will also fascinate the audience with their talent for improvisation and sharp humor. You can find an array of famous ENTP actors and actresses in our separate article.
7. PR Specialist
This can also be one of the appealing career choices for an extroverted and enthusiastic ENTP personality. The field of public relations is constantly changing to better suit the demanding and competitive market. ENTPs who enjoy challenges will thrive in this dynamic environment. Another reason why PR specialist may be a perfect ENTP job is the opportunity to influence the public by creating a specific picture of a brand or an organization. This profession also requires immense creativity and a fresh approach to different tasks, all the qualities that ENTPs are known for.
8. Training Manager
ENTPs enjoy being in charge and displaying their professional knowledge in various ways. For this reason, they may enjoy working as a training manager, With dominant Extroversion preference, they like being around people, sharing various experiences. Furthermore, they will provide excellent training showcasing their numerous skills. This job may be the perfect career choice for an enthusiastic ENTP who will tend to devise innovative training programs and use their quick wit to come up with effective solutions. Also as confident and charismatic personalities, ENTPs will come across as reliable and trustworthy professionals to the trainees.
9. Advertising Sales
Building a career in advertising and sales may be a typical choice for an ENTP personality. They are confident, open-minded, amazing communicators always ready to look at things from a different angle. These are all desirable personality traits in this business field. ENTPs will find a job in advertising sales fulfilling because it will offer the opportunity to implement different creative ideas into advertising strategies. As the advertising industry is constantly changing to meet the market’s demands, this career will be challenging and exciting enough for an ENTP who enjoys exploring new concepts.
10. University Professor
The position of the university professor will appeal to the ENTP’s tendency to be acknowledged as experts in their fields. Also, it will provide them with the position of authority and power which they greatly value. Even though university professors need to follow schedules and adjust their programs to a specific curriculum, they can be creative and flexible to better adjust the lectures to their students’ needs. Since ENTPs tend to question everything and this quality is at the core of critical thinking, they will fit the role of the university professors, involving their students in constructive and witty debates. For all these reasons, ENTPs may find the career of the university professor highly rewarding.
Now that we have addressed some of the best career paths for the ENTP personality type, let’s focus on several career paths ENTPs should stay away from.
ENTP Careers to Avoid
Apart from discovering their strong sides, people also use personality tests to learn more about shortcomings specific to their personality type. This knowledge may be useful when choosing the right career path.
According to the ENTP’s dominant preferences, they are energetic, innovative, and creative types who approach challenges confidently. On the other hand, they may get easily bored or overwhelmed with repetitive jobs done in traditional ways. Also, ENTPs will have a hard time coping with set rules, trying to bend or ignore them whenever they can. This ENTP’s tendency may cause conflicts with managers or coworkers who prefer to stick to the rules.
Being Intuitive types, ENTPs are interested in devising ingenious ideas rather than executing them. For this reason, they may fail to follow through with their ambitious projects. They are also prone to procrastination when they have to deal with routine or repetitive tasks. All these weaknesses can largely impair ENTP’s productivity at certain jobs. Here are some of the professions ENTPs should stay away from if they want to build successful careers.
1. Data Entry Specialist
Even though this job falls into the IT sector, data entry does not have anything exciting to offer to the curious ENTP personality. Contrary to numerous creative IT jobs, data entry is highly structured, a repetitive profession that will not appeal to ENTP personalities who enjoy tackling intellectual challenges at work. Besides their Intuition preference enables ENTPs to see the “big picture” often missing out on details. This is another reason why data entry may not be a perfect fit for an ENTP since it requires close attention to detail.
2. Receptionist
Although ENTPs are sociable and communicative people they may not handle the role of receptionist well. This job involves following numerous set rules and repetitive actions that may bore this creative personality type easily. Also, as people who like to be in influential positions of power, ENTPs may have problems coping with sitting behind the desk, performing administrative duties on a daily basis.
3. Teacher
Some may find this contradictory since we have listed a university professor as one of the ENTP’s best career matches. Working with university students can be fulfilling and rewarding, and it requires a high level of expertise. On the other hand, teaching at lower levels, from preschool to high school, is confined by strict rules and syllabus, not leaving much space for creativity and flexibility in delivering lessons. Thus, ENTPs who tend to avoid conforming to rules at all costs may find teaching careers overwhelming and constraining.
ENTP College Majors
Choosing the appropriate college majors is the first step on the career path that will lead to professional success and personal satisfaction. After offering a list of desirable occupations for an ENTP personality, let’s see what college majors will enable ENTPs to pursue these careers. Here is a shortlist of ENTP majors:
- Architecture
- Biology
- Business Administration
- Computer Science
- Computer Information Systems
- Construction Management
- Criminal Justice and Criminology
- Earth/Space Science
- Education
- English
- Exercise Science
- Finance
- Geology
- Health Science
- Industrial Technology
- Information Systems
- Journalism
- Landscape Architecture
- Legal Studies
- Logistics and Supply Chain Management
- Medical Technology
- Natural Resources and Environmental Management
- Pre-Law
- Pre-Medical
- Residential Property Management
- Risk Management and Insurance