Best careers for ENTP personality types
For many, one of the most difficult decisions in life is choosing the “right” career path.
It’s pretty tricky for most of us to see into the future, but choosing an occupation or career is very much that; looking forward through the next few decades and taking our best guess as to which career path is going to keep us fulfilled.
It’s a tough task, but we can have a pretty good shot at long-term job satisfaction by seeking a career path that matches our personality type.
In this guide, we'll explore how people with the ENTP personality type act in the workplace. We’ll also get you started down the right path by providing five top ENTP careers.
Not sure if you're an ENTP?
Follow these 2 steps to find the best job for your personality type:
Find out your personality type for free on 16Personalities: take the free Personality Test
Return to jobcase.com to visit our resource center and find the best jobs for your personality - it’s a great way to kick off the job search and discover the best match for your personality type!
What is an ENTP personality?
Before we look at the best careers for the ENTP, let’s quickly familiarize ourselves with the concept of personality test results.
The label ‘ENTP’ is one of 16 different results from the Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI) test.
Also referred to as ‘The Debater’ (if you’re an ENTP personality type, you’ll know why), ENTPs are typically:
Charismatic
Knowledgeable
Quick thinkers
Disagreeable
Lively and energetic
Disinterested in tradition
Confident
Entertaining and humorous
Direct
Argumentative
Intuitive
Versatile
So, what does this mean in the workplace?
What is the ENTP personality like at work?
ENTPs tend to excel at entrepreneurship, and they bring this skill set into the workplace as an employee.
That means they tend to approach tasks with an open mind and are quick and agile problem solvers.
Though immediate problem-solving is a strength, ENTPs show no shortage of big-picture thinking. They prefer to put their energy into crafting new ideas rather than engaging in routine or monotony.
ENTPs thrive at work when they can:
Put their brainstorming skills to use
Exercise their extraversion muscles with social interaction
Spend time designing creative solutions to business problems
The ENTP in a team
The ENTP thrives in a team that is dedicated to solving problems and exploring new ideas.
They are less suited to environments where they are expected to work as part of a team that fulfills routine duties.
ENTPs love to hear out ideas and incorporate them into their master plan. However, they can be overly competitive. At their worst, ENTPs may take full credit for the entire team’s success.
In a team, the ENTP is likely to take on a leadership or big-picture thinking role and leave the details to others who are better at laying out precise plans for action.
The ENTP as a leader
It may come as no surprise that ENTPs are natural leaders.
They are competitive, highly motivated by competence, and imaginative.
ENTP leaders sometimes face criticism for being more focused on systems and business development than on the people within their organization. They tend to be more strategic than empathetic.
As a result, ENTPs tend to be more suited to a visionary leadership-style role than a manager of people.
What jobs are good for ENTP personalities?
Looking for a bit of guidance as to which career paths work well with your temperament?
Let’s look at five jobs best suited for the ENTP personality type.
1. Business consultant
A job as a business consultant is one of the best ENTP career matches.
It requires a high degree of communication and a fair amount of problem-solving, two things that the typical ENTP excels at.
2. Stockbroker
One of the best career choices for super analytical ENTPs is that of a stockbroker.
Stockbrokers analyze trends, predict future movements, and act quickly to secure a position in the market.
3. Computer systems analyst
ENTP personality jobs tend to require a high degree of analytical skill and a fair bit of human interaction that satisfies their outgoing needs.
A computer systems analyst needs an analytical mind, but it can be a fairly isolated job (depending on the company and team you work for). This may be a career better suited to ENTPs who are less extroverted.
4. UX designer
A role as a UX designer can be one of the best ENTP careers around.
In this role, you’ll be redesigning websites to improve user experience. It caters more to the ENTP’s creativity than other roles, though it still requires a fair bit of analysis.
5. Financial planner
Our final recommendation for careers that suit the personality traits of the ENTP is becoming a financial planner.
Financial planners analyze the current situation and solve problems rapidly to create solutions for clients, which fits well with how ENTPs approach the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s answer some frequently asked questions about ENTP careers.
What careers should ENTPs avoid?
ENTPs should avoid careers that require close attention to detail or that may be considered repetitive or monotonous.
Examples of careers for ENTPs to avoid include:
Dentist
Optometrist
Data scientist
Receptionist
Data entry
Bookkeeping or accounting
Clerical positions
What should an ENTP major in?
Though not all ENTP careers require a college degree, ENTPs tend to be very competitive, so they’ll likely pursue higher education.
If you’re an ENTP considering heading to a college or university, these are some majors that would work well with your personality profile.
These include:
Accounting
Business administration
Finance
Legal studies
Criminal justice and criminology
Earth/space science
Can an ENTP be a doctor?
Your personality type doesn’t necessarily decide which occupations you can and can’t work in.
Rather, they give you an idea of which jobs would work best with your temperament and which wouldn’t.
Though there are surely some great ENTP doctors out there, the general advice would be that this career is not a great fit for an ENTP.
The reason is that ENTPs tend to disregard rules, can be impatient or insensitive, and tend to leave tasks unfinished, especially routine duties like paperwork.
Can you be both an ENTP and ENFP?
It’s possible to test differently at different stages of your life.
Each aspect of the MBTI is a scale, so if you sit somewhere in the middle of the thinking/feeling scale, it’s possible to test as one or the other at different life stages.
If you feel like you’re somewhere in the middle, you might benefit from checking out our article on ENFP careers as well.
Have you found the right career path for you?
You’ve now got the inside word on the best ENTP careers. There’s just one question left to answer:
Which one is right for you?
If you’ve already got a pretty good idea of a suitable career path, then why not take a look at the current vacancies on the Jobcase job board?
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