Best Careers for ESFJ Personality Types

Understanding your personality type can help you learn a lot about yourself and how you perceive the world. Furthermore, it can help you decide on the best career path for you as an individual. The hunt for your dream job can be scary and exciting at the same time. Thus, choosing your profession based on your personality traits can help make that process a little less painless and a little more exciting. 

The Myers-Briggs test is a personality test that asks questions and determines your personality type into four different categories:

• Extravert (E) or Introvert (I)
• Intuitive (N) or Sensing (S)
• Thinking (T) or Feeling (F) 
• Judgment (J) or Perception (P)

Based on how you rank in these categories, a personality type is assigned to you. Each of these types has very specific traits. Understanding them can help you set your sights on the right career path for you. 

What Is the Myers-Briggs ESFJ Type?

ESFJ’s personality traits are Extraverted (E), Sensing (S), Feeling (F), and Judging (J). Nicknamed the “Supporter,” ESFJs are considered to be very social people. They strongly value their relationships with family and friends, and they enjoy building ties with new people. What’s more, they are generally positive people and they spend a lot of energy trying to make other people around them happy as well. 

Because they are such social beings, ESFJs prefer a work environment where they can interact and collaborate with as many team members as possible. They find a great purpose in being able to help other people, so ESFJs enjoy career opportunities that allow them to make a difference in their communities. 

ESFJs’ many strengths and weaknesses can work to their advantage depending on whether their career choice is a good fit.

ESFJ Strengths

Here is a list of ESFJ’s best strengths:

• Strong problem solving skills
• Responsible
• Loyal 
• Sensitive
• Sociable

ESFJ personality type is very responsible, with a strong work ethic and sense of duty to their community. They are extremely loyal to the people in their lives. Their sensitive nature allows them to create deep and meaningful social bonds with many around them. Additionally, they are social butterflies, constantly looking for any opportunity they can get to network and create new relationships. 

ESFJ Weaknesses

Here is a list of ESFJ’s weaknesses:

• High pressure on their social status
• Overly conforming to social trends and ignoring their own beliefs and opinions
• Judgmental of other people’s opinions and behavior
• Inflexibility and opposed to personal criticisms

Because ESFJs place so much value on their social relationships, this causes them to place extreme pressure on themselves to appear perfect to society and to have the highest social ranking possible. They also have an intense desire to fit in with the mainstream crowd. Thus, they often change or ignore their own personal opinions to fit everyone else’s. 

ESFJs are also hypercritical of the people around them, especially when those people do not conform to social norms. However, they can sometimes be inflexible and unwilling to hear criticisms about themselves. 

What about ESFJ-A and ESFJ-T?

ESFJ-A stands for Assertive (A), while ESFJ-T stands for Turbulent (T). This determines an ESFJ’s identity, as they can be slightly different in their behavior and how they are perceived by society. 

Turbulent ESFJs are considered to have a stronger relationship with their emotions. They are known for dwelling on their regrets and having a hard time forgiving those who have wronged them, while Assertive ESFJs are more forgiving. For example, Assertive ESFJs have an easier time moving on and not ruminating on the past. 

Assertive ESFJs are known for having a strong level of self-discipline. They are extremely dedicated to always finishing what they start and doing it to the best of their ability. Turbulent ESFJs, however, do not consider themselves to be as successful at self-discipline. 

Top Career Choices For ESFJs 

Here is a list of great jobs for ESFJs:

• Technical Writer
• Event Coordinator
• Human Resources Manager
• Public Relations Manager
• Pediatrician

Technical Writer

Technical writers help translate technical information on various topics such as web design, computer systems, information technology, or engineering into instruction manuals and articles to help communicate the information in a more efficient manner. 

Technical writers work between technical staff and clients to ensure they are making the product and the information easy to understand. They work with many different types of mediums—from online web articles to virtual videos to physical manuals and more. 

They make an average of $72,000 a year. What’s more, there is a projected 11% growth, especially as the tech industry is booming. 

ESFJs would love this career because it gives them the opportunity not only to socialize with others, but also to use their natural understanding of people and society to properly translate complex information. Their level of responsibility and problem-solving skills would be beneficial here as it takes a lot of patience and self-discipline to effectively communicate technical information. 

Event Coordinator

Event coordinators work with clients to plan, create, coordinate, and execute all different types of events—spanning from professional meetings to large parties. They have to understand their clients’ needs, possess a strong sense of customer service, be able to coordinate different elements of the event, work with a budget, and be extremely organized to ensure that all aspects are running smoothly. 

Event coordinators make an average of $49,000 a year in the United States. However, with a 7% projected growth, there is a lot of room for advancement in this industry. 

Being an event coordinator would be an ESFJ’s dream as it allows them to socialize all day long with people from all walks of life. It also lets ESFJs use their creativity, sensitivity and deep understanding of others to effectively satisfy their client’s needs. An ESFJ’s strong problem-solving skills will come in handy as unexpected issues tend to arise during an event. Most importantly, their work ethic will help them successfully pull off even the most extravagant of events.  

Human Resources Manager

Human resource managers work with executives of a company to oversee the administrative business of a corporation. They are the tie between a company’s employees and the executive staff, and they help keep things running smoothly and efficiently for all team members. 

Human resource managers work to support all employees and make sure they are protected under the state’s labor laws. They often help resolve disputes in the workplace, and they play a key role in the hiring and selection process. 

Human resource managers make an average of $113,000 a year, and there is an expected 7% growth in the field. 

This career matches ESFJs perfectly because they would thrive in a social leadership position. They would get to help the people around them and fight to protect employee’s rights in the workplace. Their level of empathy and sensitivity would help them better understand their peers and the company’s needs to be a successfully running corporation.

Public Relations Manager

Public relations managers work to boost and preserve a company’s public image. This can include writing press releases for the media, understanding how to advertise to a specific audience, communicating with the public, and supervising all advertising platforms. Public relations managers make an average of $132,000 a year. Furthermore, there is an expected 8% growth in the industry, especially as online technology is quickly advancing. 

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A role as a public relations manager would be suitable for an ESFJ due to their sociable nature and their keen understanding of society. Their ability to network with many different types of people would be beneficial here as they create connections in the advertising industry. Meanwhile, their problem-solving skills would be crucial for when they maneuver through different problems arising in the media. 

Pediatrician

Pediatricians are physicians that specialize in children’s health, ranging from infancy to teenagers. They diagnose any potential health problems, prescribe medication, offer different forms of treatment, and give accurate information on how to properly take care of patients’ wellbeing. Physicians make an average of $208,000 a year, with a projected 7% growth in the next decade. 

ESFJs would make a fantastic pediatrician thanks to their love and drive for helping society. Their infectious, sociable attitude is perfect for working with children and calming the patients down while being examined and treated. In addition, their sense of responsibility and loyalty would make them highly successful as a caring physician who wishes to help their community. 

Endless Possibilities for ESFJs

Being on the career hunt is challenging for many reasons, but understanding your personality type can make your search that much easier. 

ESFJs are incredibly caring, sociable, reliable and hard-working people. There are career paths that would allow them to thrive and enjoy waking up and going to work every single day. Whether it is being a technical writer, an event coordinator, a human resources manager, a public relations manager, or a pediatrician, there are many different routes and industries that offer exciting careers for an ESFJ.