Career choice tied to personality
by Leslie Knott, Reporter

   People know they are in the right job when they get energy from it, a counselor told NW Campus students recently.
  Students interested in discovering more about their personality gathered for Pathway to Success … Personality, College Degree,   Career last week. The interactive speech was presented by Joe Reed, counselor on the NW Campus.
  “I was working with a school counselor once. The kids liked him. After school he would go home and isolate himself with a book. He was doing something unnatural to his personality type. He was in the wrong career,” he said.
   Reed said a relationship exists between personality type and career satisfaction. If a person understands his or her personality type, the student increases the chances of finding a career that is fulfilling and enhances the quality of his or her life.
   “Picture yourself picking up a pen and signing your name. Simple, right? Now pick up the pen with your other hand and write. It’s hard. This is an example of how to use your personality in your work,” he said.
  According to Reed, personality is a preference. There is no such thing as a wrong or right, stronger or weaker personality trait. If people understand their personality, they know their function in the business world.
   Tiger Woods plays golf when he is working. When he is off, he is still playing golf, Reed said.
   A job does not have to be something unenjoyable. However, Reed said, one-third of a person’s life is spent at work. If that person loves what he or she does, the person will never dread having to go to work.
   After the speech, students were given a Myers-Briggs test. With the results, students were given an in-depth explanation of their personality type using the book Be What You Are.
   According to the Myers-Briggs Personality test, there are four dimensions of personality type. First is how a person interacts with the world and where they direct their energy. This refers to introversion and extraversion. Extroverts like to be the center of attention. They talk more than they listen and share personal information more freely. They tend to act then think.
  “An extrovert goes outside of themselves to get energy. An extrovert is someone who deals well with customers,” he said.
   According to Reed, introverts listen more than they talk; they do not give out personal information as quickly. They avoid being the center of attention.
   “Introverts go within themselves to get their energy. Introverts tend to be very creative people,” he said.
   Reed has worked as a counselor for TCC since 1995.