You've Got Personality

Career counselors have at their disposal a number of testing instruments to help clients discover potential career interests. Those such as the Strong Interest Inventory® and the Self-Directed Search® are among the most popular, and have been widely examined by psychological researchers.

Most career assessment instruments are targeted at the wider population—people who aren't sure what they want to do. In the arts, and especially at an institution like Juilliard, most students, faculty, and alumni already have a clear sense about what they want to do with their lives. This is a major advantage that is often overlooked among students here. For some who feel at a loss about which direction to pursue upon graduation, I gently remind them that one of the largest hurdles in life is discovering a true passion. Outside of the confines of our community, many young people do not have such strong sense of purpose. Those who do possess a remarkable gift.

There is one career assessment tool that I advocate on occasion, and which I believe can have an enormous impact on one's personal and professional prospects in life: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (M.B.T.I.), which I will discuss this month and next. One disclaimer, though: There are literally hundreds of books and publications on this instrument. Two articles cannot possibly do it full justice. I hope that reading about it will inspire you either to set up an appointment in the Career Development Office to take the M.B.T.I., or participate in a workshop at one of many locations off campus.

Career choice, satisfaction, and self-awareness are interrelated. The M.B.T.I. can help you to see these relationships with considerable clarity.

Career choice, satisfaction, and self-awareness are interrelated. The M.B.T.I. can help you to see these relationships with considerable clarity, which will vastly improve the choices you make early in your life. Rather than stumbling along in your career trying to make sense of what really gets your stove burning, you will have a foundation for understanding yourself, the people around you, and the environments in which you are likely to enjoy working.

The M.B.T.I. is a self-reporting questionnaire designed to make Jung's theory of psychological types understandable and useful in everyday life. This theory of personality was first developed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung (1875-1961) to explain the normal differences between healthy people. Based on his observations, Jung concluded that differences in behavior result from people's inborn tendencies to use their minds in different ways. As people act on these tendencies, they develop patterns of behavior. In 1923, Katharine Briggs (1875-1968) and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers (1897-1980), elaborated on Jung's ideas and applied them to understanding people in their immediate community. After nearly two decades of informal testing (and prompted by the waste of human potential in World War II), Myers began developing the indicator to give a wide range of individuals access to the benefits she found in knowing psychological types and appreciating differences.

Today, the M.B.T.I. has been in research and development for more than 50 years. Some two million indicators are administered annually in the U.S. alone. The M.B.T.I. has also been translated and used in more than 30 languages. Each year, corporations and educational institutions spend millions of dollars on M.B.T.I. trainers to improve teamwork, communication, and conflict management. Career-counseling centers and student affairs offices on college campuses offer workshops to help people build self-awareness, improve community relations, and discover potential career interests.

Myers-Briggs is not a test, and nothing about the questionnaire or the results will tell you how you "measure up." Instead, the M.B.T.I. attempts to indicate certain innate preferences for the way you channel your psychological energy, process information, make decisions, and orient yourself in the world. The instrument itself is quite elementary, but once you begin critically analyzing its components, you quickly learn to appreciate its depth and significance. After completing the indicator and participating in a group workshop or individual counseling session, people are often overwhelmed with a deeper understanding of the world around them—their friends, family, and communities.

As with any popular or successful enterprise, there are a number of imitations, which you may have encountered online or through a book. It's important to understand that only a licensed psychologist, counselor, social worker, or M.B.T.I. trainer can administer the indicator, as the questionnaire and its results are only a small fraction of the entire process. Interpreting the results and learning to apply them to your life requires ethical and practical guidance, through the assistance of a trained practitioner. The imitations are at best a loose approximation of what your results might be, had you taken the time and effort to complete the M.B.T.I.

If this introduction has piqued your interest and you would like to get a jump-start on this series, stop by the Career Development Office (Room 476) and schedule a time to take the M.B.T.I. In the next article, I will talk about the four components of the indicator and draw upon the experiences of alumni who have used insights from the M.B.T.I. in their own career development.

Derek Mithaug, director of career development, is a Juilliard faculty member and alumnus.