I have a Strong Profile and an MBTI Career Report for the same person. The occupations listed are very different. How do I explain this to the student?
It sounds like the student’s MBTI type and RIASEC theme are very different–something like ENFP + CRI or ISTJ + ASE. You wouldn’t expect these results from the same person, but it’s very possible. As a discussion starter, a verified MBTI type represents a genetic predisposition–the person’s natural personality preferences. Strong responses come from what respondents have experienced–they are socialized. When the two match up, such as ENFP + ASE or ISTJ + CRE, we can assume that respondents have been socialized in a direction consistent with their natural preferences. When they don’t match up, respondents have probably been socialized away from their natural preferences.
This frequently happens, for instance, when a type such as INFJ chooses accounting as a college major–because employment in accounting is pretty safe. They do well in the field (I__J), but somewhere along the way decide that they really don’t like the work. They take a Strong and an MBTI, and Accountant comes up on the Strong (they have developed a similarity to accountants), but their INFJ career list is much more about education, the arts, and social services–fields that are usually attractive to INFJ types.
The bottom line: The top occupations on the Strong come from answering the questions on the inventory the same way that people in the occupations do. The top career fields and most popular occupations on the MBTI Career Report come from frequency accounts — careers where the type is found most frequently. When they are different, the Strong’s Basic Interest Scales will often be the missing piece. These come from how often respondents say “Like” to items that describe certain career fields. Very often, the Basic Interest Scales will line up with MBTI Career Fields, even when the specific occupations listed are different.
Great post!!! I’m one of those people whose Strong and MBTI results don’t seem to match. I’m ISTJ with EA on the Strong. My MBTI preferences are quite clear and significantly drive HOW I do my work, but I work in a role consistent for EA (trainer/consultant/sales). I can confirm that this is likely due to socialization. I grew up in a home that had a family business. I grew up seeing and appreciating entrepreneurship, marketing, persuasive speaking, relationship-management, etc. I was raised to believe you must brand yourself and market yourself at all times, and the goal is to be your OWN boss. It’s no wonder I ended up in a role with significant autonomy, flexibility to market myself, and essentially be in charge of how financially successful I can be. That being said, I approach my job tasks very differently than my ENFP colleagues. I am data-driven. Every step I take is calculable via the many spreadsheets full of data analysis I do on a weekly basis. My activity database is always up to date, and my calendar is my life. Differences in the Strong and MBTI can show you the difference in WHAT you do or HOW you do it.
It sounds like you’ve found your niche, and that’s what it’s all about. I like to refer to it as the science and the art of career assessment. You start with instruments that are scientifically sound, which the Strong and MBTI are. The art comes in when you are fitting the pieces together. Each person is unique. It is our job, I think, to encourage the exploration of that uniqueness and help our clients to take charge of how they are going to live it out in their careers.
JG
Loved this one Judy as it totally sounds like my life experience. It was not until the 2000′s I figured out what career I should be in. For 20 years I worked as an accountant and did very well in this career with no energy of course at the end of the day. I am a ENFP and when I originally completed the strong and True Colours my C was still pretty high. My planfulness is very high but that is with the years of discipline and practice on being organized. It is a learned behaviour versus natural. My S and A were always high as I practiced these in my social life. Now as a Career Counsellor I love working with clients and have high energy at the end of the day. My code changed to SEA when I became clear on what I love and deprogrammed by socialization.