Personality Type Biases Lead to Missed Opportunities
Hiring pros often rely on the MBTI to assess candidate fit, but misconceptions regarding what a personality type really means can drive bad hiring decisions.
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f the many biases in the world, one that quite often leads to lost opportunity is the idea that certain personality types are suited for some types of work and not others.
are underrepresented. I encourage these people to continue exploring those careers while also giving them a dose of reality by letting them know there may not be a lot of people like them in that line of work. "Is being different something you can handle on a daily basis? Can you thrive in an environment like that?" I'll ask.
For example, those who know me outside of work are often surprised to learn I'm in front of groups of people (large and small) almost every day. I then help these people explore how I deliver single-day and week-long Michael Segovia their differences might drive innovaworkshops in every industry at every tion the field is missing. I'm reminded organizational level. I love what I do, but conventional wisdom says I shouldn't — be- of a nuclear engineer with, in Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) terms, preferences for ENTP cause I also have a preference for introversion. (extraversion, intuition, thinking, perceiving). He works mostly with people with E Outside of work, that preference I STJ (sensing, thinking, judgis usually obvious. When I tell “Certain personality types or ing) preferences. This person people what I do, I get a double are attracted to certain certainly has a different work take and questions like, "Isn't that exhausting for you?" When I say, careers, but that doesn't style from his colleagues, and at times his coworkers don't get "Not really" — again, I love what I mean they perform better his "let's look for new, innovative do — people look surprised. in those careers.” ways to change the system" approach. However, his colleagues Many assume only those who will also tell you that he pushes them to think outprefer extraversion are cut out for presenting, selling, talking to customers, and so on, while those side the box and explore new ideas that might imwho prefer introversion are only meant for less prove processes and safety. social, less people-facing careers. I'm here to tell There Is No Such Thing as an 'Introvert' you this bias is simply not accurate. Any Type Can Do Anything Our personality preferences shouldn't be used to limit us. While The Myers-Briggs Company has data that shows certain personality types are attracted to certain careers, that doesn't mean they perform better in those careers. Any personality type can do anything. From time to time, I work with people interested in exploring careers in which their personality types Recruiter.com Magazine
Ultimately, what engages us in work does not have to do with whether we prefer extraversion or introversion. You may notice that I'm not saying "extravert" or "introvert." I don't use either word because I don't believe
