One of the biggest challenges for an INFJ is finding a satisfying career.

We’re not content to do just any work. We want to do work that we’re passionate about and that makes a difference in the world.

It doesn’t help that suitable INFJ careers are hard to come by. The world doesn’t have our gifts in mind when it creates job write ups, which is no surprise, considering we’re the rarest personality type.

While well-meaning people will try to give you helpful advice, most of the time their advice ends up being more harmful than it is helpful, especially for INFJs who don’t know themselves well yet.

This begs the question: Why do most people have a hard time thinking of good INFJ careers for you? Let’s look at three reasons.

In the reasons below, I discuss the four functions, or mindsets, that make up your INFJ personality. If you’re not familiar with the functions and would like to learn about them, or you just want to learn more about your INFJ personality, you can grab a free copy of my eBook, The INFJ Personality Guide, by clicking here.

Or just text the letters “INFJ” to the number 444999 to have a copy delivered to your email inbox.

3 Reasons People Suggest Poor INFJ Careers

Reason #1: People give you advice based on what they see.

The first thing people will probably notice about you is that you are a friendly, considerate people person. You’re tuned into people’s thoughts and feelings, and you strive for group harmony. This is your extroverted feeling (Fe) at work. It’s the strength you show the world.

As a result, people may say you’d make a good teacher, director, or manager of people. While INFJs do enjoy these careers somewhat, more often than not, the jobs end up draining them because they require frequent conversation and supervision. People miss the fact that you enjoy working alone or with a few other people for long stretches each day.

Reason #2: People expect you to enjoy maintenance tasks.

Much of life is comprised of maintenance tasks such as shopping for food, cooking, doing the dishes, and cleaning. Your car needs regular oil changes and to have its tires rotated. At work, there are documents that need to be kept up for legal reasons, rules to be followed, and procedures to be carried out. This kind of work is routine and recurring, and it requires little creativity or imagination.

Because the majority of people are sensors and enjoy – or can stomach – this kind of work, they assume that you will too. They point you in the direction of jobs that require hands-on, routine work without knowing that this kind of labor is the bane of your existence.

Extroverted sensing (Se) is your inferior function, and hands-on, maintenance work is your Achilles heel. It certainly is for me. When I’m driving, I often get so lost in thought that I miss my exit. I’m not tuned into what’s around me. Other times, I think so deeply that I forget I even have a body.

Reason #3: They overlook your greatest strength.

People overlook your greatest strength for several reasons.

First, your greatest strength is hidden from view because you’re an introvert. People have to get to know you to see what you’re capable of. They have to watch you closely and develop a relationship with you before you’ll share your visions, insights, ideas, and creations. There are people in my life who have known me for years that are just now starting to understand my INFJ gifts.

Second, introverted intuition (Ni), your primary mindset, is the rarest function. Most people either aren’t familiar with it or don’t understand how it works.

Finally, because your dominant function (Ni) is so rare, people devalue and dismiss it. They have no idea how important it is.

What INFJ careers excite you?