Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Choosing a career based on personality type is not a new concept; in fact, the first edition of DO WHAT YOU ARE was released in 1992 (and I can actually remember reading it when I was a junior in high school). In this, the fourth edition, hopefully even more teens will be exposed to this great resource.

The authors, both experts in personality type and career development, put forth the idea that choosing a career path based on your individual personality will be beneficial to your success. For those worried that discovering your personality type is a difficult process, don't despair, because the authors make it quite easy.

There are four dimensions to personality type:

Whether you are extroverted or introverted.
Whether you notice things by sensing or intuition.
Whether you make decisions by thinking or feeling.
Whether you prefer to live by judging or perceiving.

Once you've discovered the answer to each of these four questions, you'll be able to discover which of the sixteen possible personality types you fall into. Once you do, you can quickly skip to the relevant section in the book.

In my case, my personality is ESTJ - or extroverted, sensing, thinking, judging. According to the authors of DO WHAT YOU ARE, my strengths lie in organization, being objective, working alone, and being a good decision maker. My weaknesses are also outlined, and include impatience with those who don't follow procedures, a tendency to overrun people, and difficulty listening to opposing viewpoints. Some suggestions for careers, based on my personality type, are as a teacher, government employee, sales, supervisor, or a manager.

Of course the above is not a full list of the strengths, weaknesses, or recommended career choices for those whose personality type is ESTJ - the above is merely a sampling. But I can say with truth that DO WHAT YOU ARE can be a great resource for those beginning their search for a career choice. I can agree that ESTJ is definitely my personality type (faults and all!) and have no doubt that this book has the power to help everyone looking to correctly match their strengths to the perfect career. ( )

I found this highly useful in understanding the types of jobs that I am likely to enjoy. Recommendable.

Clear book to understand the MBTI. Can help to better understand our work preferences and use advantages of them ( )

Life Planning/Career Changing 008

Fun application of personality type to careers. Not really necessary if you already have a thorough understanding of type. ( )

http://talesofarampaginglibrarian.blo... ( )

"If you spend twenty years at a job you don't enjoy, you may end up not only out of touch with your natural interests but -- even worse -- with a distorted view of your own competence." (quote from 'do what you are')

If you ever feel you are "not cut out" for your job, it would be worthwhile to check this book out. It helped me evaluate my job and focus in on the parts of my job that are making me unhappy; i.e. the things I have to do that I am not very good at. It also offered ideas for alternative jobs that would better suit my interests and talents.

First you start out by taking the Myers-Briggs personality test, then there is an analysis for every possible result, giving you an overview of your basic personality type and what jobs are generally best for you. Then it goes on to describe the hierarchy of functions; basically by the age 25 everyone has developed their top two functions (the dominant and auxiliary) and can rely on them in everyday life. Then we go on to develop our other two functions, and then later we develop our opposite functions; i.e. if you are Introverted, you start developing your Extroverted side, and later in life (60s and beyond) you've developed completely (and are ready to tackle any job! ha.)

I used to look at some people and really envy their ability to think things thru logically with such ease. What I realize now is that they have that as their dominant trait (lucky!) and have been working on it all their life, developing and perfecting it. I, on the other hand, am a natural born Feeler, just beginning to develop my Thinking function, so, while it seems to those Thinking people that my progress is slow compared to theirs, my Feeling function is leaps and bounds ahead of theirs. Unfortunately in our world, Thinking is more highly regarded than Feeling, especially in the world of academia, so I am better suited for more creative pursuits, where I can express my Feeling thru art. ( )

useful book for working through to loving how you earn a living ( )