A groundbreaking study of 70,000 people shows how your personality influences the job you’re suited to. From creatives to leaders, find out which traits match your career path
Psychologists think you’re doing the job you’re doing because of your personality. Do you believe that? Well researchers analysed the personality profiles of thousands of people across more than 250 jobs to learn how personality shapes – and can be shaped by – our careers.
The team came up with why some people thrive in certain creative professions, some aspire to leadership roles, and others are drawn to care and counselling. They assessed the so-called Big Five personality traits – agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism and openness.
Do you recognise yourself here? Researchers found creative jobs such as artists, writers and designers tend to attract people who are imaginative, curious and open to new experiences. Sales and PR professionals are generally extroverted, enjoying social interactions and thriving in “people” environments.
Managers, while also extroverts, often score high on conscientiousness – being organised and responsible – and tend to be less neurotic or emotional, allowing them to cope with the demands of the role. But many managers and salespeople, alongside real estate agents, can also be disagreeable, as these jobs involve complicated and sometimes even confrontational interactions with others.
The professions with the most neurotic people include actors, journalists (ahem!) and other creative professions. The study was carried out by a team from the universities of Edinburgh and Tartu in Estonia and is the largest of its kind, involving almost 70,000 people. Edinburgh’s Dr René Mottus said: “People often have stereotypes about the personality traits typical of different jobs, and it turns out that many of these intuitions are quite accurate.
“But this is the first time a scientific study with such a large sample and such detailed assessments has confirmed these patterns.” The researchers have now created free interactive tools that enable people to explore how different jobs match different personality traits – including their own.
They also looked at some more specific personality traits, such as competitiveness, ease of decision making and ability to influence others. Managers and legal professionals, for instance, are inclined to be competitive while judges, pilots and senior government officials find it easier to make decisions. When it comes to influencing people, HR managers and psychologists are among the most confident.
And lorry drivers share one outstanding characteristic with people who work for religious organisations – both are among the least liberal of people interviewed! “You need to analyse large numbers of people to identify meaningful trends, simply because there are so many jobs that people can do,” says Tartu’s Katlin Anni.
“And the large samples we were dealing with meant that we uncovered additional details that many people may not have considered.”
