The 13 Best Career Paths For INTJ Personality Types (With Salaries)

Understand your Myers Briggs personality type and how it could affect your professional development can help you when it comes to job searching. Depending on your specific talents and personality type, there are plenty of occupations best suited for you based on your character, behaviors, and psychological tendencies.

INTJ stands for introversion, intuition, thinking, and judgment, so most often introverts fall right in this personality category. If you’re one of the millions of introverted people worldwide with an INTJ personality type, you came to the right place.

Key Takeaways:

• The top three best careers for INTJ types include photography, software development, and civil engineering.

• INTJ stands for Introverted, Intuition, Thinking, and Judgement. They are known to be perceptive, systematical, and self-assured.

• Careers INTJ types should avoid include real estate and telemarketing.

Top 13 careers for INTJ personality types

Professionals with INTJ personality types typically excel in creative jobs in structured and dynamic work environments and in positions that require complex thinking and refined analytical skills.

Here are the top careers that INTJ personality types typically excel in:

1. Musician

   Average Yearly Salary: $67,000

   Job Outlook: Musician jobs are projected to grow 11% and produce 17,500 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2020 and 2030, according to the BLS

   Research suggests that careers in the arts and humanities are especially well-suited for people with INTJ personality types. It allows individuals to bring their ideas to life, work independently, and turn their appreciation for arts and culture into a lucrative career.

   Musicians and other musical performers make recordings and perform for live audiences by playing instruments or singing.

   Although the job requires a certain level of social interaction, musicians can make their schedule, make judgments on their sound and music, and exchange ideas with like-minded people, making it a great gig for INTJs.

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2. Photographer

   Average Yearly Salary: $49,000

   Job Outlook: Photographer jobs are projected to grow 17% and produce 18,900 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2020 and 2030, according to the BLS

   Because of their creative, judgmental, and confident qualities, working as a photographer could be an especially rewarding career choice for INTJs. Professional photographers can work independently, implement innovative ideas, and make decisions and judgments on artistic style.

   Photographers typically take photos of landscapes, people, or other subjects or objects. Often times photographers work as freelancers but can be hired by a professional company.

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3. Writer

   Average Yearly Salary: $57,000

   Job Outlook: Writing jobs are projected to grow 9% and produce 12,200 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2020 and 2030, according to the BLS

   Working as a professional writer can be an especially attractive line of work for people with INTJ personality types as it requires almost no social interaction. The independent work environment allows INTJs to thrive while also using their analytical thinking skills to compose accurate and useful reports.

   As a working writer, someone with an INTJ personality type can use reason and logic to guide their writing, share their systematic ideas with a large audience with little to no social interaction, and learn new things almost every day.

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4. Web Designer

   Average Yearly Salary: $61,000

   Job Outlook: Wed design jobs are projected to grow 3% and produce 8,800 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2018 and 2028, according to the BLS

   A web designer’s structured and predictable schedule makes this the perfect career for individuals with INTJ personality types. This line of work is especially well suited for INTJs since it requires varying levels of creativity, critical thinking, and analysis.

   Their ability to work well independently, look ahead, and remain focused on an end goal—in this case, designing and launching a website—makes people with INTJ personality types a top choice for careers in web design.

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5. Marketing Manager

   Average Yearly Salary: $106,000

   Job Outlook: Marketing management jobs are projected to grow 10% and produce 31,800 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2020 and 2030, according to the BLS

   Although INTJ personality types are generally very strategic, serious, and systematic, they also have above par creative abilities.

   INTJ’s judgmental and perfectionist qualities make them a top pick for marketing manager roles. Their skills allow them to think critically and make the best decisions to advance a company’s mission.

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6. Software Developer

   Average Yearly Salary: $80,000

   Job Outlook: Software development jobs are projected to grow 22% and produce 409,500 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2020 and 2030, according to the BLS

   INTJs are detail-oriented professionals driven by logic and reason, making them perfect for software development roles.

   Designing and implementing software leverages most of the skills INTJs portray since they’re generally pinned as natural problem solvers dedicated to improving the world around them.

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7. Finance Advisor

   Average Yearly Salary: $79,000

   Job Outlook: Finance advising career is expected to grow 7% and produce 19,100 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2018 and 2028, according to the BLS

   The structured schedules that most financial advisors stick to make this job a shoo-in for professionals with INTJ personality types. Financial advisors are usually required to use analytical and critical thinking skills while being confident and blunt in their analyses, talents which are common among INTJs.

   Common responsibilities for this position include educating clients about new methods and opportunities for their profits and investments. It’s also your responsibility to research new investments that would be beneficial to clients.

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8. Civil Engineer

   Average Yearly Salary: $70,000

   Job Outlook: Civil engineering jobs are projected to grow 8% and produce 25,300 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2020 and 2030, according to the BLS.

   Working as a civil engineer, or in most other engineering fields for that matter, requires many of the skills that INTJ personality types typically have. The project-driven qualities, determined nature, desire to learn and commitment to following procedures makes INTJs a perfect fit for careers in civil engineering.

   Typically, established civil engineers work on a range of infrastructure projects, so having clear ideas, high standards, and precise plans is the key to success in the field.

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9. Lawyer

   Average Yearly Salary: $121,000

   Job Outlook: Lawyer jobs are projected to grow 9% and produce 71,500 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2020 and 2030, according to the BLS

   As natural problem solvers dedicated to improving the world around them, it’s no surprise that professionals with INTJ personality types typically do well working in law. The judgmental, systematic, and perceptive nature of most INTJ personality types makes working as a lawyer a great option for them.

   To become a lawyer you must earn a bachelor’s degree in a related field such as law or legal research.

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10. Guidance Counselor

    Average Yearly Salary: $47,000

    Job Outlook: Guidance counseling jobs are projected to grow 11% and produce 37,000 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2020 and 2030, according to the BLS

    While the judgmental qualities associated with INTJ personality types can sometimes be a professional hindrance, they are a great advantage when seeking work as a guidance counselor. Using their problem-solving and critical decision-making skills, INTJs can thrive as professional guidance counselors.

    A guidance counselor’s primary goal is to help students develop skills for success in their academic and social development.

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11. Pharmacist

    Average Yearly Salary: $119,000

    Job Outlook: Pharmacist jobs are projected to shrink by 2% and lose 7,000 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2020 and 2030, according to the BLS

    If you’re one of the 2 percent of people with an INTJ personality type and you’re interested in medicine, working as a pharmacist could be a rewarding and lucrative career path for you.

    Unlike other medical personnel, pharmacists have limited social interaction with patients and can work independently while still helping to improve the world around them.

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12. Physical Therapist

    Average Yearly Salary: $69,000

    Job Outlook: Physical therapy jobs are projected to grow 21% and produce 49,100 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2020 and 2030, according to the BLS

    INTJ personality types love figuring out how things work, and the human body is no exception. Due to their problem-solving skills, commitment to knowledge and reason, and strategic decision-making abilities, INTJs do especially well working in the field of physical therapy.

    The job is especially well suited to INTJ personality types. It allows them to work one-on-one with clients instead of a larger group where they feel uncomfortable due to their introverted and sometimes reserved nature.

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13. Librarian

    Average Yearly Salary: $50,000

    Job Outlook: Librarian jobs are projected to grow 9% and produce 13,000 job opportunities across the U.S. between 2020 and 2030, according to the BLS

    Working as a librarian is one of the best jobs for INTJs since it’s an independent position that allows for constant learning and self-improvement. The introverted nature and thirst for knowledge exhibited by INTJ personality types make working as a librarian a perfect gig.

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What does INTJ mean?

INTJ stands for introversion, intuition, thinking, and judgment. Individuals with INTJ personalities are usually confident, hungry for knowledge, and comfortable in small groups where they can exchange ideas with like-minded people. Guided by reason, those with INTJ personality types are usually natural problem solvers dedicated to improving the world around them.

INTJ is one of the 16 personalities included in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, developed by Katharine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers in the mid-1900s. INTJ’s are the third rarest personality type globally, with only 2 percent of the general population classified as having an INTJ personality.

In terms of work environment, professionals with INTJ personalities tend to thrive in structured settings that fully use their analytical and critical thinking skills.

Since INTJ’s are classified as having introverted and judgmental qualities, those with this personality type tend to have perfectionist tendencies, low patience tolerances, be uncomfortable on large grounds, and struggle to understand people who rely on emotions when making decisions, all of which makes INTJs especially well suited for individual work.

Some other key traits associated with INTJ personality types are:

• Perceptive

• Systematical

• Project driven

• Reserved

• Serious

• Curious

• Blunt

• Strategical

• Self-assured

• Confident

Careers That INTJ Personality Types May Want to Avoid

While there are plenty of lucrative career paths for people with INTJ personality types, others are less suited for professionals guided by logic, introverted in nature, and perform best in situations requiring interactions with like-minded thinkers.

It’s important to note that people with INTJ personality types can excel in any occupation with the right professional skills and determination. However, the requirements of some jobs may clash with the values of INTJ personalities, requiring INTJs to put their all into their work.

Based solely on the characteristics of INTJ personalities, here are eight jobs that INTJs may want to avoid:

1. Real Estate Agent

   Generally speaking, professionals with INTJ personalities tend to do better in positions that require minimal social interaction. As such, working as a real estate agent might not be the best option for INTJs.

   Successful real estate agents are usually required to engage in a high level of social interaction and have a more fluid and spontaneous work schedule.

2. Police Officer

   Working in the field as a police officer often involves unpredictability and spontaneity. Typically, professionals with INTJ personality types tend to prefer more structured, predictable, and even rigid work environments.

3. Childcare Worker

   Working with kids, who may be hard to reason with and impulsive at times, could be a nightmare for professionals who tend to be more introverted and judgemental. Due to their strategic, systematic, and serious personality, working in the childcare industry might not be the best option for people with an INTJ personality.

4. Secretary

   INTJ personality types usually do best in occupations that provide them with an intellectual challenge and an opportunity to put their problem-solving skills to use.

   Since most secretaries and receptionists interact with the public often and are not required to have refined analytical thinking skills, this field tends to be less attractive to INTJs.

5. Dental Hygienist

   While working as a dental hygienist would allow people with an INTJ personality type to use their natural problem-solving skills and engage in work that would help improve the lives of people around them, the job isn’t best suited to their introverted nature.

6. Teacher

   Teachers must keep an open mind and interact with a diverse group of people, from students and alumni to parents and colleagues. Because of the high level of social interaction required to be a teacher, this line of work may not be the best option for people with INTJ personality types.

7. Telemarketer

   Heightened social interactions are usually not a strong suit for individuals with INTJ personality types. Since telemarketers are expected to spend their workdays on the phone talking with a high volume of people, the job is usually not an INTJs first choice.

8. Nurse

   Nurses, nurses aides, medical assistants, and licensed practical nurses must interact with new patients each shift and usually work on a medical team that reports to an attending physician.

   Because of the nature of the job, especially the reduced opportunity to work independently, the skills required to be a successful nurse may come less naturally to INTJs.

The best careers for INTJ personality types FAQ

1. What is INTJ most likely to do?

   INTJ personality types are analytical problem solvers who are guided by reason. Careers where you can solve problems and help fix the world around you would be the most beneficial for this personality type.

2. Are INTJ personality types more successful?

   INTJ personality types can often be found in positions of power. While this personality type is often found in positions of power and can be more successful, it doesn’t mean they are the only personality types to be successful.

References

1. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Occupational Outlook Handbook.” Accessed on September 7, 2022.

Author

Elsie Boskamp

Elsie is an experienced writer, reporter, and content creator. As a leader in her field, Elsie is best known for her work as a Reporter for The Southampton Press, but she can also be credited with contributions to Long Island Pulse Magazine and Hamptons Online. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Stony Brook University and currently resides in Franklin, Tennessee.