Best Career Paths for ISFP Personality Types

In this article, we’ll focus on the ISFP (Introversion, Sensing, Feeling, Perceiving) personality type. You’ll learn the major shared characteristics of ISFP individuals, the top career paths that reward such talents, and the career paths that should be avoided.

With work taking up so many hours of your life, it’s essential to pick a career path that matches your personality type. Doing so will allow you to naturally express your personality and talents, increasing job satisfaction and reducing burnout.

Key Takeaways:

• People with the ISFP personality type generally like to work more independently than others, and are well-suited for jobs where they can be creative.

• ISFP individuals can thrive in a wide range of positions, from artist to insurance adjuster.

• Careers centered around things like sales or law might be less suited for ISFP individuals, though that shouldn’t discourage you from pursuing those careers if you are interested.

Top Career Paths for ISFP Personality Types

ISFP individuals thrive in positions that allow them to express their creativity and work at least semi-independently. Here are the top careers that such professionals often find success in:

1. Artist
   Average Annual Salary: $72,000

   The creative and energetic spirits that ISFP types demonstrate make them perfect for artistic careers. The industry is extremely broad, providing opportunities for independent and teamwork-oriented ISFPs alike.

   Independent ISFPS may enjoy freelance work that allows them to pick and choose from a wide variety of different projects that match their spontaneous interests.

   Meanwhile, careers such as interior designer or art director allow more social ISFPs to work closely with teams and clients.

   A common misconception is that art careers are low-paying and force you to sacrifice income in favor of pursuing your passions. However, this stereotype is outdated by at least a decade.

   The ubiquity of social media allows any sufficiently skilled and hard-working artist to lead a lucrative career in the field, as long as they understand how to market themselves on the internet.

   Find Artist jobs near me

2. Teacher
   Average Annual Salary: $46,000

   Creativity and passion are just as essential traits for effective teachers to possess as actual knowledge.

   Such characteristics help ISFPs develop creative lesson plans and truly engage students in the learning process, especially in the case of elementary level schooling.

   ISFP is among the top three most common personality-types found among music teachers and dance instructors for good reason.

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3. Marketer
   Average Annual Salary: $26,000

   Effective marketers must be able to empathize with audiences and understand their desires. This fits perfectly with the ISFP personality type, which is strongly associated with excellent sensitivity and perception skills.

   ISFP individuals are also often fiercely independent, which makes them accustomed to meeting strict guidelines and managing multiple projects at the same time, two abilities highly desired in marketing professionals.

   Most successful marketing campaigns are unique and present fresh ideas, making them extremely memorable to audiences. This requirement presents little challenge to ISFP types, who specialize in coming up with creative ideas.

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4. Environmental scientist
   Average Annual Salary: $58,000

   Out of all scientific careers, environmental scientist is perhaps the closest match to the ISFP personality profile.

   Environmental scientists engage in frequent fieldwork, perfect for the adventurous and energetic tendencies of ISFP individuals.

   As environmental health affects the lives of other humans, studying and developing solutions to improve it can provide ISFP types with the satisfaction and sense of meaning that they often desire in their careers.

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5. Occupational therapist
   Average Annual Salary: $72,000

   One major challenge for occupational therapists is developing individualized rehabilitation plans that meet their clients’ unique needs.

   ISFP individuals are perfect for this job due to their creative problem-solving skills and passion for assisting others.

   Their flexibility also allows them to adapt to their clients’ changing needs and behaviors throughout the rehabilitation process.

   Find Occupational therapist jobs near me

6. Insurance adjuster
   Average Annual Salary: $44,000

   It might be surprising that any career with the word “insurance” in it is a good fit for creative individuals. However, successful claims adjusters demonstrate many of the same traits that ISFP types specialize in.

   Claims adjustment often involves climbing and exploring houses to assess insurance claims, matching the hands-on and adventurous natures of ISFP individuals.

   The professional also requires empathetic listening skills in order to understand a homeowners’ needs, which is no challenge for sensitive and perceptive ISFPs.

   Find Insurance claims adjuster jobs near me

7. Forester
   Average Annual Salary: $59,000

   Forestry provides a charming alternative for ISFP individuals who don’t prefer traditional workspaces such as cubicles and offices.

   The job still involves paperwork and phone calls for tasks such as negotiating land-use contracts and forest harvesting.

   However, you’ll spend plenty of time in the woods doing things such as:

   • Overseeing conservation activities

   • Aid forest fire suppression

   • Determine solutions for removing timber while minimizing environmental damage

   • Creative plans for managing forest resources and land

   All of these duties are perfect for independent and adventurous ISFPs who want to pursue meaningful careers.

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8. Chef
   Average Annual Salary: $44,000

   Being a chef is perhaps one of the most hectic and busy in-the-moment careers out there, which is perfect for ISFP types who favor high-energy environments.

   The career also provides a perfect blend of independent and cooperative work.

   Successful chefs must work as part of a team and develop a close understanding of their colleagues’ work styles. At the same time, they also use their creativity and independence to develop new dishes and iterations on recipes.

   Find Chef jobs near me

9. Language Interpreter
   Average Annual Salary: $40,000

   Language interpreters accompany everyone from tourists to international diplomats to translate and interpret sentences and meanings between languages.

   Successful language interpreters study the culture, slang, and nuances of languages and societies to develop an intuition for translating the subtle meanings of phrases, not just their direct translations.

   This involves a high degree of curiosity and creativity to master.

   Interpretation is also often done right in the moment as a client is speaking, leveraging the perceptive and highly-engaged personalities of ISFP individuals.

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10. Nurse
    Average Annual Salary: $59,000

    Nursing is a multifaceted profession that draws from many of the abilities and characteristics shared by ISFP types.

    It involves learning how to recognize symptoms and develop effective treatment plans based on medical knowledge, which suits the curiosity of ISFP individuals.

    Nursing also utilizes their perceptive and empathetic skills, as it also requires tending to the mental and spiritual needs of patients, not just their physical ones.

    The work environment is often high-energy and engaging, as you may need to provide care to multiple patients or in emergencies.

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11. Fashion designer
    Average Annual Salary: $52,000

    Fashion designers work independently or in teams to analyze fashion trends and develop designs that will appeal to consumers.

    The field presents a great deal of variety, allowing professionals to specialize in everything from fabrics and accessories to footwear and handbags.

    It’s great for curious individuals, as you’ll often find yourself diving deep into researching media, cultures, and nature to find inspiration. If you prefer a mix of technical and creative work, you could specialize in using computer-aided design (CAD) programs to create 3D models of designs.

    If you’re more of a fan of expressing your creativity in wild and boundless ways, you could move towards costume design. Many ISFPs are found on movie sets, creating concepts for all the fantastic clothing we see in movies and shows.

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What Does ISFP Mean?

The term ISFP stands for Introversion, Sensing, Feeling, Perceiving. ISFP is one of the 16 personality types defined by the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, a popular personality test that categorizes individuals based on their psychological preferences and behaviors.

Individuals of the personality type often display traits such as spontaneity, high energy, and creative thinking. Such characteristics make ISFP professionals exceptional innovators who can develop solutions to problems that others may not consider.

They thrive in careers with non-traditional work environments that allow them to express themselves freely. At the same time, ISFP individuals may find the conventional office and desk jobs incredibly stifling and tedious.

ISFP types are often very flexible in the workplace. Their cooperative and considerate nature makes them excellent team members, while their spontaneity and outside-the-box thinking style also make them capable independent workers.

Some other significant characteristics associated with the ISFP personality type include:

• Curious

• Independent

• Adventurous

• Sensitive

• Non-confrontational

• Artistic

Careers That ISFPs May Want to Avoid

Certain career paths reward characteristics that contrast those commonly possessed by ISFP individuals. It’s useful to learn what these are and keep them in mind when deciding your future.

However, never let this list limit you and make you believe that you’re not suited for certain types of jobs. Knowing your personality type can give you a rough idea of what activities you might excel in, but it’s not a hard science. If you’re an ISFP and are interested in any of the career choices in the following list, we encourage you to still pursue them and give them your all.

Without further ado, here are some careers that ISFP individuals may want to consider avoiding:

1. Direct sales. While ISFPs are typically cooperative and empathetic people, they’re also often uncomfortable with the intense and constant socializing that sales jobs require.

   While successful sales professionals are often creative and innovative in approaching their job, most people in the industry are taught to follow a fairly rigid strategy of interacting with clients.

   This rigidity may cause ISFP individuals to feel like they can’t truly express their individuality, leading to burnout over time.

2. Surgeon. Surgery involves some level of creativity and adapting medical procedures depending on the patient.

   However, it mainly involves long shifts and grueling hours in the same work environment. This runs counter to the spontaneous and energetic nature of many ISFPs.

3. Attorney. The rigidity of the law and the amount of paperwork associated with becoming an attorney may be off-putting to most ISFPs.

   While some cases and attorney specializations allow for a great deal of creativity and individual expression, for the most part, being an attorney looks nothing like the engaging court battles you see on television.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.