Best Career Paths For INTP Personality Types

If you’re at all interested in what “type” of person you are, you might be interested in taking a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® test to see where your personality lands.

This popular personality test is based on the famed psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s beliefs that personality is made of cognitive function, and it’s the order of dominance of these functions that determines personality traits.

Maybe you’re not so interested in learning this information, but your employer might be. These personality tests have become pretty common in the workplace, and employers use them to determine how you’ll fit into the job and the work infrastructure.

If you’re looking to get a job, you might find that a recruiter or a hiring manager asks you to take a personality test to see what jobs you are a good fit with. This can actually be quite beneficial in helping you find a career path that will suit your personality in the long run.

Top Careers for INTP Personality Types

When you look at those characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses, you can begin to get a picture of that person, and you can probably pick a few jobs that they’d do well in. And maybe you can come up with a few jobs that don’t seem appropriate for someone who has these personality tendencies.

So let’s take a look, what careers are best suited for an INTP personality type and why.

Architect

Average Annual Salary: $75,000

Architects don’t just build things. They need to understand what the final goal of the building is, to understand the area where the building will go. They need to pull together data from the client, the neighborhood, the city regulations and building codes, and a lot of additional information.

A successful architect is very good at seeing the big picture and then placing different elements into it, much like a puzzle. They’re also good at working alone to figure out a solution or a building design. An INTP personality is ideally suited for this type of work and can thrive in this role.

Find Architect jobs near me
Engineer

Average Annual Salary: $78,000

The field of engineering covers a vast array of jobs, which is great news for any INTP personality because it opens the doors to their individual interests and means there are many jobs available. Some engineering jobs are:
And that’s just part of the list. So many fields require engineers to dig deep into the field and learn exactly how everything works.

INTPs definitely fit into this role because they thrive on understanding the complexities of any system and then learning how to manipulate the system to achieve the end goal. This is basically what every engineer does, no matter what their specialty is.

Find Engineering jobs near me
Computer Scientist

Average Annual Salary: $105,194

One field that’s wide open for INTPs is the area of computer sciences. There are again a lot of different areas that someone with this degree and occupation can slip into. Still, they’re all based on the study of theoretical foundations of data and computation.

This means that a person who excels in this field is probably very adept at learning all of the data and then taking the pertinent facts and turning them into information they can use. Then, they can pull together what’s necessary to find solutions.

Because so much of the computer world is still new and constantly evolving, the best computer scientists are flexible thinkers and able to see fresh approaches to old problems. They push boundaries and are natural-born inventors.

Find Computer Sciences jobs near me
Psychologist

Average Annual Salary: $72,000

A psychologist is most commonly thought of as someone who has a practice and sees patients to help them work through any mental or emotional concerns they may have. That’s definitely one way a psychologist can work, but they don’t need a private practice.

Psychologists can be found in schools, workplaces, other organizations, or working with governmental agencies. Some psychologists will look at individuals, while others will consider the tendency of individuals or a group to help predict an outcome. Still, others will come in after an event to help people who were involved.

This position requires someone good at seeing the big picture and being detached from the event themselves. They need to have a logical and broad approach to individual concerns so they can find solutions and listen to how those solutions are working or not working.

Find Psychologist jobs near me
Physician or Surgeon

Average Annual Salary: $176,000

Most people are pretty familiar with what physicians and surgeons do. After extensive schooling and a dedication to learning all they can about the human body, they dive into a general practice or a specialty and work on solving medical problems and finding ways to help people live their best lives.

There can be a degree of socializing that’s necessary, a doctor’s bedside manner is often discussed, but it’s really results that most people want so an INTP can be very good in this profession.

Find Physician jobs near me
Statistician

Average Annual Salary: $80,000

As we learned before, an INTP personality type is great with data and statisticians are all about data. In fact, this is a booming field as big data is taking over and companies are grabbing all the data they can.

Few of those companies know how to use that information correctly or even at all. This is where statisticians are becoming so critical and have such a big role in many companies today.

This is definitely an up-and-coming field, which is great for INTP personalities. It gives them the chance to work with data and to find new and interesting ways to use that information. This is where they tend to thrive and may be the most rewarding field for them.

Find Statistician jobs near me
Lawyer

Average Annual Salary: $121,000

Lawyers need to be able to memorize legal decisions and know how and where to find information relating to their cases. They take a slew of facts and findings and pull out those that are most pertinent to their cases to build their argument.

Some lawyers come into play before any arguments ever happen, in fact, their job is to avoid that. They learn information and guide their clients into making good decisions based on the law.

Lawyers who work in real estate, employment law, and entertainment law are just a few specialists who need to know everything about their specialty so they can guide their clients into making sound and just decisions.

This is a great area for an INTP as they frequently are spending their time digesting information and coming up with the best solutions.

Find Lawyer jobs near me
Graphic Designer

Average Annual Salary: $45,000

INTP career options aren’t just about working with data, numbers, and facts; they can also be in the creative fields as INTPs tend to have a very creative side. One field where you could excel is in the field of graphic design. Interestingly, graphic designers need to learn some rules and techniques to do what they do, then the art comes in.

It’s all about manipulating programs and coming up with fresh and creative ways to end at the finished product. For an INTP who leans more to the creative side, this can be a great outlet.

Find Graphic Designer jobs near me
Animator

Average Annual Salary: $65,000

An animator is similar to a graphic designer in a lot of ways when it comes to the INTP. They have to learn how to do their job and how to tools work and then they get to run wild and play with them to achieve the desired results.

Animators are who you think of when you picture a cartoon, but they’re also often used in business and advertising to add motion to logos and other graphics. It doesn’t have to be a cartoon that needs some sort of movement.

Find Animator jobs near me
College Professor

Average Annual Salary: $68,121

INTPs may also find job satisfaction working in a college as a professor. In this capacity they get to use their ability to learn and understand facts and then they translate that into something that resonates with their students.

These INTPs do need to be good at speaking to groups and in one-on-one situations but they can find that connection to be very rewarding. They might also be some of the best professors around because they come up with creative and fresh ways of sharing information that interests students and helps them learn.

Find College Professor jobs near me

What Is an INTP?

According to the MBTI, an INTP personality is one of their 16 categories, with each letter representing a personality trait. INTP stands for:

Introverted
Intuitive
Thinking
Prospecting

We mentioned that in Carl Jung’s theory, the order of the functions determined a personality. That means the four functions each have a level of prominence, with the I for Introverted coming first in this case and the P for Prospecting showing up to the least degree. For further examination, let’s break down the functions:

Introverted thinking is the dominant trait for these individuals. That means they take in information and mentally try to break it down and put it together. They’re good at figuring stuff out, but they like to know how things work before going to the next step.
Extraverted intuition is their auxiliary function, and this means they’re good at looking at possibilities. Their minds are wired to take experiences and extrapolate the information and then translate it to different situations. They are brilliant when it comes to coming up with potential outcomes.
Introverted sensing is their tertiary function, and that means they are detail-oriented. This relates directly to their auxiliary function as they’re always taking what they know and applying it to new situations to consider what will come next.
The extraverted feeling is their lesser function, which means they’re introverted by nature, but they can be very comfortable in their familiar groups. They’re good and loyal friends, but on the other hand, they don’t make friends easily or have a lot of them.

Strengths and Weaknesses of INTP People

People who are categorized this way tend to be flexible thinkers who are analytical and often quiet. They’re quite comfortable spending time alone, contemplating how things work and what potential solutions there might be to problems they see. They tend to be creative and solution-driven.

Some strengths that you might find in an INTP include:

Logical and objective thought
Excel in abstract thinking
Independent and self-reliant
Loyal and affectionate to their close group, which tends to be small

Some of the weaknesses you could find in an INTP personality include:

Difficulty making bonds with strangers
Can be unknowingly insensitive
Often doubts themselves
Difficulty with rules and structure
Doesn’t express feelings well

Careers INTP Personality Types May Want to Avoid

While there are some things that an INTP personality is very good at doing, there are also some things that aren’t their strong suit. We’ve mentioned that they’re typically not good with large social situations or with people they don’t know.

They also don’t do very well in very structured environments. This can be tricky for first-time employees, as some jobs start very structured. But all that considered, an INTP is probably better off avoiding the following careers:

Corrections Officer

Corrections officers are also called probation and parole agents, and they are constantly dealing with new people and unusual circumstances. They also are part of the government for their local area, so there are many rules and regulations that they need to know and comply with.
Retail Sales

There’s almost nothing in the world of retail sales that will appeal to an INTP. Perhaps they’d like the inventory aspect and looking at sales data, but the rest of the job would be difficult.

Salespeople are constantly selling to other people, so they need to have great people skills and be able to adapt at a moment’s notice to speak to different people in the most polite way possible.
Nurse

While knowing a lot about medicine is certainly in the wheelhouse for many INTPs, having a great rapport and personal touch with patients is typically not one of their strong points.

Nurses often have to step in where the doctors lack that bedside manner and provide it. Let’s face it, patients need to feel comfortable and safe, and nurses are wonderful at that.
Elementary Teacher

While an INTP can find a good fit in a higher learning capacity, they’re going to have a hard time managing children. This takes a ton of patience and understanding. These are skills that don’t come naturally to INTP individuals.

We’re not saying that they can’t have these skills, but relying on them daily in and day out can be very challenging for this personality type.
Restaurant Worker

From managers to line cooks, working in the restaurant business requires a lot of social interaction. It can also have strict formulas for how things work, especially if the restaurant is quite large.

This job is often not cerebral, and it doesn’t require the greatest skills INTPs can bring to a job, their ability to take massive amounts of data and come up with new and novel solutions.

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Kristin Kizer

Kristin Kizer is an award-winning writer, television and documentary producer, and content specialist who has worked on a wide variety of written, broadcast, and electronic publications. A former writer/producer for The Discovery Channel, she is now a freelance writer and delighted to be sharing her talents and time with the wonderful Zippia audience.

Recent Job Searches

Explore All Jobs