Are You Happy With Your Career?
Keirsey.com's Career Survey Results Shine Light On What Makes Guardians Satisfied in Their Jobs (or not)

Confucius gave his career advice more than 2500 years ago, but truer words of wisdom have never been spoken. How many of us began our careers, not because of passion we felt for the vocation, but through the well-intended advice of parents, teachers, a college counselor, or just because the job was available when we needed it? We may have thought at the beginning, "This first job is just a start, something temporary until I figure out what I really want to do..." Then, before you know it, 5 (or more) years have passed, you're making pretty good money, and the thought of changing careers is a distant memory.

What jobs bring Guardians true satisfaction? How many of us truly enjoy what we do for a living? What does your temperament have to do with it? Are Guardians happier than, say, Rationals when it comes to career choice? What makes Guardians satisfied with their careers and, conversely, if they're not currently satisified, what would help?

Keirsey.com recently surveyed more than 5000 readers to find the answers to these questions. Whether you're just thinking about career satisfaction, contemplating a career change, or have had the opportunity for change thrust upon you by the current economic meltdown, the best time to consider your happiness in your career is now. (And yes, Guardians are somewhat more satisfied, as a group, with their careers than are Rationals).

Guardians' Level of Career Satisfaction
Of the four temperaments, Guardians as a group are generally more satisfied with their careers than Artisans, Idealists, and Rationals, with more than 65% of Guardians rating themselves as either satisfied or very satisfied in their jobs. 56% of all Guardians would choose the same career if they were starting over, again tops among the four temperaments. Supervisors are the most content of all SJ's in their choice of career at more than 62%, followed by Providers (61%), Inspectors (53%) and Protectors (50%). As a comparison, 51% of all Artisans (SPs) and Idealists (NFs) would choose the same career again, while slightly less than half of all Rationals (NTs) would make the same choice.

Satisfaction vs. Dissatisfaction: Factors
With the current state of the economy - high (and rising) unemployment, stagnant wages, and falling home prices, it's no surprise that the top factors affecting job satisfaction for all four temperaments are pay (#1), and job security (#2). The table to the right summarizes the top factors cited by Guardians affecting both their satisfaction and dissatisfaction levels with their jobs. Pay and job security are tops for those rating themselves as either satisfied or very satisfied with their career, while low pay and lack of job security are the primary factors affecting those stating they are either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. There is some variation among the four types of Guardians: a challenging job in a career that offers continual learning of new skills is very important to the STJs (Supervisors and Inspectors), while having likable coworkers and a good boss are highly important to the SFJs (Providers and Protectors). Overall, Guardians also are motivated by an environment that offers stability, and avenues for promotion.

The importance of company size
The size of the company they work in has a measurable effect on the career satisfaction of the Guardians in our survey. The most satisfied Guardians are those that are self employed. For those working at companies, job satisfaction generally rises with the size of the company; Guardians at the largest companies are more satisfied than those at smaller organizations. The graph below shows the job satifaction ratio for each of the Guardian types by company size. The ratio is determined by the number of respondants rating themselves as satisfied or highly satisfied vs. those rating themselves as dissatisfied or highly dissatisfied. As you can see, Guardians seem to be happiest when they answer to themselves, or in larger organizations that offer stability and opportunities for advancement and leadership.

The Best Careers for Guardians
As noted above, most Guardians are motivated by a job environment that offers clear expectations and a stable structure. They thrive in careers that offer a clear reward structure, with promotions and opportunities for increased responsibility. There were 2 careers that emerged from the survey as both popular and highly satisfying for all four types of Guardians: careers in the Military Service for Guardian men, and Teaching (all grades K-12) for Guardian women. Military and teaching clearly aren't the career choice for all Guardians; each of the four types had additional unique preferences; here are selected top (as well as low satisfaction) career choices for each of the types:

Supervisors (ESTJ) excel in postitions offering authority and leadership opportunities: Law enforcement, IT management, and Human Resources management were highly rated, while retail sales and waiter / waitress positions received low marks.

Inspectors (ISTJ) do well in careers that demand attention to detail as well as offering the leadership opportunities also desired by their Supervisor counterparts. Engineering, Accounting, and Law enforcement were top choices. Interestingly, careers as Executive Assistants / Office Managers, and Government employment were both popular with Inspectors but had as many low marks as high. Inspectors seemed to be positive toward these career choices, but the high percentage of negative marks was most highly influenced by bad bosses.

Providers (ESFJ) rated careers in the health field the highest, with Registered Nurse, MD, and Dental Hygenist all receiving high satisfaction ratings. Providers also enjoy careers in Customer Service, as long as they have the authority to solve customers' problems. Customer service jobs that don't offer such authority, such as Billing Representative and Healthcare Claims Representative were ranked low.

Protectors (ISFJ) also rate health careers highly, as well as Accounting and Bookkeeping. They give low marks to careers in the hospitality industry, with jobs as Restaurant Workers and Hotel Employees being the least popular.

A comprehensive analysis of how your temperament affects your career is available in your custom Career Temperament report at Keirsey.com. If you haven't completed the KTS-II, click here to take it today.