If you have taken a psychology course or perhaps a career workshop, you may have heard of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It is a well-known personality test in which people are sorted into one of 16 categories in terms of answers to a variety of questions. It is used extensively in career counseling and the job search process. It can also just be used for self-analysis and growth, in and outside of your job search. We all have some notion that not everyone thinks in the same way as we do. This can come out in different ways: disagreements with a family member, utter confusion over a significant others' behavior, etc. Even those with very common personality types have definitely encountered people whose thought processes baffle them.
What the MBTI does is that it breaks down human cognitive functioning into different categories. Then, based on your type, you can see which of these processes you "favor" the most - what you do instinctively. Every person has four top-ranked functions. When faced with a problem, the person will start by attempting use their first function to solve it. A lot of people have Extroverted Sensing as their primary function. This means that they will prefer to use what their senses tell them about their immediate external environment to solve issues. Then, if that does not work, the person will resort to their second -- or auxiliary -- function, and moving down in that fashion. Everyone's fourth function is one that they are weak in; they do not prefer to use it. They can, but it does not come as easily as the primary function. Throughout life, the later functions get more use and therefore the person gets better practice at using them. One of the benefits of knowing your MBTI, in my opinion, is that you can become more self-aware -- both about your strengths and your weaknesses. And if you are aware of your own weaknesses, you can leverage them in a way so that other people can't use them against you.
Sheetal Tadiparty
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