Are there any INFJ's working in Training & Development/HR here?

[EB88]

Hi Everyone! I'm new to this forum, and just discovered that I'm an INFJ (which explains a lot in my life, especially my recent desire to switch careers). I wanted to reach out and see if anyone can give me some advice from first-hand experience in the field I'm considering going into.

I graduated in 2013 with a communications & marketing degree, and since then have been in a couple different entry-level marketing positions. I've found that it just isn't the right fit for me. I can't seem to get motivated or find any meaning in trying to sell or market a product, and I find that my personality type does not match those of the other marketing colleagues around me. I'm sure many would consider me too quiet and passive for the field which is often quite high-pressure, and I was told by my manager recently (not in a mean way - he was trying to help) that I need to be more assertive and aggressive, and talk more to fit in with my peers. But I feel that it's a sign of a bad career match if I have to pretend to have a different personality just to get by everyday, and I do not feel fulfilled.

I realized I want a career where I feel like I'm contributing to society in a more beneficial way, and helping others. Although many forums seem to suggest that INFJ's might enjoy being a therapist or health care professional, I don't feel that this is necessarily my calling either. I'd like to help people learn, but not so much as a traditional teacher, but more in a corporate training/HR or possibly a career counselor role. I think I would feel fulfilled in helping people learn skills, develop their careers, and feel happier in their jobs.

Does anyone else do this for a living, and do you feel it is a good fit for the INFJ personality type? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Lerxst]

Ahhh, the ignorance of youth!

I have a nearly identical degree (Organizational Communications) that I was looking to use towards that same type of field. To my dismay, all HR jobs available at the entry level are generalist/payroll/benefits administration roles. None of those actually have you do anything even remotely close to the ideal image you may have (I know I did!) of what HR is "supposed" to do. You'll be stuck staring at a computer screen all day, punching numbers into a database and getting yelled at for misplacing someone's paycheck.

Next!

I figured I would get a leg-up and get my foot in the door via technology instead. Bad mistake. Turns out, once you start a career in one field, people assume you want to stay in that field and the only future job offers you get are in that same field. I was offered and passed up a plethora of different tech jobs but was never taken seriously when I would apply for the more administrative/business end of the business.

As of last year, I finally landed a job as an HR Director. What a freakin' nightmare that was!!!! Never again.

In my older age, I can now tell you a few things about HR:

It's not a place for "idealists". People want cold, hard facts and figures from you. You essentially become an accountant, only you deal with human currency instead of dollars.

The roles of "Employee Relations" "Corporate Trainers" and "Business Consultants" (think the "Bobs" in Office Space) don't actually exist in the real world. All those roles are filled by other people in their "Additional duties as required" portions of their job descriptions.

Then there's the "Benefits Specialist" role. For fuck sake, this one role will completely and utterly rule your life and haunt you in your dreams in this filed! It's also a major factor of why I'm in favor of a government run, universal healthcare system so that poor sods like me don't have to toil for hours over thousand page insurance manuals distributed by a dozen different companies, that you then have to decipher in some meaningful way for the rest of the staff to understand.

Even though HR stands for "Human Resources" the true title is really "Corporate Brute Squad". More and more of your time will be spent writing people up, filing disciplinary notices and writing termination letters than it will actually, truly helping people. If upper management wants someone fired, your job isn't to defend that person, it's to find a way for management to legally fire them.

My personal gripe about HR is that it can't be what it should be if your paycheck is being signed by the same people as the ones you think you should be looking out for.

It's rather soul-crushing to find the field you thought you wanted in college and spent years working towards afterwards turns out to be a rabid, plague-ridden wolf in sheep's clothing.

 

[the]

I'm an ISTJ in training and dev. Hr, so I guess I don't fit

 

[Dohavior]

1. Anything that claims "assertive" ideals is anti introvert posturing that won't hold up to scrutiny.
2. The law of attraction is false for it is a placebo.
3. People without goals are accomplished.
4. Psychology is not Philosophy for a reason.
5. In any organization protect the payroll at all costs. You are surrounded by thieves and if you aren't a thief then you obviously don't want the money and are fired gtfo.

 

[Faye]

I have done that type of work before- I was assisting a senior trainer at a large organization, editing training materials, and conducting course audits. I've also met a lot of people that worked in communications/marketing. I would wager that working in corporate training and whatnot is far more introvert friendly that what you'll typically find people with communications degrees doing. I have zero clue how to get into it though, and I bet that you still need to be good at speaking, presenting yourself, conveying ideas, and occasionally talking in front of groups if you're going to conduct training classes. I don't know if that will really give you a sense of purpose or satisfaction from benefiting others anywhere comparable to being an actual teacher or what-have-you, but I doubt that it could be worse than marketing.