Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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491 of 498 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best book on personaility type and work, October 24, 1999
By A Customer
I'm a career counselor in private practice, working with mid-career changers and young people making these decisions for the first time. This is one of the two truly extraordinary career books I ask all of my clients to buy. It was written for people who want to choose a direction that is a perfect fit with their personality. It does a wonderful job of introducing you to the 16 types. However, personality type is only one of many important factors in making a satisfying choice of direction. I recommend that you also get yourself a copy of: "The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success", by Nicholas Lore. It is by far the best guide to picking your career. Whether you are thinking of changing careers in mid-life or are a student trying to figure out how to be successful and love your work, buy both of these books, and use them! Together they will guide you to putting the pieces of the puzzle together in a way that will keep you getting out of the right side of your bed for years to come.
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283 of 291 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Makes you think about job hunting in a different way..., August 18, 2000
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a personality test based on Jungian theory. In a nutshell, it states that every person falls into one of sixteen categories, and each one of these categories or "Types" has distinct needs, ways of interacting with others, manners of processing information, etc. "Do What You Are" attempts to help individuals plot their own careers based on their own Myers Briggs "Type." Before finding this book, the only other career-related thing I had read was "What Colour is your Parachute," which was terrific. But I loved "Do What you Are" because it stated something that is so rarely said today... that you should find a job and career that suits who you really are. I passed this book around to all my friends and family, and most (but not all) loved it, too. Something I found particularly delightful was that it affirmed a lot of things I had been thinkingabout my own situation, but had considered "unimportant." My type is "ENFP" (I know it might sound like jibberish to you now, but it will make sense if you read the book). This is a type that thrives on creativity, feels confined by rigid rules, and needs lots of friendly social interaction on the job. But, since I have a high IQ and did well at school, others have constantly tried to push me into "status" fields like medecine and litigation. In my heart, I had always felt those kinds of careers would kill me, but I couldn't really articulate why. After reading "Do What you Are," I was better able to accept my instincts and explored PR, fundraising, and finally settled on a job in publishing. I LOVE my job, and although I think I would have arrived here eventually, I do think that it would have taken me twice as long to arrive had I not read this book.
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83 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a great book but there are two things to be aware of, August 5, 2005
I had several very smart and successful mid-career changers tell me this was a must-buy book, so I bought it.
I think it's also a must read for anyone putting together a business partnership or management team that seeks personnel that will complement each others' strengths.
I wish I had read this book years ago. The authors have written a book around the Myers-Briggs personality type concept. Many other career advice authors may devote a chapter to this, but the Tiegers have really delved into this more than others. For instance, each of the sixteen 4-letter Myers-Briggs personality types (INTJ, ENTP, etc.) gets a full chapter on that type, including the person's strengths, weaknesses, typical best job fits and 2 or 3 case studies of men and women with those personality types. After I took the test, I found their chapter on my particular type captured me almost perfectly and taken 20 years ago, would have predicted many of the career successes and challenges I've experienced.
The original pioneers of the Myers-Briggs methodology were Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katherine Myers. Starting in the 1920s they identified 4 different aspects of personality (introverted vs. extroverted, sensing vs. perceiving, etc.) to come up with 8 traits. There are a total of 16 possible combinations of these traits and these are the "personality types".
While some may find some fault with Myers-Briggs personality type theory, it's sure good enough to be a powerful, insightful tool. The official Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test has been around for decades and has been thoroughly researched and critiqued as well as widely used by millions.
The Tiegers also cover additional Myers-Briggs material I have not seen in other career advice books. An example is how your personality evolves with age -- certain Myers-Briggs traits become more pronounced at different times in life.
The buyer should be aware of two things, however, when they buy this book:
1. First, this book does not cover other aspects of career planning, self-assessment and job-hunting. It's 95+% personality type material. You'll still want to get another book (or books) on other aspects of career planning and job-hunting.
2. The true Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test is copyrighted and available only through organizations, counselors and therapists approved by the Myers & Briggs Foundation -- see myersbriggs.org (their site has also has a lot of other useful stuff).
The authors cannot include the test, but they describe each of the 8 traits in sufficient detail that you can estimate what you are -- BUT you may be wrong, as I found out when I took the actual MBTI test. My estimate was very accurate for 3 traits and way off the mark for the 4th. As I read over the material in the book, I could see how I was wrong. I recommend paying the extra money, taking the real test and going over the result with someone certified by the Myers & Briggs Foundation -- they can interpret those results that may surprise you. After speaking with the counselor and re-reading the relevant sections of the Tieger book, I could see how I made my mistake. The meanings of some of the terms -- introverted, extroverted , judging, etc. -- are subtly different in the psychological type world from the way they're used in daily conversation.
There are thousands of people out there certified to do this and many college career placement offices also administer the test to students for free. You can also take the test online using a link at myersbriggs.org site and then discuss the results remotely with a trained counselor. Some of this control may be due to the foundation wanting to preserve test revenues, but it's also driven by concerns about untrained people administering it inappropriately (for instance, to identify some neurotic boss's idea of "bad personality types") or interpreting it incorrectly.
Also, I tried two different on-line free sites that offered seemingly similar tests to come up with a Myers-Briggs type. These tests gave wildly inaccurate and conflicting results -- I recommend staying away from them.
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by Barbara Sher
