9 Best Career Matches & Jobs for ENFPs [+ Top College Majors]
It’s not a coincidence that people with the ENFP personality type are also called Champions. Their enthusiasm, optimistic nature, and willingness to grow often make others believe that these individuals can prosper in any career they set their minds on.
Still, even though they can get a gist of many subjects, there are certain career paths that would suit ENFPs better than other occupations.
Interested to know which ones? This article will help you learn more about the most prominent ENFP careers, including:
- 9 Best ENFP Career Matches & Jobs
- 3 Career Paths ENFPs Should Avoid
- ENFP Strengths & Weaknesses at Work
And much more!
What Do ENFPs Seek in a Job?
Before we introduce you to the best jobs for ENFP people, let’s find out how these individuals envision the perfect job position:
- Challenges. If there’s something that can keep an ENFP in the same job for a long time, it’s a regular dose of challenges throughout the day. People with this personality type enjoy solving complex problems and thinking outside the box. It helps them showcase their full potential and remain interested in what they do.
- Flexible environment. ENFPs don’t like being limited by strict plans and schedules. Instead, they prefer working environments that won’t clip their wings and will allow them to express the immense creativity they possess.
- Working with people. ENFP people thrive when collaborating with others, enhancing their people skills, and accomplishing mutual goals. For this reason, they shouldn’t choose positions in which they need to work autonomously. Unlike INTJs (who love independent work), ENFPs don’t enjoy such endeavors.
- Opportunities to explore. Free-spirited ENFP individuals live to brainstorm new ideas and find answers to various questions born inside their minds. So, it’s pure joy for them to connect their profession with exploring new opportunities and gaining new knowledge about the topics they’re interested in.
9 Best ENFP Career Matches & Jobs
Once you’ve learned what solid ENFP career matches should include, it’s time to see some examples!
Here are the nine ENFP careers that people with this personality type usually succeed in:
#1. Media and Communication
ENFPs thrive when they have a chance to express themselves by showing their bubbly personality and fantastic communication skills. Since they love using such traits to connect with people, it’s no wonder they’re usually drawn to jobs related to media and communications and even become famous!
These individuals believe that what they have to say or show can motivate or help others. They also have outstanding speaking/writing manners and a great gift of grabbing the attention of diverse audiences. Add their creativity and need for human interaction to the equation, and you’ll get a walking, talking definition of a prosperous media career for ENFPs.
Thanks to all these characteristics, people with this personality type often make successful:
- Motivational speakers
- PR managers/specialists
- Social media specialists
- TV presenters
- Journalists
- Bloggers
- Influencers
#2. Entertainment
Not only are ENFPs influential and motivating, but they’re also really fun to be around. Their creative ideas and killer sense of humor keep others amused, which makes them the perfect match for diverse careers in entertainment.
Both ENFP men and women will definitely enjoy being in the spotlight and hearing ear-splitting applause after a successful performance. Still, what they cherish the most is the opportunity to communicate with the audience.
ENFPs also know how to evoke emotional responses in others and use this skill to put smiles on their spectator’s faces or amuse people in another way. And, even if they don’t feel like entering the scene themselves, these people can contribute to preparing amazing entertainment programs without public appearances.
Here are several ENFP careers in this field:
- Actors
- Comedians
- Film/TV producers
- Podcast creators
- Content creators
- Radio hosts
- YouTubers
#3. Sales and Marketing
Engaging in sales and marketing job positions is much easier when a person is naturally enthusiastic and charismatic. If they also cultivate an approachable attitude and come across as persuasive (but not invasive), even better!
Since ENFPs tick all these boxes, they’re the perfect match for such occupations. As they struggle with their sense of structure and don’t like monotonous jobs, they’ll gladly engage in dynamic, spontaneous activities the jobs in this field entail.
Let’s check out some of the best ENFP career matches in sales and marketing:
- Sales/marketing managers
- Sales representatives
- Telemarketers
- Retail salespersons
- Real estate agents
- Travel agents
- Marketing copywriters
- Market research analysts
- Advertising managers
#4. Arts and Humanities
Engaging in artistic activities allows ENFPs to express and use their Ne-Fi function combination purposefully. It’s their way of showing how great their ideas may be and how they perceive the world around them.
ENFPs’ artistic tendencies also come from their need to better understand human experience. They usually want to help people discover their creative potential by creating compelling pieces of art that can inspire others. Also, people with this personality type are often drawn to multiple types of art and don’t like to limit themselves to a single art discipline.
Given their affection toward people and the need to understand them, ENFPs also thrive in careers related to humanities. These allow them to explore how people behave or think and find the best way to help others by learning about them.
That being said, here are the best ENFP jobs in arts and humanities:
- Musicians
- Photographers
- Dancers
- Painters
- Sculptors
- Art therapists
#5. Education
ENFP people don’t only strive to enrich their knowledge—they also love conveying it to others, and you bet they’re great at it! With their contagious enthusiasm and willingness to help others thrive, these individuals can motivate anyone to learn and become a better version of themselves.
Moreover, ENFPs’ amazing communication skills and approachable attitude allow them to form harmonious relationships with their students. People feel encouraged to reach out to them and ask for clarifications without being afraid that they’ll sound silly or ignorant.
Thanks to their self-expression and creativity, ENFPs will find preparing new, compelling learning activities and materials rather easy and fun. They also seem to find great satisfaction in seeing the results of their efforts and observing their students’ educational development.
Let’s see what the best jobs for ENFPs in the education field are:
- Teachers
- Kindergarten teachers
- Teaching assistants
- College professors
- Learning/training specialists
#6. Personal Care and Service
By now, we’ve already learned that one of the biggest strengths of ENFP people is their ability to effortlessly relate with others. This trait makes it easier for them to take care of people who need support or help with anything. For this reason, people with this personality type do quite well in the areas of personal care and service.
While careers in this industry can be related to providing emotional support and encouragement, they can also refer to people’s physical well-being and aesthetics. Let’s see a few examples of the most prominent ENFP careers in this field below:
- Childcare workers
- Babysitters
- Animal care workers
- Home health aides
- Hairdressers
- Cosmetologists
- Fitness instructors
- Manicurists/pedicurists
#7. Business and Management
ENFP people are generally known as individuals who aren’t afraid to pursue their dreams and take risks along the way. As such, they often engage in entrepreneurship and develop their own businesses or significantly contribute to other people’s business projects.
These people are usually resourceful and have a great approach to presenting their innovative ideas to others. These traits go hand in hand with their ability to effectively organize tasks and find a solution to any issue, which is why they do rather well in management, too.
Some professions in the business and management field ENFPs can find interesting include:
- Entrepreneurs
- Business analysts
- Business consultants
- External auditors
- Project managers
- Client services managers
- Event managers
- Finance managers
- Human resource managers
#8. Healthcare and Social Service
When you think about the perfect healthcare worker, you probably visualize a warm person who knows how to effectively interact with people and take care of them. And, if you know at least a little bit about ENFPs, you’ll realize that this may be an ideal profession for them.
Besides making firm connections with patients, ENFP healthcare workers enjoy offering comfort and a shoulder to lean on. They won’t hesitate to make people they take care of comfortable and even come up with some jokes to brighten their day.
Add these abilities to their innate interest in people and sense of morality, and you’ll realize that ENFPs may also easily excel in the social service field. Their presence makes vulnerable people feel safe and encourages them to seek solutions to their problems even when everything seems lost.
Given all this, here are the most popular ENFP jobs in these industries:
- Physicians
- Nurses
- Therapists
- Nutritionists
- Social workers
- Family therapists
- School advisors
- Mental health counselors
#9. Sciences
The fact that ENFPs are emotional doesn’t mean they aren’t drawn to logical thinking at all.
In fact, their combination of specific cognitive functions—particularly extraverted intuition (Ne) and extraverted thinking (Te)—brings them the need to analyze the world around them.
They like to research and observe how things work, which can lead them to engage in science and pick this field as their career choice.
It’s important to note that ENFP people often find social science most absorbing, as it allows them to connect their need for human interaction with their natural curiosity.
Here are a few popular careers in science that ENFPs may be particularly interested in:
- Social scientists
- Political scientists
- Archaeologists
- Researchers
- Psychologists
3 Career Paths ENFPs Should Avoid
Now that you have learned what the best jobs for ENFP people are, let’s have a look at the professions that individuals with this personality type should skip.
#1. Engineering
You’ve already learned that ENFPs may do quite well in the science field. Still, even though engineering allows people to implement scientific knowledge in various processes and equipment, it requires order and structure.
This is the main reason why ENFP people wouldn’t find themselves working as civil, mechanical, or software engineers. As mentioned previously, they can’t stand routine and like to do things in their own way, without strict rules and instructions.
Also, since they aren’t too attentive to detail, they may find the punctuality and order that are required in this field rather exhausting and limiting.
#2. Law
The ENFPs’ animosity toward rules is also noticeable when it comes to the professions related to law. They won’t be too keen on learning about different regulations or forcing other people to follow them. So, needless to say, positions related to law, such as paralegal or mediator, don’t represent an ideal job opportunity for them.
Choosing a profession in the law industry also means being ready to face various unpleasant circumstances involving other people, such as crimes or cases of violence. Since ENFPs love people, they don’t react well to unfortunate events happening to others. They are also sensitive and can’t always stay composed in stressful situations, which people in the law field must do.
#3. Finance and Accounting
People with the ENFP personality type usually struggle with repetitive and monotonous tasks, which are basically the core of most jobs in the finance and accounting field. They thrive in dynamic environments full of people which let them show their creative side. So, logically, sitting at a desk surrounded by papers isn’t exactly what they expect from their dream job.
Also, jobs in these fields (e.g., credit analyst, bookkeeper, etc.) require attention to detail, which definitely isn’t something ENFP people can boast about. They don’t like the idea of having to measure everything they do or pay attention to small things. Hence, they rather choose other options that give them the freedom to improvise and be who they are.
What Are ENFPs Like in the Workplace?
Once they find a suitable job position and satisfying work conditions, ENFPs are ready for any challenge their role may impose. However, to show their full potential, they need a motivating and flexible workspace and a solid team of people they can collaborate with. If they have colleagues who share their enthusiasm for brainstorming, even better!
ENFP employees don’t have issues with adapting to different work conditions—the only thing they need is enough freedom to come up with and work on their ideas. Their vivid imagination and creativity usually win them extra points in their bosses’ books.
However, since ENFP people don’t like being told what to do, they may face significant stress if someone tries to micromanage them at work. They do best at work when they have a chance to perform their tasks in their own way, without pressure or specific plans.
ENFPs as Teammates
As teammates, ENFPs are supportive and encouraging. They don’t see their coworkers as a necessary evil. Instead, they are truly interested in the people they work with and want to build friendships with them. Since they have an amazing sense of humor, they’re always there to put a smile on their teammates’ faces and brighten their working days!
More importantly, ENFP employees don’t step over their teammates for prosperity. For them, succeeding at something while leaving others dissatisfied or harmed isn’t an option. They always try to come up with conflict solutions that leave both sides at peace and communicate through any issue.
Also, people with this personality type aren’t vain and are always willing to hear the opinion of the individuals they work with. And it’s not because they need to but because they’re truly interested in other people’s ideas and viewpoints!
ENFPs as Managers
The main goal of ENFP managers is to help their team flourish and prosper by inspiring them. They don’t look down on their subordinates or try to control everything they do, as they know very well how limiting that can be.
Instead, ENFP leaders give people they work with the freedom to think outside the box and implement their own ideas in mutual projects. They also aim to build solid bonds with their subordinates and treat them equally, which makes it really hard for them to dismiss or criticize someone when they have to.
With all that in mind, no wonder any employee would like to have ENFPs as leaders and managers!
ENFP Strengths & Weaknesses at Work
Now that you know what it looks like to work with an ENFP, let’s check out the most prominent strengths they tend to show at work:
- Enthusiastic nature. When they believe in some idea, ENFP employees will do everything to make it work. This includes listening to other people’s input, sharing their thoughts with the team, and coming up with creative solutions for any issue.
- Curiosity. ENFP people always want to know why and how something happens. Their insatiable thirst for new knowledge and open-mindedness allows them to constantly explore new ideas and gain new experiences.
- Adaptability. Not only do ENFPs adapt to working with various types of people, but they also eagerly accept any other changes related to their workplace. All that makes their work environment dynamic and prevents them from getting bored.
However, not everything is roses for ENFPs when it comes to their work behavior. Here are some weaknesses that can stand in the way of their prosperity:
- People-pleasing attitude. ENFP employees are often eager to go the extra mile for their colleagues or managers, which doesn’t always work in their favor. Seeing this, their teammates may decide to take advantage of their good-heartedness and leave them hurt.
- No sense of organization. Given their aversion to structure and order, ENFPs often end up in a disorganized environment, struggling with procrastination. This can be quite stressful for them unless they decide to work on this flaw.
- Lack of focus. The minds of ENFP people fly in all directions as they try to cope with a bunch of new ideas. For this reason, they may find it hard to concentrate on a specific task or goal, as there will always be something more exciting that’ll come to their mind along the way.
Top 10 College Majors for ENFP Personalities
We’ve already determined what the most promising ENFP jobs are. Still, to build a career in the desired field more easily, people with this personality type need to choose a suitable college major.
Since ENFPs thrive in creative and people-oriented jobs, ideally, they should major in academic fields that allow them to pursue such careers. Media, communications, arts, and psychology are all great options for ENFPs.
With that in mind, here are the best college majors for ENFPs:
- Art
- Advertising
- Counseling Psychology
- Social Work
- Environmental Design
- Graphic Arts Management
- Health and Physical Education
- Journalism
- Elementary or Secondary Education
- Business Administration
Key Takeaways
And there you have it!
After reading this article, you should be completely familiar with the best ENFP careers and the jobs this personality type should avoid.
Once again, it’s crucial to emphasize that if an ENFP works on boosting their strengths and overcoming their flaws, they can choose any career field and prosper. Nonetheless, reading this guide is the perfect opportunity to get new ideas for ENFP career matches that you may not have thought of!