Are you an INTJ contemplating your next career move? Wondering what INTJ careers are best suited to your unique personality?

Well, let me be your guide to INTJ careers—from one INTJ to another.

Watch the video below for more INTJ insights.

What Is an INTJ Personality Type?

INTJ stands for Introverted, INtuitive, Thinking, Judging. Read the full INTJ profile.

INTJs are one of the rarest personality types, making up about 2% of the general population—and only 1% of women.

But don’t let INTJ’s rarity trick you into thinking there aren’t a lot of INTJ career opportunities.

In fact, the opposite is true.

So let’s delve into what to consider as you think about potential INTJ careers.

3 Things INTJs Should Consider When Making Career Decisions

These considerations for INTJ careers are simply a starting point.

Use them as a springboard to understand how they show up in your current day-to-day…and how you want to apply them to your career going forward.

I know how important it is for INTJs to do things in their own unique way, so don’t let anything I say here limit you.

But I encourage you to think beyond the obvious options and job titles listed in job postings and personality websites (honestly, the ones listed on 16personalities make my insides shrivel up).

INTJs are creative, out-of-the-box thinkers, so apply the following ideas to the interests, industries, and organizations that appeal to YOU.

1. INTJ Careers: INTJs Need Intellectual Freedom To Make Their Own Discoveries

INTJs question everything.

They hate the status quo.

They hate conventional wisdom, especially if it doesn’t prove out in the real world.

They hate rules that don’t make sense.

They’re all about innovation, elegant solutions to meaningful challenges, and turning complex ideas into actionable strategies.

So, my dear INTJ, as you think about the organizations and people you surround yourself with, you're likely going to want an environment that values meritocracy, intellectual curiosity, excellence, true innovation, and continuous improvement.

And you’re probably gonna want to screen out places with:

Meaningless bureaucracy and rigid hierarchy
We’ve-always-done-it-this-way-mentalities
Reactive environments where you’re constantly responding to one-offs (especially from people you don’t respect) rather than being able to set a thoughtful, cohesive agenda.

Organizational structure (or lack thereof)

As you think about INTJ careers, you might consider flatter organizations—or at least an organization where you have easy access to the people and resources you need regardless of where they sit on the org chart.

Start-ups or companies growing through merger and acquisition might be worth considering. The chaos and inefficiencies could be an opportunity for you to implement systems that streamline processes…

…Or they could drive you crazy because decisions are made without sound logic, efficiency, and effectiveness.

An organization in growth mode (versus pure start-up mode) might be even more interesting because basics are in place with room to experiment and improve.

The bottom line: use your INTJness to thoughtfully define your role within these environments—and confirm that leadership is truly committed to your grand agenda before you commit.

Will you have the freedom to question norms and authority? Be encouraged to continually raise the bar? Are these things baked into your role?

You’ll want to make sure key parties share your values and definitions, so you don’t come in ready to make big changes…only to be told to stop rocking the boat.

Turning ideas into aligned strategies

The worst thing for an INTJ is feeling like you have to do something you don’t believe in.

I loved starting a business because I could master a ton of new and different skills and disciplines and build out the frameworks that gave me the right amount of efficiency, creativity, and flexibility.

In the beginning, I HATED listening to business advice of any kind because it made me feel trapped—like I had to do it a certain way…or fail.

I was unpleasantly surprised at how much “this is the way you have to do things as an entrepreneur” advice is out there.

So for me, it’s become a 3-step process of:

Understanding the conventional wisdom
Testing it for myself
Integrating it in a way that feels natural (and discarding what doesn’t)

I may reinvent the wheel sometimes. But that’s okay. Because I can’t stand doing anything that doesn’t feel authentic to me.

Sales is a great example. A lot of sales gurus teach techniques that prey upon fear, scarcity, and coercion. This is bonkers…and is completely not aligned with who I am as a coach.

So I developed my own approach that’s aligned with what’s important to me: leadership, human connection, value, and creating the space for exploration.

There are a lot of traditional sales techniques that I love and use. I just had to put them through the Caroline Adams filter first.

You don’t have to run your own business to adopt this 3-step process.

Give yourself the freedom to explore how you INTEGRATE or DISCARD conventional wisdom, rules, or processes.

Where you fit in the process

Most INTJs are probably going to prefer the front-end of a process, where they can shape the strategy—as opposed to executing someone else’s, especially if the strategy doesn’t make sense to them.

INTJs are about big ideas to solutions that actually work. Usually people are stronger at generating ideas OR operationalizing ideas—not both. Being able to connect the two is a rare and valuable INTJ quality.

There are countless roles and organizations where you can act as translator or connector to bridge the gap between ideas and implementation, strategy and execution, projects and operations.

My most fulfilling corporate role was where I could take on a big, wooly challenge no one else wanted to touch, shape the strategy and direction, and then hand off to someone else to execute.

I happened to work for a giant financial services bureaucracy, but the fact that we were quickly scaling up a brand-new division gave me the freedom to work in a start-up-like environment with all the stability and perks of an established company.

See how many opportunities this opens up?

Ready to design an INTJ career with purpose? Get your FREE roadmap

**2. INTJ Careers: INTJs Like People, As Long As They’re the Right People**

I chortled when I read this quote from 16 Personalities, “[INTJ’s] inner world is often a private, complex one.”

Tell me about it.

Introversion is one of the most misunderstood personality traits in general.

Introverts are not shy. They’re not socially-awkward. They’re not anti-social.

You can be an introvert and have these traits, but they don’t describe introversion.

Introversion is about E-N-E-R-G-Y. Introverts recharge by going within (versus extroverts who get their energy from interacting with others).

It’s really about surrounding ourselves with the right people in the right circumstances.

To socially-isolate or not socially-isolate: that is the question

INTJs are often mistaken as aloof, standoffish, insensitive.

That’s not because we don’t like people.

It’s because we’re focused on IDEAS.

16 personalities suggests that INTJs prefer lone wolf positions. Maybe.

They also say that fictional villains are based off the INTJ personality type. 😂

I think it’s more about engaging with people in a way that doesn’t feel like we’re adhering to weird social rituals or wasting time.

Engaging with others can be super energizing when they get INTJs’ dark humor, allow us to run with our big ideas, and are on the same intellectual wavelength.

As you consider various INTJ careers, I invite you to focus on HOW and WHEN you like to engage with people. What are the interactions that drain you? Who are the people that energize you? When during the day do you prefer to work in solitude versus engage?

I rarely schedule meetings or people interactions before 11am. That’s because it’s MY QUIET TIME to journal, think, plan, write, dream.
I build in a ton of time in between coaching sessions to process, reflect, and recharge before my next meeting.
And I protect my evening time, too. That’s when I decompress.

Read more about my favorite INTJ productivity tips for managing your time and energy.

Meantime, get clear where you like to invest your energy as you consider the INTJ careers that are right for you.

Maximize purposeful interactions…and build in lots of downtime to digest

A lot of people falsely equate INTJ careers with toiling away in solitude.

That’s just not true.

INTJs love purposeful and meaningful interactions, especially when there’s a focus on excellence and/or problem to be solved.

For example, I do best with one-on-one interactions—whether it’s working with clients or talking with friends—because I can go deep, get straight to heart of the matter, and laser-focus on the person in front of me, no distractions or superficial nonsense.

It’s not that INTJs don’t like groups. There’s just a lot more to energy to manage, and stuff to observe and analyze. 👀 🧐

Unless it’s gossip or drivel, then we’re out. 🚪🏃‍♀️💨

INTJs might relish the intellectual stimulation of a brainstorming session or bringing together a disparate group of people and then connecting the dots.

INTJs can be great at the key point person on anything interdisciplinary – where they’re directing the big vision and their interaction is about keeping people aligned and guiding them to the right information, connecting disparate groups, ideas, departments.

The key with any interaction is building in downtime, so we can reflect, process, and recharge.

I tell my clients: just because we hang up the phone, doesn’t mean the conversation ends. I’m constantly following the threads, thinking of questions to ask, and plotting potential paths to explore.

When I launched my group networking course, I was nervous it would be too draining for me.

But I love it. Because there are so many layers, dots to connect, themes to identify, and a mix of big ideas and practical solutions.

But I do it in the early afternoon, when I have the most energy to interact.

And I do nothing else on those days, so I can recharge. 🧖‍♀️💆‍♀️

(Figuring out the the afternoon time slot was a breakthrough. So much conventional wisdom suggested I had to run the course in the evening after normal work hours. That sounded terrible and exhausting. Plus, it encourages people to prioritize their career goals as part of their workday—win-win.)

It’s really about modulating how, when, who, and under what circumstances we engage with people so we can play with ideas and preserve our precious energy stores.

3. INTJ Careers: Consider Your Ability To Direct Your Schedule and Broader Agenda

INTJs thrive in cultures that give them time and space to explore ideas and master the topics that interest them.

So you’ll want to understand the broader culture and expectations about how much of your time and agenda is truly your own.

My last corporate role was constant fire drills and back-to-back meetings, often overlapping each other in scope, with the same players in most meetings.

So many meetings were just rehashing the same questions without resolution: an INTJ nightmare.

The year before I left corporate, I’d write in my journal over and over: I just want time and space to THINK.

Finding the right culture is part of this, but I’d encourage you to challenge assumptions and push boundaries about how much control you actually have over your calendar where you are right now.

I’ll bet you have much more control than you think!

Do you really have to attend that meeting? How might those around you actually benefit if you began your workday by focusing on your long-term career goals instead of diving straight into your to-do list?

Often, my clients are able to completely re-work their calendars and prioritize the work that’s most important to them.

Before I left corporate, I actually blocked out two full days where I rarely accepted meetings.

The result?

I was able to be much more strategic, which saved everyone time and gave them much more autonomy to make their own decisions.

Plus, people were a lot more efficient with my time when they got it.

There’s Limitless Potential For INTJ Careers

INTJs can thrive in a number of careers.

Do yourself a favor and don’t limit yourself to obvious job titles and career paths listed on personality websites (or any website for that matter).

I invite you to take an INTJ-like approach to uncovering your next career move: give yourself time and space to dream big, then drill down into the elements that are most important for you to operate at your best, then use your creativity to combine them into career options uniquely-suited for you.

It’s the exact process I use with my career coaching clients.

Don’t worry about what to call it or whether it exists already.

There’s no better INTJ career than the one we create ourselves.

If you need help getting started, download my 4-step career roadmap. It’s a proven framework that also gives you the flexibility and space to make your own discoveries.

If you’re interested in my favorite assessments to help you create a career you love and thrive once you get there, check out How To Use Personality Assessments In the Workplace.

If you’d like to talk INTJ careers with a fellow INTJ who’s created a unique INTJ career of her own, apply for a free strategy session.