19 INTP Careers to Avoid (and 7 to Pursue)

INTP is a brainy type. People with this personality type usually enjoy thinking and planning more than carrying things out, which may not feel nearly as exciting to them.

Because of this tendency, INTPs should look for jobs where their logical thinking and planning skills are valued, while other people handle the practical follow-through.

The ideal job for INTPs should allow them to design physical or theoretical systems. Physical systems may include machines, buildings, or bridges. Theoretical systems may include corporations, curricula, or other complex structures. You can read more about this here.

So the first type of career INTPs may want to avoid is:

1. Any career that requires carrying out their own or other people’s plans.

For example:

• contractor (1),
• builder (2),
• electrician (3),
• carpenter (4),
• school teacher (5).

INTPs are independent thinkers and need plenty of freedom to be happy. They want flexible jobs with as little supervision as possible. They are unlikely to thrive in a highly structured environment or in a company with very rigid rules and regulations.

So the second thing to avoid is:

2. Any company or organization with a strong emphasis on rules and hierarchy.

Examples:

• most military careers (6),
• most jobs in the maritime industry (7),
• careers in large, established companies that have no tolerance for the INTP’s lack of punctuality or disregard for rules and procedures (8).

INTPs are introverts and need time alone to think. They particularly dislike meetings or environments where they are forced to interact with many people.

The third type of INTP career to avoid is:

3. Jobs that require strong communication skills.

Examples:

• publicist (9),
• marketing manager (10),
• lawyer (11),
• salesperson (12),
• social worker (13).

INTPs dislike boring and repetitive tasks that leave little room for creativity.

This brings us to the last point. INTPs should avoid:

4. Monotonous and repetitive jobs.

Examples:

• accountant (14),
• data entry clerk (15),
• driver (16),
• lab technician (17),
• air traffic controller (18),
• compliance officer (19).

This may make it sound as if INTPs are good for nothing, but that is not true.

INTPs can enter any occupation; however, they naturally tend to prefer jobs such as:

• computer programmer,
• researcher,
• college professor,
• writer,
• biologist,
• chemist,
• computer systems analyst.

You can find the full list of 101 job titles on the INTP profile page.

All 16 personality types are here.