Using my strengths

[zealousteedo]

I realize that quite a lot of INTPs have issues with satisfaction at work and, unfortunately, I am among them.

I'll sum-up the problem first: I"m dissatisfied with my current career (shocker!) and am unsure what my next step should be. I'm open to quite a lot of different possibilities as long as the work pays decently well and contributes to society in some way.

Currently, I"m a financial analyst. I've my masters in finance, and am sitting for the CFA level 2 on June 7th. Unfortunately, over the last year and a half I've become more and more disenchanted with finance. Initially, the sheer intellectual stimulation was what brought me into finance (and admittedly, the possibility of a good salary). Now, the longer I stay in finance, the more I find corruption, greed, and dishonesty. Without going into a long-winded explanation: I've decided to leave the industry and pursue something that really means something to me.

At this point, I'm just trying to look for options that would work with my strengths: I'm very good with numbers (calculating, yes, but more on an intuition basis: I'm able to form hypotheses/data-mine and understand the results and the assumptions used to obtain those results very well), I've significant experience with managing others and with making cost-effective business decisions.

I suppose I'd be happy doing a number of things that I feel contribute to society (green energy/recycling, housing/education for the less-privileged, gay-rights, simple-living and anti consumerism, etc, I"m a bit of an idealist, yes), I'm just not sure what type of position I'd be able to fill at such companies, and was hoping to hear from others who might know of types of jobs that are available for a person with my set of skills.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Architect]

I'll sum-up the problem first: I"m dissatisfied with my current career (shocker!) and am unsure what my next step should be. I'm open to quite a lot of different possibilities as long as the work pays decently well and contributes to society in some way.

Currently, I"m a financial analyst. I've my masters in finance, and am sitting for the CFA level 2 on June 7th. Unfortunately, over the last year and a half I've become more and more disenchanted with finance. Initially, the sheer intellectual stimulation was what brought me into finance (and admittedly, the possibility of a good salary). Now, the longer I stay in finance, the more I find corruption, greed, and dishonesty. Without going into a long-winded explanation: I've decided to leave the industry and pursue something that really means something to me.

You can't be too surprised about this. My understanding is that nobody likes finance for those reasons. Most people are in it to get enough of what's called "f*** you" money so they can retire.

I think you need to do the same. You've gone this far, tough up to your decision and finish it out. Make a five year or ten year plan, as a financial analyst you have the skills. Ten years, say, isn't a long time and you can bank a lot of money in that time, maybe not enough for a full retirement but you can build up a big war chest. Meanwhile work on what else you want to do. Because, it will probably take you that long to figure it out anyhow.

I suppose I'd be happy doing a number of things that I feel contribute to society (green energy/recycling, housing/education for the less-privileged, gay-rights, simple-living and anti consumerism, etc, I"m a bit of an idealist, yes), I'm just not sure what type of position I'd be able to fill at such companies, and was hoping to hear from others who might know of types of jobs that are available for a person with my set of skills.

Be a little cautious of this desire. Of course you want to "help humanity" as that's in the inferior for the INTP (you sound rather like one). But trying to do it directly, by working in a field you have no experience such as green energy/etc doesn't sound right. That's "infomercial talking", what do you really want? Odds are whatever it is will help humanity in some way. Even your financial analysis, in some small way is contributing to the greater good. If you really did want to do something in green-whatever then finance certainly plays a part in those endeavors.

 

[zealousteedo]

Architect, Thanks for the reply.

I suppose I shouldn't be terribly surprised, no, I just expected it to be more concentrated into a few high-power corrupt individuals. It seems to affect even smaller firms.

I have given thought to what you suggest, in the past. Indeed, I could make a decent amount of money, hating what I do and relegating all of my enjoyment to leisure. I'm not really interested in doing that, even if it means making some significant sacrifices to redirect my career. I know and have spoken with enough people who enjoy what they do for a living to know that it's possible. I find that often work saps all of my energy so that at the end of the day, I have no additional energy for pursuits I might enjoy. I appreciate the pragmatic advice, but at this point, perhaps I'm not ready to hear it.

As for contributing to society, those were just ideas. As I said, I"m unsure of what I want to do with my life, and those seemed like good places to begin exploring. You're correct though in thinking that most businesses do contribute to society in some way (often more indirectly than I suggested), which would make them viable candidates for my search. I'm open to still using what I've learned in finance in my next career, but portfolio and investment analysis is not for me: I don't see myself working for a financial firm in the future.

I don't suppose that I need to know what the end-game scenario is for my career, but perhaps a place to start where I could use the talents I already have in a fashion that doesn't feel like a detriment to customers or society.

 

[TNAR]

Entrepreneur.

Your abilities with numbers makes you a perfect candidate for running daily operations of your own business. Whether that takes the form of something similar to what you do now or dramatically different is up to you. There are always opportunities to offer new services on the market.

 

[Redfire]

What does your job involve, exactly? If you are sitting in front of a computer working with numbers and data, and you make money off that, it really sounds better than most jobs out there.
How does the corruption, greed and dishonesty affect you? Why is it a problem?

I think you should keep your job and explore other areas in your free time. Only leave the field if you are absolutely sure of what you want to do next.

 

[del]

I'm pretty ignorant with regards to your field, but would it be at all possible to take your financial experience and knowledge into the non-profit/international development world?

I'm asking because it sounds like you enjoy your field on an intellectual level, but just want to work on different problems in a different environment. It would be a shame to throw away your education and experience and start completely over. I wanted to work in development economics for a long time, and the #1 skill set they wanted was something like what you have (either master's in finance or an international MBA). I think you'd make a lot less money, however.

 

[TBerg]

I'm pretty ignorant with regards to your field, but would it be at all possible to take your financial experience and knowledge into the non-profit/international development world?

I'm asking because it sounds like you enjoy your field on an intellectual level, but just want to work on different problems in a different environment. It would be a shame to throw away your education and experience and start completely over. I wanted to work in development economics for a long time, and the #1 skill set they wanted was something like what you have (either master's in finance or an international MBA). I think you'd make a lot less money, however.

I was thinking the same thing, but you managed to do the articulation.

 

[windpc]

Hi, i am now in the same predicament as TS. I had been in accounting and audit field for 7 years. I felt so dissatisfied at work, like a fish doing a monkey's job. That led me to embark on the journey to know myself. I have researched and verified myself to be an INTP. After understanding the functional stacks, i realised accounting is a ISTJ job, it requires a strong Si and Te. I tried telling myself initially that perhaps i could do what i love after work and stick to this job for the money. However, i realised that it dont work that way. Our dominant is Ti and secondary function is Ne. If these 2 elements plus Fe are missing in my daily work, then there is no meaning continuing living life in others' skin. So i had decided to switch career to data analytics/science( stats and IT) by enrolling for a Master in Data Analytics. (I am supposed to sit for my CFA lvl 1 end of this year though). However, now i have some hesitation. I am concerned if data analytics requires a strong Te rather than Ti and Ne. The last thing I want is to spend lots of money getting a Master and realised the work is not one i am suitable for. I know I want to go into tech, but not sure which area of tech to go into. Now, IT has software development, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, machine & deep learning, network architecture, system architecture, data analytics. Any experienced INTP in the IT field mind to shed some light which area will bring more satisfaction to INTP?