Matching jobs and personality traits
Response 1
Introduction
In the workplace we may, for sure, encounter different people with different personalities. Different personalities react differently to the same situation and are most definitely better suited to different types of jobs. It is important to understand, for example, what traits are better suited for a manager or leader (sometimes not the same person) to get the best out of employees. One of the reasons behind that logic can be that according to (Ashad & Ismail, 2018), employees who are treated in an uncivil way tend to hide their knowledge as a form of revenge or retaliation.
Job-Trait Pairing
The big five workplace personalities are Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Open to Experience (TalentMap, 2017). Each having their own set of characteristics that can apply to a person with the personality. These personalities give somewhat of an advantage in certain jobs to the people who have them because of the soft skills that may associate with them.
1. Agreeableness: Is people who are compassionate and supportive towards coworkers (Pinto, 2016). They assume trust, have sympathy for others, and fill self-fulfilled in altruistic service. Immediately, we can think of nurses or teachers for this type of people.
2. Conscientiousness: People that in general believe they have what it takes to be successful. They show dutifulness and self-discipline. They think things through before deciding. Manager or entrepreneurs seem like the obvious match for conscientious people, however, all careers may benefit from someone like this.
3. Extraversion: Individuals who enjoy being with people. The evoke positivity and enthusiasm. Their lives are in general fast-paced. Communicators, television and radio hosts, event animator, and customer support specialists are some of the jobs that come to mind that gain advantage from a personality as this one.
4. Neuroticism: Refers to individuals with a highly anxious personality. They lack energy, are sensitive towards their treatment, vulnerable and experience depression. They also have a difficulty resisting urges that fulfill a short-term desire. At glance it may seem as if nobody with a Neuroticism personality can be successful. According to (Baer, 2014), academics benefit due to the awakened sense of going through things ceaselessly that comes with being self-conscious.
5. Open to Experience: They are built up for change. They are creative, imaginative and have a facility for mathematical and logical thinking. People like this are intellectually curious and have a prowess in artistic fields. Engineers, composers, writers, actors, or performers in general profit from this personality.
Jack-of-all-Traits
While there is almost no chance that someone covers all the big five workplace personalities, there are certainly traits that are desirable across all jobs or at least most of them. I doubt people look for someone who isn’t friendly or honest (even if it is not a direct requirement). The intellect trait present in the Open to Experience personality and Dutifulness in the Conscientiousness personality are things that most people will like to have on-board in their work teams, especially in an IT-rich organization.
References
Ashad, R. & Ismail, i. R. (2018) Workplace incivility and knowledge hiding behavior: does personality matter?. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 5(3), pp. 278-288.
Baer, D. (2014) Here’s How Being Neurotic Can Make You More Successful.
Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/neurotic-people-can-be-super-successful-2014-5
(Accessed 7 June 2019).
Pinto, T. (2016) How the Big Five Personality Traits Can Predict Performance at Work.
Available at: https://peakon.com/blog/people-management/big-five-personality-traits-in-the-workplace/
(Accessed 7 June 2019).
TalentMap (2017) BIG FIVE Workplace Personalities.
Available at: https://www.talentmap.com/big-five-workplace-personalities/
(Accessed 7 June 2019).
Response 2
Introduction
Personality trait has mostly been viewed as the most important factor when it comes to understanding a person. Yet in most cases leaving the position of one’s personal values has always been given less attention (Bilsky & Schwartz, 1994). This has raised lots of concern from some personality scholars who have made it clear that values should be included when studying the characteristics of individual (McAdams, 1996), yet this has seen has seen little theoretical work in accomplishing this goal.
Perusing the examples made by McCrae & Costa, (2003), Personality Traits by definition is how humans are described in relation to their thoughts, behavior, and emotions. There have been a lot of proposed personality models in the past but the big five are the most acceptable in the study of psychology and behavior research (Hazrati-Viari et al., 2012)
Jobs Or Occupations That Seem Particularly Suited To Each Trait
These big five personality traits were given by Costa & McCrae (1992). According to studies the best in terms of predicting best work performance and motivation is conscientiousness and neuroticism (Salgado, 1997). In terms of learning, people with high conscientiousness, openness and extraversion traits are more motivated to learn (Ross, Rausch, and Canada, 2003)
Below are the big five personality traits and their respective suited jobs
Big 5 Personality Traits Suited Job Reason
Neuroticism Entrepreneurs Emotional stability
Extraversion Event Planner Optimistic
Agreeableness Custer service Good at getting along with people
Conscientiousness CEOs Good at controlling impulses and knows how to act in a socially acceptable way
Openness to experience Music/fashion designer Motivated to learn
Universally Desirable Personality Traits Across All Jobs
Life is all about the choices we make, choices about education, career are all influenced by personality (Moorjani J et al. 2007). Therefore, it is of vital importance to study the big five personality traits and be able to effectively use the traits that are dominant in our personality to attain our career goals.
Aside from knowing our most dominate traits, there are some personality traits that are universally desirable and these traits are Conscientiousness, Openness to experience and Extraversion.
These three traits can be classified as universal since they are the basic requirement in every human institution in terms of fostering cooperation and building healthy relationship among all workers, from top management to the least subordinate. Example, conscientiousness deals with impulse control (Cutler, 2006), and this is key when it comes to keeping calm bad times. Openness to experience brings on board creativity (Goldberg, 1999), this also promotes innovation. Finally, extraversion are action-oriented individuals (Cutler et al, 2006).
Best Traits for IT rich Organization
The IT job is a very demanding and challenging and it requires special education, training, and skill. This can only be achieved through one’s ability to learn very hard coupled with the ability to work long hours, work under intense pressure and finishing assignments on time. Aside from this, you must be motivated to go the extra mile to solve problems as they arise. All these require a personality trait like openness to experience, and neuroticism. These personality traits are the best suited for the IT industry since it allows the individual to focus on what’s important to be able to withstand any challenges in order to succeed in the industry.
Conclusion
To conclude, it is no secret that making clearer choices are based on personality traits. Therefore, it is vital to know your most dominate trait to help you make clearer career choices that will help live a life of fulfillment
References
Bilsky, W., & Schwartz, S. H. (1994). Values and personality. European Journal of Personality, 8, 163-181.
McAdams, D. P. (1996). Alternative futures for the study of human individuality. Journal of Research in Personality, 30, 374-378.
McClelland, D. C. (1996). Does the field of personality have a future? Journal of Research in Personality, 30, 429-434.
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T., Jr. (2003). Personality in adulthood: A Five-Factor Theory perspective. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Hazrati-Viari, A., Rad, A. T., & Torabi, S. S. (2012). The effect of personality traits on academic performance: The mediating role of academic motivation. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 32, 367-371
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T., Jr. (2003). Personality in adulthood: A Five-Factor Theory perspective. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Salgado, J. F. (1997). The five-factor model of personality and job performance in the European Community. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 30–43.
Ross, S. R., Rausch, M. K., & Canada, K. E. (2003). Competition and cooperation in the five-factor model: Individual differences in achievement orientation. The Journal of Psychology
Moorjani J, Manika MS, Sujata (2007) Career Choice and Personality as Predictors of Cognitive Interference. J. Indian Acad. Appl. Psychol., 33(2): 291-294.
Cutler, JL, Alspector, SL, Harding, KJ, Wright, LL & Graham, MJ (2006) Medical students perception of psychiatry as a career choice, Academic Psychiatry
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Matching Jobs and Personality Traits
Name
Response 1
I agree with you that different people possess different character traits that allow them to respond differently to the same situation. This is a factor that has then been abused within the workplace as; individuals tend to hide their real personalities in order to get a job or gain entry to given vicinity for malicious reasons. As highlighted in a 2012 study by Greenwich and Houston Universities, being yourself at the workplace does not benefit an individual’s life satisfaction nor their overall wellbeing (Madel, 2013). The study revealed that being honest about your true values and beliefs does not necessarily make one happy.
Thus, it is important to know the necessary personality traits that are known to be key within the workplace. They include the OCEAN model that highlights Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness as well as Neuroticism (Ackerman, 2019). They define an individual’s strengths by highlighting their capabilities to handle given situations. This means they can be used to adequately define what kind of work an individual may thrive doing and vice versa. Thiel suggests that they have even been used by career professionals and psychologists for personality career tests that are used to assess and recruit candidates for jobs (2018).
I agree with you that no one individual may possess all of the big five personality traits. A term coined by Robert McCreae and Paul Costa (Psychologist World, 2019). However, one individual could possess a number of traits in varying degrees. Some of the traits such as openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness are quite desirable and could come in handy within the business set up. Extroversive individuals may at times seem unfocused while people with Neuroticism may appear as sensitive and short-tempered and may not be that desire to work with (Sackett and Walmsley, 2014). Consequently, individuals that portray openness and conscientiousness may prove to be the most ideal employees within an IT-rich organization.
References
Ackerman, C. 2017. Big Five Personality Traits: The OCEAN Model Explained. Available at: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/big-five-personality-theory/ (Accessed on 9 June 2019)
Madell, R. 2013. Can you be yourself at Work? Available at: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/personality-at-work_n_3976087 (Accessed on 9 June 2019)
Psychologist World. 2019. Five-Factor Model of Personality. Available at: https://www.psychologistworld.com/personality/five-factor-model-big-five-personality#references (Accessed on 9 June 2019)
Sackett, P.R., and Walmsley, P.T. 2014. Which Personality Traits are Most Important to Employees? Available at: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/which-personality-traits-are-most-important-to-employers.html (Accessed on 9 June 2019)
Thiel, E. V. 2018. Big Five Personality Test Traits. Available at: https://www.123test.com/big-five-personality-theory/ (Accessed on 9 June 2019)
Response 2
I agree with you that personality traits are quite elemental in the study of individuals. The big five models coined by the late scholars Robert McCreae and Paul Costa have become a great model to facilitate this study (Psychologist World, 2019). However, other scholars have added to this by identifying that values are also a crucial factor in the study of an individual’s character (McAdams, 1996). Their findings have nonetheless not borne much fruit as a lot more focus has been placed upon the ocean model. This can be witnessed by the hundreds of personality tests online that base their work upon the Five-factor model.
One such test allows one to measure their traits of strength and identify which occupation one may be more suited in (Thiel, 2018). Personality, as alluded by Ackerman, encompasses all the characteristics that set one individual apart from another (2017). Whereas the American Psychological Association defines it as, the individual differences in patterns of thought, feeling as well as behavior (2017). Therefore, personality essentially holds a huge impact on the suitability of an individual towards a given profession. People that portray high levels of agreeableness are best suited for jobs that involve communication as they get along best with people.
I believe that individuals that possess high degrees of Neuroticism are better suited for jobs that do not give them much stress such as library jobs that are quite slow paced and quite. This is due to their high agitation levels. Individuals that are extraverted are best suited for outdoor jobs that are fun and give room for wild creativity levels such as the one you mentioned in event planning. Individuals with openness can essentially function in any industry that allows them to be creative as they are often motivated by learning new skills while individuals that are conscientious are best suited for managerial jobs such as project management as they thrive in areas that call for their thorough organization skills.
I strongly agree with you that conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion are desirable traits which in most cases have bolstered the unity of human beings along with the trait of being agreeable. They are thereby good if sort after in varying degrees depending on the work to be done. However, the trait of being conscientious is ultimately the best followed by openness to innovation and agreeableness to company rules and regulations within an IT-rich organization.
References
Ackerman, C. 2017. Big Five Personality Traits: The OCEAN Model Explained. Available at: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/big-five-personality-theory/ (Accessed on 9 June 2019)
American Psychological Association. 2017. Personality. Available at: https://www.apa.org/topics/personality/ (Accessed on 9 June 2019)
McAdams, D. P. (1996). Alternative futures for the study of human individuality. Journal
of Research in Personality, 30, 374-378.
Psychologist World. 2019. Five-Factor Model of Personality. Available at: https://www.psychologistworld.com/personality/five-factor-model-big-five-personality#references (Accessed on 9 June 2019)
Thiel, E. V. 2018. Big Five Personality Test Traits. Available at: https://www.123test.com/big-five-personality-theory/ (Accessed on 9 June 2019)
