Career choice: This is how your personality influences your career path!

Career choice: This is how your personality influences your career path!

A current study by the University of Mannheim, conducted by Dr. Claudia Rossetti, Dr. Katja Dlouhy and Prof. Dr. Torsten Biemann, examines the interesting connection between personality and career choice. The research is based on long-term data collected from up to 11,000 people over more than 12 years (2005-2017). The results show that people with similar personality traits often choose similar careers. What is particularly striking is that the Big Five personality traits – openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability – are more uniform within professional groups than between different professional groups.

An illustrative example from the study is the similarity between doctors and pharmacologists in terms of their personality profiles. These similarities become more apparent the longer a person stays in their professional position. This discovery supports the theory that personality differences significantly lead to career changes. People whose personalities differ greatly from those of their colleagues are more likely to change jobs.

The Big Five and their relevance

In the context of the study, it is crucial to consider the Big Five of personality, also known as the five-factor model. These five dimensions represent the totality of thought patterns, feelings, attitudes and behaviors that make a person unique. The origin of the model goes back to the middle of the 20th century.

• Offenheit für Erfahrungen: Bezieht sich auf Neugier und Kreativität. Hohe Werte können jedoch auch Unberechenbarkeit mit sich bringen.
• Gewissenhaftigkeit: Diese Eigenschaft beschreibt Verantwortungsbewusstsein und Zuverlässigkeit und korreliert stark mit beruflichem Erfolg.
• Extraversion: Misst die Kontaktfreudigkeit einer Person, wobei hohe Werte als egozentrisch wahrgenommen werden können.
• Verträglichkeit: Steht in Verbindung mit Empathie und Kooperation, kann aber auch Naivität fördern.
• Neurotizismus: Misst emotionale Stabilität; erhöhte Werte sind häufig mit Nervosität und Reizbarkeit assoziiert.

Conscientiousness in particular proves to be an important indicator of professional success because it is closely linked to specialist knowledge and leadership qualities. In addition, extraversion and openness play an important role in leadership positions, while emotional stability and agreeableness promote dealing with conflicts.

Importance for employers and career advice

The study underlines the importance of the match between personality and job for career satisfaction. Employers who integrate these insights into their recruiting and personnel development can promote long-term loyalty and satisfaction among their employees. Recommendations from the study suggest using personality profiles specifically in career advice.

Overall, this research not only shows how profoundly personality influences professional life, but also offers valuable approaches for integrating it into career advice. An awareness of your own thought patterns and characteristics is essential for your professional future and your job search.

The results of this important study were recently published in Journal of Organizational Behavior published and represent an important step in the connection of psychological findings and professional practice.