Software development. The only constant is that things are constantly changing. Always something to create or improve. I hate Fridays and look forward to Mondays...

Wow...100% is pretty high...my N is around 53%.

I share your boredom with careers. I have always liked very detailed and technical things. I am currently a production editor for a weekly magazine. What I do is basically trail behind the graphic designers and make sure what they designed will actually print. This involves using a 35+-step checklist for each and every layout in a weekly 60-page magazine. After about one year, I became severely bored. Another year has gone by and I am still there, with great resentment. The funny thing is, I had left a job before that one, unsure if I would be good enough for this one. I think I've proven otherwise.

I, too, am in search of something that will keep me interested. I've thought about delving further into graphic design (at least I know MY files will work, lol) or Web design. Not sure if that will hold my interest either.

P.S. - I've done the management thing and got frustrated, as well.

I'm studying law. I'm a few months away from taking the bar exam. I think it's the perfect field for me. Of course, there's lots of sub-fields and specializations in law, but there's enough variety to make me happy. I don't see myself becoming a trial lawyer (in part because I don't like to pander to a jury, or the judge for that matter. I don't even think I want to be in a courtroom, because I see the judiciary as but one actor in a complicated machinery of making society function. I'm much more concerned with being in a position where my efforts will have maximal impact - crafting enabling legislation that will help institutions become more efficient, writing amicus briefs to the highest court in a landmark legislation (though note that I wouldn't want to argue that case myself - this requires years of specialization), organizing a grassroots movement to, say, support public financing of campaigns (the reform that makes all other reform possible!). Like Wyatt, I also deal with what I can't see and thus have to imagine. Law deals with categories of permissible conduct, impermissible conduct, mutually exclusive jurisdictions, overlapping jurisdictions, etc. To help me make sense of laws, I like to visualize a sphere that contains the conduct in question. Everything outside it is excluded, or is impermissible. As the law changes, some conduct is added, some deleted, other spheres may overlap, absorb, be absorbed, merge, split off, or the entire mechanism may be scrapped in favor of starting from scratch - as when tort liability for medical malpractice is disfavored for malpractice medical boards, for example. Law for me involves logic, theory, application, history, politics, justice, and humanity. I couldn't think of a better profession.

I think business is the best thing. For INTJs, I think learning about how to be good in relationships is a very interesting process. As business is about relationships and relationships is a pretty much never ending flow of new information, that should keep you interested. The goal is big enough; the challenge is big enough.

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INTJ Personal Development - www.whatithinkabout.com

Yes. I do kind of bore easily, although I stay in my careers because I have bills to pay. I worked in broadcast journalism for 11 years...five as a radio announcer, and the last six as a news producer and assignment editor. I also worked as a copy writer for an internet firm for a few months. Right now, I'm working as a reasearcher and have been doing so for two years. I enjoy learning about different things, but I've gotten bored because we're starting to do the same things over and over again.

>>100% N<<

The assessment does not "measure" how much "N" you have.

All the scores reveal is how confident you are that you have a given preference.

The lower the score, the greater the possibility the result might really be the other letter; the higher the score, the more likely it is that you have gotten the correct letter. However, it happens all the time that somebody is dead certain they prefer something that they don't!

No personality test is capable of testing "how much" of a cognitive process you have -- in fact, the very idea doesn't make any sense. It would be like wondering how "toenail" or "ear" you are. It isn't even logical.

Take it from a professional facilitator who is MBTI qualified and certified, and has over a decade's worth of experience.

I'm curious about this too, because boredom has been a problem for me. I also was a teacher for several years, and am similarly high on the N scale.

For the past couple years I've had my own contracting business. As this amounts primarily to little more than manual labor, it is ineluctable death to an INTJ, who needs to feed his brain with fairly constant supply of fresh ideas.

Although teaching is not as intelectually stimulating as learning, a good solution for you may be to work for a PhD and then get a professorship: the teaching is more advanced and less rote, and then there's the opportunity to conduct your own research.

I would probably go this route myself, but I have a large family to raise. For the present, making music is a way to keep myself occupied. . .

I'm in the same situation. I'm 52 y/o now. Too old to continue my landscaping business. Started a consulting business but it will never be a huge money maker. Have no savings, no retirement...and now I'm trying to find something else I can do that I will be successful at.

I feel a bit out of my league here to offer advice?opinions? (being infj) but I find that INTJs do well in careers that match the theoretic with some practical -based (read: instant gratification) job. I have several really close INTJ friends and I've noticed that the ones working in jobs that do not have a real-world immediate outcome are *not* as happy...

my INTJ friends that ARE happiest are in the following jobs:
1) electrical engineer (like Wyatt) :-)
2) helping to create various start-ups
3) an INTJ returning to school to study environmental science (after having an earlier career in business) (the process of re-generation) :-)

these areas seem to keep the INTJ's mind stimulated enough (with a balance of theory and immediacy of result) ... so that boredom, depression, and/or getting sucked into the weakest/achillies heal 4th function of Extroverted sensory does not overtake their own self containment & inner strength...

INTJs have a lot of drive (this is an understatement, of course) (smile) ... to create... to do the right thing... to make their impact....to achieve

but the goal needs to match their ability... and so.. often boredom sets in :-(

I think that another area of excellent mind-engagement & real-world outcome is in the area of law (as *i think?* Unsu... mentioned)
(not as lawyer per se...but perhaps as a judge)

Under the tough-as-nails outer strength... I have found that INTJs have an amazing depth of justice, fairness, and compassion!

(probably why I feel so safe and in admiration of my friends) :-)

In regards to why I would recommend studying to become a judge rather than lawyer.... it is because I think that INTJs DO need their privacy ...and do not like pandering to people ...or selling themselves so much....which is a common reality as a lawyer... I think ENTPs make great lawyers, however)

my other INTJ friends that are NOT so happy in the following jobs:
1) software engineer ( i have two friends in this field - one owns his own company and both are completely stressed out every day)
2) theoretical mathematician (he is ok but stressed & bored all the time)
3) chemistry work
--
I don't know if the ones that are stressed out & bored is related to their work or their inner emotional situations...

but I began to suspect ..
that (while INTPs do very well in very structured but very theoretical fields) there is a real need for some immediate gratification for INTJs in their work...which might be related to the fourth shadow Se function-- (i don't think this is unhealthy...just natural)

An INTJ who is passionate about their work... is a fairly happy autonomous INTJ...

An INTJ who feels a void/ boredom in work... is likely to find other ways to fill the void :-(
(ex: sensory gratification.....of which they will not necessarily be satisfied with anyway)

wow- that was a long one!

sorry guys/gals :-(

anyway,
hope everyone finds their niche!!

It seems like there are a lot of us flailing about in our careers...I've been a nurse for many years (never wanted to be one-I just fell into it). I've worked in way over a dozen different areas/specialties and don't care for any of them. I graduated from law school--but was already bored working in 2 law firms during school. Now I'm looking for something I can tolerate for a couple years until I change jobs/careers again. I have decided that my career is "looking for a career". It's extremely comforting to see that there are others like me out there - I have always been seen as unstable or flighty - even though I have always excelled at whatever I have tried.

Hi Kristin,

I have the same problem as you being an INTJ (don't remember the percentage bit).

However, I seem to bouce from one thing to another. I just don't have a clue.

Considering the world of project/programme management rather than just management itself because you can get contracts that change every 3 years or so...the theory is that different workplace different project will minimise the likelihood of getting bored?! Might be worth you considering.

I may be wrong though, so any comments to back me up / let me know if I'm wrong would be great.

I worked for HP notebook technical support as a support technician - this was a very enjoyable job at first - it allowed me to use logical thinking to address technical issues - eventually i created logic paths and process that could resolve any issues we encountered - held this position for a year and became bored with it.

Got promoted to second level support (basically assisting level one techs) which was great once again because:

- i could take the process's i developed and teach them to other people

- instead of resolving 10 - 15 technical issues a day, i would resolve 70 to 100 (i just came up witht he solution and made the level one do
all the work of implementing it)

Once again after a year, this became so boring

Got promoted to a trainer where i would train new hires and provide recursive training to current employees. challenging role at first but after doing a few classes it was boring. So i decided to observe and then improve the training material and process's, but the company had issue in the higher level of management with recognizing that a little peon as myself could come up with ways of doing things better then them.

so once again- time to move on - this time into a management position - i was so bored with technical issue that i though people issues would be challenging - i quickly realized that people issues are illogical and it made my brain hurt at some of the stupidest and most irrelevant things that i would have to deal with when it came to people issues. (example: i don't want to hear that you wont follow this process because your dog died 2 years ago. wtf does you dog have to do with your job - god people issues are annoying as hell)

anyway - every career , position, company i have ever worked for has become boring after a year. - only logical solution = continue charging jobs every year - its working so far

YES! Yes! And yes! I have given up on the idea of finding the "perfect" career. I started of in retail - boring; I found earth sciences interesting while at university, but field work is not interesting. I drifted into the world of business (parental influence) - accounting and finance. Dreadful stuff! I worked as an auditor, slide into the investment field, and eventually into the insurance field. I had another friend who suggested computer programming. So, I went down that road. The logical process is interesting. After my training in programming, I picked up a job teaching at the same college. I've been teaching computer applications and business for 13 years. I'm 53 now and I have been searching for the "perfect" career for decades. As others have already posted, I quickly learn "everything" that is "worth" learning about the job or field and the the bordom sets in. The life-time of a job usually is between 1 to 3 years and then the quiet desperation begins.

Yes, I am INTJ. Although, I tend to be very close the the center point between J and P.

Science & engineering, ideally the two combined together.
There are so many hard problems, you'll never get bored :)

Yes. so I am not the only one this happens too.
I have not found that career and thats what I am worried about with college and my major how to be sure I will enjoy it.

You know something.... this thread really got me thinking.

One day, I decided to think hard about who I'd like to be in the shoes of and what I would truly love to get a career in.

The one person that came to mind was simply David Attenborough.

Now, although he is a very fortunate man and very unique I still felt like doing the kind of thing he is doing. Zoology and Anthropology. The study of wildlife and humans has always come naturally to me and I'd enjoy every day of it as a career.

Is that something an INTJ would say? I'm supposed to be INTJ but the idea of spending my life as an 'Engineer' actually bores me.