Best Career for ESTP Personality Type

ESTP Personality Type Guide

To get detailed insights about your personality, you can take a free personality test at the end of this article. The test uses the latest advancements in artificial intelligence to give you deep insights into your personality.

This comprehensive personality guide will provide you with detailed information about the ESTP personality and the careers that suit this personality type. You can take our free AI-powered personality test, and learn more about your personality and find the career that is best for you.




Why You Need to Know Your Personality Type 

It’s important to understand that personality typing is not designed to pigeonhole a person or to say that one personality is better than another. Each personality has its unique characteristics. Personality typing is an empowering personal development tool that will help you to:   

  • Identify your strengths and weaknesses and understand your thoughts, feelings, and motivations.     
  • Make smarter education and career choices   
  • Be confident in a job interview  
  • Thrive in the workplace 
  • Network with others successfully 
  • Improve your relationships 

 

Introduction to Personality Typology  

ESTP Personality
Photo by Jordan Benton

Understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses, needs, and wants can help with:  

  • Identifying relevant opportunities  
  • Accessing career information  
  • Planning and taking career-related decisions  
  • Presenting oneself effectively to gain access to courses or jobs  
  • Networking and building relationships

The road to modern personality typology was first paved by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst. Based on his work, psychologists Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Briggs created the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The MBTI identifies 16 different personalities, and it’s one of the most popular methods of personality typing today.  

To explain how people differ in the way they use their personality preferences/cognitive functions, Myers and Briggs use the following four preferences for their self-evaluation personality assessment.

  1. Introversion (I) or Extraversion (E). Do you draw energy from your inner world or the outer world? 
  2. Sensing (S) or Intuition (N). How you receive information. Do you prefer to focus on information from your surroundings, or prefer to interpret and add your meaning? 
  3. Thinking (T) or Feeling (F). How you make decisions. Do you take a logical approach, or do you prefer to look at people and circumstances? 
  4. Judging (J) or Perceiving (P): How you interact with the outside world. Do you like to have things decided and organized, or remain open to new information and options? 

The letters assigned to each of the above four preferences make up a four-letter acronym for each of the 16 personality types. This simple coding system shows you how your four preferences interact, and which one you prefer to use first.  

How you use these preferences can change over time and some of these preferences may be used more often than others.  

For example, the ESTP personality type uses the following preferences in this order: extraversion, sensing, thinking, and perceiving. 

 

Personality Profile of the ESTP  

ESTPs are extroverts and they gain energy from being around people. Unlike introverts who like to spend time by themselves or with a few friends, ESTPs are gregarious people who love to socialize with a large group of friends.

 

ESTP Characteristics

ESTP Characteristics
Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

ESTPs are known by a few nicknames: “The Dynamo”, “The Entrepreneur”, “The Persuader”, and “The Daredevil”, because they are extremely energetic, charismatic, driven, innovative, and adventurous.  

ESTPs have excellent leadership abilities. People are naturally drawn to them because of their confidence, positivity, friendliness, and cheerful manner. They are often described as “fast-talkers because they are very clever at persuading others to do what they want. 

While they are fun-loving people, ESTPs are down-to-earth realists who take a logical approach to life. Gaining knowledge is important to them for practical purposes, but they prefer to learn through hands-on experience as opposed to reading books or attending college. 

Even though they like to party, they are disciplined, hard-working people. Once their eyes are firmly fixed on a goal, they’re unstoppable. You won’t find them sitting on the sidelines, or talking about what they’re going to do, they will be working with others to turn a goal into a reality. 

These thrill-seeking daredevils don’t play it safe. They are risk-takers and choose the road less traveled. While they are organized, they aren’t the best planners. Their plans are always subject to change because they want to keep their options open. Although their impulsivity has its merits, it can result in dangerous behavior and ESTPs can say things they later regret. 

Despite their easy-going nature, ESTPs are perfectionists, and they produce exceptional results. As they tend to set very high expectations for themselves, others can struggle to reach them.   

ESTPs believe their way is the right way, and often it is, but others may think they are just being stubborn, dogmatic, and arrogant. Quieter, introverted people can also find them to be overbearing, manipulative, and aggressive.  

It’s unusual for ESTPs to get depressed, but they will become stressed when they are isolated from others, not achieving their goals, someone criticizing their ideas, or they are forced to make quick decisions. When they get stressed, they will become withdrawn, distracted, paranoid, or even angry.   

There are so many benefits to be enjoyed from knowing an ESTP. You will appreciate their bright happy nature, solid work ethic, resourcefulness, and impressive humanitarian abilities.

 

Cognitive functions of ESTPs

Sensing  

ESTPs use their senses to receive a wide range of information from their surroundings, which means they are highly observant, detail-orientated people who notice the little things that others miss. Their senses help them to fully experience everything that is going on around them, so they are very good at reading people’s body language. 

Thinking  

ESTPs have a sharp, logical mind and they prefer to make decisions based on facts, details, and objective data rather than personal feelings, ideas, or abstract concepts.   

They like to consider all the facts before deciding and look for rational explanations for events.  




Perceiving 

The perceiving function helps ESTPs interact with the outside world. Instead of becoming anxious like an ESTJ would when their life is not well-organized, an ESTP is more flexible, adaptable, spontaneous, and happy to go with the flow. 

Being relaxed about things can pose a problem for others as ESTPs tend to change their plans quickly and can struggle to commit to responsibilities. Regardless of these characteristics, ESTPs are insightful perceivers who can anticipate people’s needs and fulfill them. 

In the workplace 

ESTPs enjoy working in a fast-paced vibrant workplace where there are plenty of opportunities for social interaction, but they can still work independently. They like to keep busy with a variety of tasks. If a job is not challenging enough, too theoretical, or doesn’t allow for spontaneity, they can get frustrated and bored. 

Charming and enthusiastic, ESTPs are great at motivating people to achieve a common goal. When a project needs to be completed, they will gather people together and get them excited about it. They’ll provide clear instructions and expectations, so everyone knows exactly what to do.  

ESTPs shine when it comes to crisis management. They stay calm, quickly assess the situation, and think on their feet. They will come up with a clever solution that no one else has thought of; an idea that is both easy to implement and efficient. They may even disregard rules and procedures to deal with the crisis in the best possible way.  

Because they are so immersed in the present, ESTPs can get impatient with others who focus on the big picture. They can also struggle to focus on one thing for a long time because new opportunities might be just around the corner. Even though they are organized, their flexible nature can cause problems for people who like to follow a strict plan. 

 

In relationships 

Creating social harmony is what ESTPs do best. They want everyone to be happy but if there is tension in the air or people are not having a good time, they will spread joy and laughter until the mood is congenial again.   

Others can have misconceptions about these social butterflies. They may interpret their carefree attitude as shallowness or think that nothing upsets them. However, there is more to an ESTP than just a happy face.  

ESTPs want to be the center of attention, but they have no interest in deep philosophical discussions or sharing their deepest feelings. Other people’s well-being is their focus. Regardless of their reluctance to talk about serious things, they will encourage you and provide common sense advice.  

Sometimes their sociableness can be used to mask their troubles, so ESTPs need to be reminded that frivolity and humor are only temporary solutions. More serious issues should be shared with trusted confidants, so they can have good mental/emotional health. 

ESTPs value truth and honesty and they have very good communication skills. However, they can be quite blunt when expressing their thoughts or opinions, so they can appear insensitive, inconsiderate, or rude. They are fiercely protective of those who are closest to them, but their love of freedom can cause problems in longer-term relationships.  

Overall, it’s very rewarding having an ESTP for a friend. Their passion for life is contagious and they know how to get the most out of life. 

 

ESTP Strengths and Weaknesses 

Strengths 

  • Outdoing 
  • Approachable 
  • Friendly 
  • Cheerful 
  • Funny 
  • Witty 
  • Gregarious 
  • Sociable 
  • Energetic 
  • Enthusiastic 
  • Exciting 
  • Bold 
  • Adventurous 
  • Charming 
  • Charismatic 
  • Excellent leadership abilities 
  • Skilled communicators 
  • Persuasive 
  • Influential 
  • Positive 
  • Logical 
  • Rational 
  • Observant 
  • Open-minded 
  • Spontaneous 
  • Flexible 
  • Adaptable 
  • Easy-going 
  • Active 
  • Practical 
  • Resourceful 
  • Aesthetic 

 

Weaknesses 

  • Impulsive 
  • Overly dramatic at times 
  • Easily bored 
  • Insensitive 
  • Dogmatic 
  • Stubborn 
  • Overly perfectionistic 
  • Can be blunt and rude 
  • Can engage in risky behavior 
  • Has trouble with a long-term commitment 
  • Can be unreliable 

 

Careers That Will Suit ESTPs

 

ESTP Careers
Photo by cottonbro

ESTPs are highly versatile people who can fit in almost anywhere, but there are specific careers that will benefit from their fantastic strengths, talents, and skills.   

Because they have smart interpersonal skills and endless enthusiasm, ESTPs will thrive in customer-focused industries like sales, marketing, advertising, IT, customer service, retail, hospitality, and travel. 

Light-hearted, engaging, and always ready with a joke or a funny story, ESTPs are perfect for the entertainment industry. 

As they are practical, action-oriented, and strategic problem-solvers, they will do well in construction, emergency services, law enforcement, and the sporting industry. 

Popular ESTP careers 

  • Computer support technician 
  • Telemarketer 
  • Marketing assistant 
  • Paramedic 
  • Police officer 
  • Sales agent 
  • Property manager 
  • Retail manager 
  • Entrepreneur 
  • Restaurant owner 
  • Financial adviser 
  • Bank manager 
  • Stockbroker 
  • Firefighter 
  • Detective 
  • Police officer 
  • Paramedic 
  • News reporter 
  • TV host 
  • Sports coach 
  • Events promoter 
  • Radio and television host 
  • Mechanic 
  • Carpenter 
  • Airline pilot 
  • Air steward 
  • Travel Consultant 
  • Dancer 
  • Performer 
  • Comedian 
  • Actor 
  • Interior designer 
  • Chef 
  • Bartender 
  • Photographer 
  • Fitness instructor 
  • Athlete 




Conclusion  

Positive, affirming, and exciting, it’s hard to stay sad when you are around ESTPs. They will inspire you with their entrepreneurial spirit. Motivate you to achieve your potential. Challenge you to take more risks. Wherever they work or live, these jovial people make the workplace and the world a better place. 

To see if you are an ESTP, our free personality test that uses ground-breaking artificial intelligence will give you fast and accurate feedback. This test will also reveal amazing things about your personality and help you find your perfect career.

16 Personality Types Test Using Artificial Intelligence

16 Personality Types Test Using Artificial Intelligence

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Based in Sydney, Diana has worked as a freelance writer for over 5 years. She is passionate about writing and helping people reach their full potential and to live a more successful life.