29 Best ESTJ Careers in 2024 (incl. Which to Avoid)
ESTJs are honest, hard-working, and responsible individuals that like to keep things in order.
The best ESTJ careers are in the military or law enforcement due to their commitment to order.
Fulfilling ESTJ Career Qualities
ESTJs are driven by the need to bring everyone together and provide leadership and guidance to all.
The perfect career for an ESTJ is most likely as a political leader or a supervisor.
ESTJs can be great politicians or CEOs of companies as they are organized and possess extraordinary leadership skills.
1. Reliability
People with the ESTJ personality type are reliable individuals known for being true to their word.
If they are handed over a task, they do not abandon it and carry it to completion.
Since they keep their word, they become trusted members of whatever organization they work for.
Critical jobs like that of an Air Traffic Controller require due diligence and reliability.
Working as an Air Traffic Controller can be one of the best careers for ESTJs as their reliability can be counted on.
2. Decisiveness
ESTJ talents include making choices and decisions, overlooking emotions, based on pure logic and facts.
They are able to take into account all the factual data and analyze the situation in no time. This makes analytical jobs that require a lot of problem-solving perfect jobs for ESTJs.
The best job for ESTJ is, for example, a judge, as it requires making decisions based on facts that could change the course of another person’s life.
3. Leadership
ESTJs are natural-born leaders who are hard workers themselves and are able to steer their subordinates to work as efficiently as they do.
They like keeping things organized and if they take up a task, they strive to take it to perfection.
Their leadership qualities, along with their reliability and decisiveness, make them great supervisors.
The perfect job for ESTJ personality would be operating as the CEO of a company, as it is a job with great power and even greater responsibility.
4. Honesty
ESTJs are one of the most honest and trustworthy of all personality types.
They are completely straightforward and do not bother to sugarcoat anything, even if it may affect the other person.
People with the ESTJ personality type may come off as harsh at times as they are not diplomatic.
Armed Forces or Military tops the list of ESTJ careers because the honesty and forthrightness they possess are valued in the military.
Best Careers for ESTJs
ESTJs are fond of keeping things in order and are committed to the hierarchy in the organization.
They strictly follow the rules, adhere to the structure, and expect their colleagues to do the same.
The best career for ESTJs is in the police or armed forces because they possess all the qualities essentially required there.
- Air Traffic Controller
- Auditor
- Budget Analyst
- Building Inspector
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Information Officer
- Civil Engineer
- Cost Estimator
- Entrepreneur
- Factory Supervisor
- Financial Planner
- Firefighter
- Fitness Instructor
- General Contractor
- Hotel Manager
- Insurance Agent
- Land Developer
- Mechanical Engineer
- Military Officer
- Police Officer
- Property Manager
- Real Estate Broker
- Restaurant Owner
- Sales Manager
- Stockbroker
- Surveyor
- School Headmaster
- Judge
- Politician
Draining ESTJ Career Qualities
People with the ESTJ personality type tend to have a liking for organization, stability, and security.
Jobs that do not offer stability and security are generally not the best jobs for ESTJs.
The careers for ESTJs to avoid are generally in the creative field as it does not offer the stability and order ESTJs yearn for.
1. Unconventional
ESTJs are conventional in their approach and try to stick with something that has been working rather than trying a new way of doing it.
They may feel burdened when forced to operate in unconventional settings.
Jobs that are dynamic and require the workers to be able to operate in a variety of settings are not good jobs for ESTJs.
A career as an Artist is not an ESTJ career match as it does not offer the comfort of a convention to them.
2. Inflexibility
People with the ESTJ personality type embrace order, stability, and security.
The way they stick to the conventional methods and refuse to experiment makes them come off as rigid or inflexible.
ESTJs are not big fans of spontaneity, and jobs that require being impromptu may not be the best careers for ESTJs.
Freelance jobs are among the ESTJ jobs to avoid as they do not follow a fixed schedule and require a lot of creative experimenting and spontaneity.
3. Judgement
ESTJs believe that they have a strong understanding of the rights and wrongs in society.
People with the ESTJ personality type think that there is only one right path and fail to recognize other alternate paths.
They feel the moral obligation to correct everyone’s behavior according to their understanding.
The need to mention and correct everybody makes them come off as judgemental and rude.
ESTJs should avoid getting into fashion designing as it is a profession with no room for judgemental people.
4. Empathy
ESTJs are so focused on factual data and logic that they may sometimes overlook emotions.
They like being respected by their subordinates and generally do not pay heed to how they feel.
ESTJs fail miserably both at understanding the emotions of others as well as expressing their own.
A career as a Therapist is the top ESTJ career to avoid because it requires a deep understanding of emotions and the ability to empathize with others.
Worst Careers for ESTJs
The ESTJ careers list encompasses a lot of variety as they are hard-working and reliable individuals who can fit into a variety of roles.
ESTJs like their lives in order, so careers that do not offer stability may be the worst careers for ESTJs.
Working as an artist or a musician are poor ESTJ career matches as they are too open-ended and unstable careers.
- Choreographer
- Craft Artist
- Family Therapist
- Musician
- Organizational Psychologist
- Public Health Nurse
- Writer
ESTJ On a Team
ESTJs at work are responsible, hard-working individuals who love to keep things organized and are strict followers of the rules and regulations.
People having the ESTJ personality are great at communicating with others and using their combined abilities to get things done.
They are honest and loyal subordinates which makes it easier for their leader or supervisor to trust them.
ESTJs not only make sure that their work is up to the mark, but they also check if their efforts and work ethic are reciprocated by their colleagues.
They are definitely team players and every team loves to have ESTJs on their side.
ESTJ As a Leader
ESTJs are natural-born leaders and they find all the work that goes into leading or managing a team fulfilling.
They are hard workers who don’t shirk responsibilities and have the same expectations from their subordinates.
Although they are efficient leaders, they try to exercise unconditional authority and may come off as inflexible or harsh at times.
ESTJs do not hesitate in leading their teams through high-stress situations and make sure that their purpose is fulfilled.
They are quick to disapprove of something if it is not benefitting the team.
Overall, ESTJs are great leaders who make sure that everything is organized and operating as efficiently as possible.
