Empowering career search and enrichment

Written by Patrick L. Kerwin, MBTI® Master Practitioner

Sometimes, despite your best efforts to keep yourself chill for the holidays, at work, family reunions, etc., you can feel yourself going down that slippery slope of being totally stressed out. One of the ways you know you’re headed in that direction is when you start “overdoing” your personality type. And every type has its own “special” way of doing that! Find yours below, and watch for those signs…


ISTJ and ISFJ: Obsessing about details
INTJ and INFJ: Over-swirling about connections and possibilities
ISTP and INTP: Over-focusing on finding logical conclusions
ISFP and INFP: Over-analyzing how you’re feeling

ESTP and ESFP: Being obsessively active
ENFP and ENTP: Bouncing from one possibility to another to another
ESTJ and ENTJ: Overly-controlling situations and people
ESFJ and ENFJ: Over-focusing on creating harmony and pleasing others

Often just recognizing that you’re overdoing it is enough to get you off of that slippery slope!

Written by Catherine Rains

The main difference between the authentic MBTI® tool (published by CPP and no one else) and a knock-off version of the MBTI is the reliability and validity of each. The knock offs aren’t based on sound research, or usually any research at all, nor is the scoring method, so students will get inaccurate results much more often, up to 50% of the time. The reason some faculty and counselors love using the knock-offs, besides the fact they are usually cheaper, is that they think they are getting as accurate type with a knock off as with the real MBTI. Why do they think this? Simple – they take the knock off MBTI themselves to see if it comes up with their type, and lo and behold it does, 100% guaranteed! Problem with this validation method is that once you know your MBTI type, you can take the most invalid MBTI knock-off and still come up with your type. For instance, once you are clear that you have a preference for Extraversion, you will easily identify E/I questions, even poorly written ones, and you’ll almost always answer them in the E direction. Students who don’t know their type, on the other hand, will not have this level of self-knowledge, resulting in them being mistyped much more often and possibly making career decisions based on inaccurate information about their natural preferences.

Written by Patrick Kerwin
MBTI® Master Practitioner

So it’s that wonderful, magical time of year, when your thoughts turn to…finding that “perfect gift” for all the special people in your life! If you prefer “J,” you probably started thinking about this back in September, wanting to put your gift-purchasing plan in place. And if you prefer “P,” you probably have been playing around with some ideas, but will really start kicking your gift-buying into gear right before you give it! Both styles work – and whatever your preference, you can use type to find that truly perfect gift. Here’s how…

First, think about the “type” of person you’re buying for. And when I say “type,” I mean their “MBTI® type” (of course!). In particular, it’s helpful if you can figure out their two middle letters, as those letters influence what a person likes. If they’ve taken the MBTI instrument, then that’s a slam dunk: just ask them what their 4-letter type is. If they haven’t, here are some clues to what their two middle letters might be:

STs tend to be practical and logical.

SFs tend to be practical and sympathetic.

NFs tend to be innovative and empathetic.

NTs tend to be innovative and logical.

Second, think about the “type” of gift you buy: 

When you’re buying for STs, look for gifts that they would find practical and useful.  Often STs like gadgets – but useful ones.  For STs, that grill fork with a built-in digital thermometer might just be the perfect gift!
Hopefully these tips will make your gift-buying easier this season.  Happy shopping!