Empowering career search and enrichment

Written by Catherine Rains

Someone who prefers Feeling usually starts most conversations and/or meetings with a personal topic. Establishing a personal connection with anyone they do business with is paramount to them wanting to do business with that person in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, they also want to get to the point of a meeting and get things done just like someone who prefers Thinking. But they would prefer to establish a personal connection first, and do business second. Someone who prefers Thinking wants to get business done first and talk personal second. But both preferences DO both. It’s all a matter of where each preference likes to start. So what behavioral cues make it obvious that someone prefers Feeling, other than they might start a conversation with a personal topic? They:

• Might start the conversation by asking how you feel
• Often respond to a compliment with a longer personal narrative about what was complimented about 
• Sometimes speak about what they feel, appreciate, and value 
• Might begin a sentence with the phrase “I feel…” 
• Could ask about how others have decided about something 
• Often begin emails with personal questions or commentary, maybe even add a :)
• Usually smile at you, shake their head up and down, validating what you are saying
• Sometimes indicate they are interested in a career that will help others in some way
• Could be very open and generous in their compliments and appreciation of you
• Sometimes look for ways to support what you are saying

So what have I missed? I’m sure you can come up with a few dozen more Feeling cues!

*It is important to understand that you cannot assess a person's type based merely on type cues; having the person take an assessment and giving them a proper interpretation is always recommended. The point of the blog is to try to understand how to pick up on certain type cues when in the absence of giving someone an assessment and self-verification, such as in a job interview.