Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, Judging is the full form of ESTJ, one of the sixteen personality types. ESTJ is one of the 16 personality types identified by the Myers – Briggs Type Indicator, which is also known as MBTI and created by Kathrine Briggs and Isabel Myers. ESTJ stands for a motivated and energized person by the time spent with others (Extraverted), focusing on concrete details rather than abstract ideas and concepts (Sensing). It also indicates a person who decides based on logic and reasons rather than feelings (Thinking) and likes working in an organized and planned manner rather than spontaneously (Judging).
People belonging to the ESTJ category are often described as people who like to take charge. The people belonging to ESTJ are always very assertive (forceful or bold personality) and are very concerned about how things would turn out. Thus still making sure to see if things are running smoothly and according to the rules. These people are always bound to the laws, traditions, and standards and prefer to follow them religiously. These people often have strong beliefs and possess sensible judgment, and expect other people to uphold and follow these principles. ESTJs cannot perform well when seeing a lack of organization in an institution and often take the initiative to establish processes and guidelines to know what is expected of them or what they are expected to play.
According to David Keirsey, the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS) creator believes or suggests that the people belonging to the ESTJ personality type is the ‘Guardian Supervisor,’ one of the four Guardian Archetypes.’ A Guardian Supervisor is a person who is Responsible (dependable and dutiful right from birth, they rarely question authority and do what needs to be done.), Honorable (they bring a sense of honor and duty to any aspect of theirs, whether their work or relationship with colleagues, family, and friends. They are the good citizens who are being viewed for fulfilling their duties.), Structured (they are very organized and good at scheduling orders with precision and always pay attention to the details and keep an on the fact whether the work has been completed properly or not.), Forceful (Supervisors are not only eager to work according to the rules but they are also eager to enforce them on others or their team member and make sure that their team members are up to the mark that they have set for themselves.), Authoritative (Their hard work pays off when they acquire the position of a leader and being a leader comes with duties and some privileges. Like being a leader has some obligations that they need to follow and some benefits when they order around and make sure that the work has been completed properly.), and Experienced (Supervisors rise to the position of a leader with lots of hard work and many years of service. They don’t gain a leader’s job through any short cuts but purely through their hard work and precision that they follow while working.).
Important ESTJ Characteristics
- People belonging to the ESTJ personality type are often orthodox in their approach to life, and thus they can sometimes be considered stubborn, rigid, and unyielding. Meaning they are not very open to changes in life.
- It is often easy for ESTJs to gain leadership positions with their take-charge attitude and hard work.
- ESTJs are very confident and have strong convictions, which often help them put their plans into action and excel in everything they do. Sometimes, this characteristic might put them in difficult positions where they may be considered overly critical and aggressive when other people might fail to live up to their standards.
- ESTJs are very frank and honest when it comes to sharing their opinions, which can be considered overly analytical and extremely critical.
- ESTJs are often defined as people whole are predictable, stable, committed, and practical. They are also very hardworking and don’t like lacking behind.
- Individuals with ESTJ Personality types are repeatedly considered people who give a lot of importance to traditions, rules, and security. Also, these people believe in maintain the status quo so that their image is always maintained and that it is not tarnished at any cost.
- ESTJs often tend to be involved in civic duties, working in government offices and community organizations.
- ESTJs are very hardworking and dependable in school and work situations. They never fail to follow directions or instructions and never question the authority. Instead, they are often regarded as the defenders of power or people with a great deal of honor and respect.
- People belonging to the ESTJ personality type are very punctual about completing their work and rarely complain about the work they have to do or the authority under which they work.
Strengths and Weakness of ESTJs
Strengths:
- Practical and Realistic – People belonging to the ESTJ personality type are often practical and realistic, meaning they do not like relying on their emotions. Instead, they like taking a stand and fight their emotions and look at the brighter and more appropriate aspects of life.
- Dependable – Like already mentioned, ESTJs are very responsible, meaning they are very reliable.
- Hard Working – ESTJs are very hardworking and don’t like lacking behind because of laziness. They can also be considered workaholics because of their hardworking traits.
- Traditional – People belonging to the ESTJ personality type like sticking to their roots, and thus they are very traditional. They don’t forget their roots or the place from where they have come, and therefore they may even be called people with orthodox thoughts.
- Self – Confident – ESTJs are confident about themselves and their work, which might be one reason for their success, and they are being offered the leader’s position in an organization.
- Strong Leadership skills – ESTJs possess strong leadership qualities because they are hardworking, reliable, dependable, and practical.
- Dedication and commitment – No one can blame an ESTJ for lacking in their work and responsibilities because they always tend to give 110% to their work and responsibilities. They would even go the extra mile and sacrifice their personal time to complete their work on time. Thus they are also very punctual.
- Stewardship – People with ESTJ are often regarded as the gatekeepers of society because of their responsible character and always upholding the standard and clear picture of what is correct and what is not. They are often looked upon for being the people who respect and follow the law and the authority without really questioning them.
Weakness:
- Insensitive – ESTJs are hardworking and often very frank in sharing their opinions about others. Thus they are repeatedly regarded as cold people.
- Inflexible – When it comes to working or any other aspects of life, they can be very inflexible, meaning not keeping many options open to others when they work with them. Also, they like completing their task on time, thus being inflexible while increasing the deadline for others.
- Argumentative – Because people belonging to the ESTJ personality type are often practical and realistic and like to stick to their traditions, they can often face opposition from other people, which might, in return, be the cause of an argument.
- Bossy – ESTJs possess strong leadership skills, and thus they also know how to boss around, and they often want their employees or colleagues to work hard and follow all the rules they follow while working. Thus, almost forcing them to listen to them may be considered bossy when they won’t fulfill the work up to the expectations of the ESTJs.
- Not good at expressing feelings – People with ESTJ personality type are often practical and realistic, which repeatedly leads them to be bad at expressing feelings for someone or something.
- Workaholics – While people with ESTJs have a solid ethic for which they are regularly appreciated. Still, sometimes they also fail to take a moment to appreciate life and enjoy to achieve perfection in their work. And their hardworking nature can be a little difficult for others as they might not be able to cope with the stress.
- They can’t take it easy: ESTJs always end up setting very high standards for themselves, often leading to an increased amount of stress. Luckily, they manage to rest at proper time intervals while also managing to complete their task on time.
The Myers
Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI) suggest that each personality type comprises several cognitive functions (refers to several mental abilities) like thinking, sensing, feeling, intuition, learning abilities, problem-solving, decision making, and many more.
Other than the cognitive function, two more functions play an important role in developing a personality type. First is the Dominant function, which plays a primary role in the formation of a personality. In contrast, the second one is the Auxiliary function that plays a supporting role in forming a personality type. Along with these two important functions, there are two more functions, also known as the tertiary and inferior function, which do not influence how people interact with the world. However, they are a part of the cognitive functions.
Dominant Function:
Extraverted Thinking (A function that focuses on a person’s decision-making abilities along with its logical and objective criteria). ESTJs are skilled at making the impersonal, objective, and impartial decisions while working or even outside work. And they are skilled at making impartial and objective decisions because while making decisions, they rely on objective information and logic rather than believing in their personal feelings regarding a particular person or work. To make rational and impersonal choices, they often tend to believe and focus on logic and facts rather than considering their own subjective feelings towards the person or topic.
People belonging to ESTJ personality types are efficient and rational in nature. They like seeing immediate effective results of the things that they have learned or are interested in. They like to be thorough with their theory of life or study as they dislike abstract and theoretical things. They enjoy learning concrete facts instead of abstract information. They are also swift and good at making decisive choices. Still, they may also rush to conclusions pretty soon without considering all the information regarding a particular situation. As already mentioned, there is a positive side to ESTJ people: they make good leaders. Still, it might also lead them to be considered harsh or abusive, meaning a person who misuses his/her position for their own benefits.
Auxiliary Function:
Introverted Sensing (It is an information-gathering function that focuses on the subjective, internal world of personal experience, which might also compare and contrast the past and the new experiences.) People with ESTJ have a good memory. They can remember things even with minute details. Because they have a good memory, their recalling power is also great, meaning they can easily compare and contrast and connect the new and past events or memories.
As people with ESTJ have introverted sensing, they are more focused on familiarity with things than with novelty. They being bound to rules and regulations, they don’t like working outside their decided boundary. And because they enjoy living life with routines and dislike working outside their set boundaries, they are often regarded as stubborn and unyielding.
Tertiary Function:
Extraverted Intuition (It is a type of information gathering where the people focus on the objective external world to find patterns and relationships between people, events, and things.) Like already mentioned, ESTJs like to learn new things and see their usage in the real world. Thus, the tertiary function in the personality helps them process and learn further information, look at the possible meaning and find their connections in the real world. This helps them understand that there might be more than one perspective attached to certain things, thus an opportunity to learn and analyze everything available. Extraverted Intuition compels people with ESTJ to explore their creativity as well.
Inferior Function:
Introverted Feeling (Introverted Feeling, often abbreviated as Fi) deals with personal feelings and emotions. Thus, when compared to extroverted feeling, Fi is often more personal, complex, and deep because the extroverted feeling doesn’t deal with one’s internal values or emotions. Instead, it focuses on how one reacts to their surroundings and environment.) When ESTJs use this function, they tend to make decisions based more on their feelings than logic. However, this is not a very common scenario for ESTJs because they are very rational while thinking. However, there might be incidents when they might allow their subjective feelings to override their subjective feelings. This function often operates on an unconscious basis because people with ESTJ make sure to give their emotions a lot of thought to don’t make any personal or partial decisions. They always try to be impersonal and impartial while making decisions.
In an Illustration by JB Bee, an estimated 8 to 12 percent of the population of the United States has an ESTJ personality.
The Best Careers for an ESTJ
People with ESTJ have great decision-making skills, make good leaders and appreciate rules and regulations, and like being organized; thus, they perform well in supervisory roles. They can even work well in management positions as they good with following procedures and also they are the people who like to stay bound to the law and authority.
ESTJ as a Leader
When an ESTJ works as a leader in an organization, they make sure that all the tasks are completed on time and without any errors, and the standards of the company are met through their quality of work. They make sure to express their opinions to the team members and what they expect from their members while working as a team. While working as a team leader, an ESTJ is highly organized and methodical to finish the work according to the company standards.
Because of their introverted sensing, they can compare their past and present memories and experience and use the knowledge accordingly. And because they have the capacity to make these comparisons, they often tend to trust their experience and may know how to deal with an uncertain future based on their past experiences.
ESTJs also trust and follow authority structures, thus quickly seeking a chance to set up a hierarchy. They are comfortable taking orders from their superiors and following the authority without questioning them and vice versa. They are also comfortable giving their inferiors orders and making sure that they are not asked and their demands are being followed.
People with ESTJ quickly make a reputation for themselves at work with their hardworking and organizing nature. Thus become the people who could be easily trusted and be depended on in times of need. Thus, an ideal job allows a person with ESTJ to use their organizational skills to produce a tangible product efficiently. People with ESTJ have a wide range of personality characteristics that help them excel in several careers.
Best careers for an ESTJ would be as follows:
- Stockbroker
- Chief Financial Officer
- Sales Engineer
- Sales Manager
- Project manager
- Auditor
- Attorney
- Funeral Director
- Restaurant Owner
- Judge
- Chef
- Vocational teacher
- Pilot
- Database Administrator
- Civil Engineer
- Industrial Engineer
- Mechanical Engineer
- Police Officer
- Military Officer
- Real Estate Agent
- Purchasing Agent
- Office manager
- Chief Information Officer
- Flight Engineer
- School Principal
- Budget Analyst
- Credit Analyst
- Hotel Manager
- Public Administrator
- Factory Supervisor
- Building Inspector
- Dentist
- Pharmacist
- Cost Estimator
- Property Manager
- General Contractor
- Paralegal
- Athletic Trainer
- Real Estate Appraiser
- Insurance Adjuster
Thus here the best forty careers mentioned best suitable for a person with ESTJ. The ideal work atmosphere for an ESTJ would be a company or job that offers a highly organized, clear set of instructions and an organized authoritative structure. ESTJs should look for a job that will allow them to explore their creativity and help them organize and follow a clear set of rules to complete the work on time and gain a desired result at the end.
Along with the list of the suitable careers for an ESTJ, there is also a list of jobs that an ESTJ should avoid at all costs like the position of Librarian, Veterinary Assistant, Child Care provider, Graphic Designer, Physical Therapist, Restaurant Host, Preschool Teacher, Recreation Worker, Nurse’s Aide, Art director, Artist, Musician, Psychologist, Cosmetologist, Social Worker, Social Scientist and a Writer. And people with ESTJ should avoid these careers because they would have work while giving more importance to emotions than being practical and rational.
Some of the famous ESTJs that everyone might know are:
- Lyndon .B. Johnson – Former U.S President
- Billy Graham – Evangelist
- Megyn Kelly – Journalist
- Alec Baldwin – Actor
- Darth Vader – A character from ‘Star Wars’
- Saddam Hussein – Politician / Leader
- Theresa May – Former British Prime Minister
- Benjamin Harrison – Former U.S President
- Michelle Obama – Former First Lady of U.S
- Eliot Ness – U.S law enforcement Agent
ESTJs and Personal Relationships: For people with ESTJ family is of utmost importance, they value their family a lot, and that is why they put great efforts into fulfilling their family duties and obligations. And because they have good memories, they remember socially important events like birthdays and anniversaries, thus not offending people by forgetting about their birthdays and anniversaries. They also look forward to attending social family functions like Birthdays, Anniversaries, Family Reunions, Weddings, Family Holidays, Class reunions, and several occasions.
People with ESTJ are very sociable. Thus, it is easy for them to make friends easily and enjoy with their friends by making involved in doing activities they like personally.ESTJs quickly forge a strong friendship with people who are stable with their emotions and can stick around for a long time; thus, they value dependability over anything else.
ESTJs are extroverts and thus are very outgoing. They can easily keep company with strangers and as well as enjoy spending time with everyone. They also can be very and boisterous in social situations and also enjoy being the center of attraction. Even though ESTJs are often considered opinionated, they can also be very dependable, trustworthy, and responsible while in a relationship. ESTJs are comfortable with partners who appreciate their hard work and efforts in a relationship and their nature of being responsible. Though people with ESTJ are very reliable, trustworthy, and dependable when it comes to being in a relationship, they can also be very impatient with their partner’s feelings.
ESTJs are very traditional, which is why they appreciate a relationship where their partner can help them live out their ideals and dream of traditional home life and wish for a connection on which they can rely on. ESTJ’s role as a parent is also very similar to their role as a leader because as a parent also they expect their child follow the rules and regulations set up by them, as well as they, are obvious in letting the child know about their expectations and roles that the child needs to play. And they prefer raising their children just like them, meaning hardworking, productive, observant, and punctual.
In a nutshell: ESTJ stands for the acronym Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging, one of the sixteen personality tests identified by Meyers – Briggs. And people belonging to the ESTJ personality type are usually outgoing and extrovert in nature. They also prefer being organized and punctual in their work and often perform well when given the position of leader. As leaders, they make sure that they follow and don’t question the authority and their inferiors doing the same. They are traditional people who find solace in family and friends. ESTJs also have a good memory and recall minute details. Although they believe in concrete details rather than abstract theories and some of the best careers for ESTJ would be that of a supervisor because they are often regarded as the “guardian Supervisor’ who is dependable and trustworthy.
Also read ISFJ Careers: Best Jobs for ISFJ personality
