Finding a Nice Major
“This curriculum will make you a nice person but not a very good business woman.” That’s what my college advisor told me after I had painstakingly searched the course directory to select all the Economics classes that didn’t have a math requirement and would still allow me to graduate with a degree. That was a sign of things to come. I made a (literal and figurative) career out of trying to make myself fit into something that I thought I was supposed to be instead of pursuing who I am. So much of my college experience was focused on just getting out and getting to work. I never really gave much consideration to what I actually wanted to do much less what I liked doing. That seemed like a luxury for kids who didn’t have student loans. I had to make money. I had been told in order to do so I needed to get a job in “business” - whatever that is?
But it caught up with me like it does for so many others. We can only go so long grinding the edges off our square pegs to fit into those round holes before we become depressed, frustrated, and lose our self-esteem. After years of forcing myself to work in jobs that didn’t allow me to use my natural strengths and in environments that were toxic to my productivity, I become convinced I was incompetent. I had no idea what I was “good” at and couldn’t see that what I do naturally, what comes as second nature, has value.
A very dear and gifted career counselor administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to me in 2011 when I had hit a wall (one of several). Oh, I had taken it before - through work. Who hasn’t? I thought the 16 MBTI Types concept was really interesting, but my Type didn’t seem to capture me. It didn’t resonate because it wasn’t me. I had answered the questions according to how I thought my employer wanted me to answer them versus how I would answer them. The career counselor helped guide me through the MBTI to help me find my true Type. The insights I gained have been invaluable. It gave vocabulary to my strengths, highlighted what I need to be at my best, and a new lens to see myself in relationships and the workplace.
I’ve always been so jealous of those kids that knew exactly what the wanted to be from the start. It’s a rare gift. Looking back, it seems absurd to have an 18 year old choose a major that dictates what they will do for 45 years! I can’t commit to what I want to wear most mornings. For those of us that don’t have such self-knowledge or perhaps haven’t had our gifts nurtured, the MBTI can help you connect with and embrace those unique edges on your square peg that make you you.
My college advisor wasn’t entirely wrong. And, I do hope, at the very least, I became a nice person.
Tiffaney Peroutka, University of Virginia, Class of 94’, B.A. Economics (with a concentration in being nice)
If you are struggling with deciding on a major, making a career change or just trying to reinvent your next chapter, I’d love to help. Schedule a free consultation to discuss how the MBTI might give you some clarity.