PSYCHOLOGICALLY SAVVY

You might have described yourself as a "people person" in the past, but there are many layers to your personality beyond just being friendly. You are wise, dynamic, and have a deep understanding of psychology and the human experience. You have emotional intelligence and can interpret subtle nuances in people’s communication that other people might not even notice.

You understand that being good with people is all about communication. You’re incredibly empathetic. You have great communication skills and can problem solve through listening, speaking, or writing. When you speak, you deliver information in crystal clear language. You're observant of people's behaviors and naturally understand how to support their ability to resolve problems or develop to their full potential.

You have high emotional IQ – the ability to understand and manage your emotions so you can empathize with other people and notice complex social cues that signal the need to problem solve effectively. You're good at understanding issues from other people's point of view and can adjust to situations in order to resolve situations that are stressful or challenging.

Not every social person enjoys working directly face-to-face with people every day, but even if you’re an introvert, you understand the psychology of how people make choices, build relationships, and engage with each other. Even if you prefer to work alone, you like observing people and working on projects that relate to communication or the human experience. You have the ability to understand perspectives that are different from your own and this allows you to understand how to work toward a resolution on larger social problems, customer issues, or know how people might interact with technology.

You understand that people are complex, fascinating beings and your people and communication skills are highly developed and multifaceted. Don't let anyone downplay these as "soft skills" or "people skills." You have the ability to navigate the most complex system in the universe and can simultaneously comprehend and problem solve the elaborate algorithms of human interaction.

Don't believe the stereotypes about social people only being suited to client-facing roles – it’s actually the opposite. You’re suited for any career path because almost every profession has a social element to it. For example, software engineering is a job that requires creating software for humans to use, so it's important to know how to write code that will translate to a better experience for the people using it on the other end.

Although the stereotypical professions for people who score high in the social personality type are jobs like psychologist, social worker, or teacher, you are not limited to those career paths.

As a social person, you can do anything, but it has to be through the perspective of human experience. For example, the tech industry might not seem like a place for social people to flourish, but it’s actual the opposite. Because technology is mostly created for people to use, it is a very human-focused profession.

It’s a misconception that career paths like software engineering are anti-social when they’re very collaborative by nature (people often share code with each other on teams and help each other problem solve). Also, the problems in technology are often understanding psychology of human behavior and how people interact with computers. This is just an example of one industry, but it’s important to think outside of the stereotypes and look at how your personality can fit with different career paths.

Another aspect of the social personality that is often overlooked is the potential for growth into leadership. Many social people have natural leadership skills that can evolve as they gain more experience in their careers. It’s a misconception that a focus on collaboration is not a leadership skill. Good leaders are empathetic and tuned in to group decision making. If you’re a social person it might be good to consider growing into a leadership role over time (but only if you want to – you’re in charge of your career!)

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