Careers for Highly-Agreeable Individuals
In this article, we will take a closer look at the “agreeable” personality trait. Characterized by those who are dutiful, compassionate and trusting, highly agreeable individuals will thrive in the right career.
In this article, we will take a closer look at the workplace strengths of an agreeable individuals. Based on these strengths, we will then explore what careers an agreeable individual may be well suited to. And, what career they may want to approach with caution.
Overview of the Agreeable Trait
When exploring personality using the Big Five, all of the five very different traits are considered. One of these five traits is “agreeableness”. People who score higher on agreeableness than any of the other traits will have particular strengths in the workplace, and therefore may be suited to particular careers. However, it is important to note that potential jobs for highly agreeable people could vary if that person has an additional strong trait.
As the name suggest, the agreeableness scale indicates how ‘agreeable’ (i.e., cooperative and understanding) a person is. At one end of the scale, someone who scores high on the agreeable scales tends to be very concerned about social harmony. These types of people are cooperative and tend to be friendly, compassionate, generous, kind and trusting. At the other end of the scale, individuals who score low on agreeableness tend to place their self-interest above getting along with others. They are generally unconcerned with the well-being of others and, as a result, can appear challenging, argumentative and competitive.
The Facets of Conscientious
Each of the Big Five personality traits are very broad and cover many personality-related terms. Due to this, each of the broad traits is measured by six more precise ‘facets’. Each facet is related to the other, but they are not identical and are measured on separate scales.
To give a deeper and more precise understanding of the agreeable trait, it is measured on the six facets (sub-scales within the test) of: trust, straightforwardness, altruism, compliance, modesty and tender-mindedness.
Career Considerations
Someone who is highly agreeable has many strengths, such as their compassion and cooperativeness. At work, they truly stand out because they have skills such as:
- Altruism. Highly agreeable individuals are interested in others. They care greatly about other people and are greatly concerned about their well-being.
- Easy-going. As they are cooperative, they tend to find it easy to go with the flow.
- Cooperative. Agreeable individuals are focused on social harmony. They are not overly competitive and, as a result, they tend to work cooperatively in teams
- Community-spirited. Agreeable individuals feel concern for their community and like to play an active role in the community.
Best Careers for Those who Score High on Agreeableness
Agreeable individuals tend to have a huge concern for the well-being of others. They greatly desire cooperation and will thrive in careers that have a cohesive and friendly environment. Careers as a religious leader, for example, are inline with these values.
A highly agreeable individual is most motivated by helping improve the well-being and lives of others. They are altruistic and compassionate and are likely to be best suited to careers that promote this. Based on this, agreeable individuals are likely to thrive as nurses, where they can work as part of a team to care for others. They are also likely to thrive as teachers, because they can build meaningful relations with students and leave a lasting impression. Similarly, working for non-profit organizations as a fundraiser is likely to leave an agreeable individual feeling fulfilled and enthused.
Worst Careers for Those who Score High on Agreeableness
Highly agreeable individuals want to connect emotionally with others. As a result, they are unlikely to thrive in careers, such as ones in finance, where they cannot form meaningful emotional connections. Agreeable individuals are also unlikely to feel fulfilled by careers where they have to work in an objective or logical way, such as computer programming or science. Finally, agreeable individuals don’t particularly like having to be direct and they seek to avoid conflict. As a result, careers as a lawyer or politician may stress them.
It is important to note that those at the opposite end of the scale, who score low on agreeableness, aren’t as concerned with the well-being of others. These types of people are likely to thrive in the sorts of careers that agreeable individuals will not do so well in.