EFFECT OFPERSONALITY TRAITS ON CAREER CHOICES

1. BUSINESS RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
SUBMITTED TO – DR. PRAGYA
KESARI
SUBMITTED BY

2. A STUDY ON TYPES OF PERSONALITY AND IT’S
IMPACT ON STUDENT CAREER CHOICES
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3. INTRODUCTION
The introduction of our research includes two variables or we can say two keywords -:
1) Career choices
2) Personality traits

4. CAREER CHOICES
 Career choice is a developmental process that extends throughout life; it involves not a
single decision but a series of decisions. Career decision is not just a matter of selecting
occupation that is good match with person’s characteristics, but in reality the process is a
lot more complicated.
 People desire to choose a profession that best fit to their own ability, to work in
accordance with the profession and to make a career in the profession throughout the
working life. Having a career gives the identity and status of the person.
 Career increases the individual's self-esteem, gives sense of belonging and facilitates to
establish a relationship with the other members of the society for these reasons, career is
important for individuals and this raises the issue of the right choice of a career.

5. FACTORS INFLUENCING CAREER CHOICES
 Parents’ Desire/Parental Pressure:
Choosing a career just to live up to the parents expectation is the most common decision taking by students
at an early stage, which they tend to regret later. Most of the students from business families are by default
expected to choose commerce and hence B.Com or BBA as their suited career course. Some who resist
submit to the parental pressure leading to an unsuccessful career graph. Such influences under the garb of
adhering to their guardians wish are considered unfruitful for the students in long run.
 Peer Persuasion:
This is the easiest way of getting away from taking self decision. Most of the students want to follow the
crowd to get to their destination. ‘Follow your friends’ is the most trending exercise visible during the
selection of a university/college. Majority choice is considered the best choice. This mindset has increased
the count in the mediocre group where students fail to succeed in their career and just keep on it with an
average performance.
 Past Performance:
This is in fact the most unjustified and distorted basis of analyzing one’s performance and interest area. In
India, we are not only churned in an old education system of rote learning but we believe in the numbers to
prove our caliber. This practice of determining one’s interest field based on one time exam performance has
often led to a wrong career decision.

6.  Potential:
Potential of a student can be legitimate criterion for choosing a career. Very few are able to
identify their potential and choose their subject of knowledge based on it. A career selected
the basis of one’s potential has greater prospect of assuring success.
 Placements:
We wish to choose a profession that can provide for our bread and butter. Placement
opportunities in a particular university are thus considered most important factor for the
students when they harp about their career choice. Good placement options are an important
motivation driver for students in their Career Planning.
 Personality :
Most of the people choose their interest field on the basis of their personality and character. It
can be the other way around also, when a career chooses them based on their personality.
personality includes not only the outward presentation of a student but the perception he/she
holds about society. A good communicator, who has good command on his/her language
is more inclined towards a mass communication stream. Similarly, a good leader who has the
capacity to influence masses chooses a management field. Personality traits always help in
deciding a good career, for it is easy to hone the skills we already acquire.

7. PERSONALITY
 Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking,
feeling and behaving. The study of personality focuses on two broad areas: One is
understanding individual differences in particular personality characteristics, such
as sociability or irritability. The other is understanding how the various parts of a
person come together as a whole.
 The word personality comes from the Latin word persona. In the ancient world, a
persona was a mask worn by an actor. While we tend to think of a mask as being
worn to conceal one’s identity, the theatrical mask was originally used to either
represent or project a specific personality trait of a character

8. PERSONALITY TYPES
 Drivers -: They are strong personalities. Typically they have a go-get-it-done or whatever-it-takes
personality. They can seem very dominant and are quick to take action. The negative is they can
sometimes come across as stubborn or arrogant. Sometimes the personality type can come across as
brash, running over others in order to get things accomplished.
 Analytical -: These types are constantly assessing, determining pros and cons, making lists of to do
items. Analytical types are constantly asking questions, almost to the point of getting too much
information. Others see them as talented with brilliant ideas. However, they can suffer from analysis
paralysis, over analysing situations too much. If you have ever made a list of “doing things the right way”
you are an Analytical.
 Expressive -: “Natural” people persons. They enjoy socializing and talking. They are great story tellers
and often over commit themselves by attempting to please people. They also are good at communicating
vision, getting others excited about ideas and issues. However, they sometimes cannot be relied upon to
get things done.
 Amiable -: The most calm, flat-type personality. Amiable types are laid back and are hard to excite. They
seem to constantly be relaxed and desire a peaceful environment over anything else. They will go out of
their way not to upset people. In fact, their indifference can often upset the people they are trying to
appease. They will often wait until the last minute to make decisions and will often go with what everyone
else is doing. They are deeply emotional individuals that want harmony.

9. PERSONALITY TRAITS
Personality traits reflect people’s characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors. Personality traits imply consistency and stability someone who scores high
on a specific trait like Extraversion is expected to be sociable in different situations and
over time. Thus, trait psychology rests on the idea that people differ from one another
in terms of where they stand on a set of basic trait dimensions that persist over time
and across situations. The most widely used system of traits is called the Five-Factor
Model. This system includes five broad traits that can be remembered with the
acronym OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and
Neuroticism

10. THE BIG FIVE MODEL
The big five model is the most popular theory in personality psychology today and the
most accurate approximation of the basic trait dimensions (Funder, 2001). The five traits are
openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. A
helpful way to remember the traits is by using the mnemonic OCEAN.
 OPENNESS (OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCES) O
Openness to experience, or simply openness, is a basic personality trait denoting receptivity
to new ideas and new experiences. It is one of the five core personality dimensions that
drive behavior known as the five-factor model of personality, or the Big 5. People with high
levels of openness are more likely to seek out a variety of experiences, be comfortable with
the unfamiliar, and pay attention to their inner feelings more than those who are less open
to novelty. They tend to exhibit high levels of curiosity and often enjoy being surprised.
People with low levels of openness prefer familiar routines, people, and ideas; they can be
perceived as closed-minded

11.  CONSCIENTIOUSNESS C
Conscientiousness is a fundamental personality trait one of the Big Five that reflects the
tendency to be responsible, organized, hard-working, goal-directed, and to adhere to norms
and rules. Like the other core personality factors, it has multiple facets; conscientiousness
comprises self-control, industriousness, responsibility, and reliability. A conscientious person is
good at self-regulation and impulse control. This trait influences whether you will set and
long-range goals, deliberate over choices, behave cautiously or impulsively, and take
obligations to others seriously.
 EXTROVERSION E
Extroversion is a personality trait typically characterized by outgoingness, high energy, and/or
talkativeness. In general, the term refers to a state of being where someone “recharges,” or
draws energy, from being with other people.
 AGREEABLENESS A
Agreeableness is a personality trait that can be described as cooperative, polite, kind, and
friendly. People high in agreeableness are more trusting, affectionate, altruistic, and generally
displaying more prosocial behaviors than others. People high in this prosocial trait are
particularly empathetic, showing great concern for the welfare of others, they are the first to
help those in need

12.  NEUROTICISM N
Neuroticism, one of the Big 5 personality traits, is typically defined as a tendency
toward anxiety, depression, self-doubt, and other negative feelings. All personality
traits, including neuroticism, exist on a spectrum—some people are just much more
neurotic than others. In the context of the Big 5, neuroticism is sometimes described
as low emotional stability or negative emotionality. Some self-deprecating
and complainers wear their neuroticism as a badge of honor, but in truth, people
neurotic dispositions are more prone to anxiety, mood disorders, and additional
unfavorable social and emotional outcomes.