Finding a job that fits your personality and interests is easier said than done. And for college students stepping into their freshman or sophomore year, picking a career field is undeniably packed with pressure. 

It could soon become much easier, though, as new research suggests social media habits can be used to predict someone’s personality traits and match them with the right line of work. 

“Employment is thought to be more enjoyable and beneficial to individuals and society when there is alignment between the person and the occupation, but a key question is how to best match people with the right profession,” the researchers wrote in a paper describing the study.  

“The information that people broadcast online through social media provides insights into who they are, which we show can be used to match people and occupations.”

The study

To conduct the study, the researchers looked at tweets from more than 128,000 Twitter users working in 3,513 different jobs. By analyzing the text, they gathered that certain jobs attract workers who exhibit similar personality traits. 

“For instance, software programmers and scientists tended to be more open to experience, whereas elite tennis players tended to be more conscientious and agreeable,” said Peggy Kern, lead author of the study and associate professor of the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Positive Psychology.

The researchers also found that jobs can be grouped together based on personality profiles, suggesting that one personality type could lend itself to a whole group of different jobs. 

“One group, which we labeled ‘student services,’ included principals, wellness ambassadors, campus directors and educational supervisors,” said Kern. “Another group, which we labeled ‘management scientists,’ included research development directors, environmental specialists and data scientists.”

This study supports the notion that, if people want to have a happy work life, it would benefit them to consider pursuing a job that matches their personality. 

“Often, people think about the skills that are needed for certain jobs – ‘so what degree and training do I need for that role?’ But this points to the potential for also considering our personal qualities and values as important for identifying a job that not only will fit our skill set, but also help support our wellbeing, as it aligns with who we are as a person,” Kern said. 

AI job-matching tool

Using a variety of artificial intelligence technologies, the researchers were able to create a “vocation compass” that could recommend a job to people based on their personality traits with 73 percent accuracy. 

“Even when the system was wrong, it was not too far off, pointing to professions with very similar skill sets,” Marian-Andrei Rizoui, co-author of the study and lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney, said in a news release. “For instance, it might suggest a poet becomes a fictional writer, not a petrochemical engineer.”

“This means that we could get the prediction correct for 73 people out of 100,” Kern explained. “Obviously, it won’t work for everyone, but that’s much better than starting with nothing.”

Currently, there’s no existing tool that everyday people could use to determine their personality and match it with a job that fits. However, to Kern, that idea is intriguing. 

“It’s interesting to consider a tool that would allow a person to contribute reflections over time (for instance, across their secondary or tertiary education years), then use that information to identify their personality and values and align that to jobs with similar personalities,” Kern said.  

That would remove dependence on using Twitter or similar sites, she added, where people may be motivated to put on a persona rather than be themselves. 

“We’re exploring interest from the government and private investors who have expressed interest in funding an experimental prototype online service that could help students, who have yet to enter the workforce and so don’t have much or any work experience, explore an atlas of career options aligned with their personality traits and values,” said Kern. “Similar services could be developed to help unemployed people or others looking to change careers.”