Last year I attended a graduate student conference through my university, where we took an extended version of the Myers Briggs test, and then spent the weekend with a psychologist doing some team-building activities and discussing how different outcomes on the Myers-Briggs test affect how people make decisions, and how these differences can show up when working together with other people.

I liked the detailed version of Myers-Briggs, because it showed that while I scored as an “introvert” rather than ”extrovert”, I also scored high on “communication.” I thought this was a very accurate assessment of how I can be very uncomfortable in social situations, but I don’t have much of a problem talking or sharing my opinions in the right setting. One thing that our moderator told us was that a big difference between introverts and extroverts is not how they interact with people, but whether being around many people drains energy (introvert) or gives energy (extrovert.) That described perfectly how I feel when I would go to parties, or networking events.

However, I agree with the view expressed in this article that extroverts are fairly easy for introverts to understand, since extroverts live “out loud” a bit more than introverts. But introverts can be unfathomable to extroverts, and since there are more extroverts than introverts in the world, there is pressure on introverts to act like extroverts in order to “be normal.”

So what does being an introvert mean in a professional work environment where you are expected to do a lot of work as a team? During audit season, you spend most of your time working in a conference room with several of your colleagues, for 95% of your waking hours. That’s a lot of face time. What about during recruiting, where you have to go to an event and speak to as many people as possible?

What do introverts look like to other people?

In my experience, many people get the impression that I am aloof or unfriedly, but not shy. This is because I don’t have a problem speaking up when I have something to say, so they then think that the “introvert” parts of my personality must just be unfriendliness. I also get called “serious” a lot too, and my roommate almost daily gives me a hard time about how I’m going to “read a book in my room” instead of sit next to her watching TV. (Ugh.)

According to the book The Introvert Advantage, which I just started reading, introverts also tend to keep their comments to themselves until they’ve really thought things through, and often don’t like to start new projects without doing a lot of thinking and planning first. This means that they could appear to be slow movers to extroverts.

The book also points out that introverts tend to enjoy serious discussions about real topics, and don’t really enjoy chit-chat. This is another point that I identify with, and often results in people finding me a bit too intense for their liking, or results in myself not knowing what to say at networking events where chit-chat is required.

How many of you out there consider yourself to be an introvert - what are the comments you get from other people that you think have something to do with your introversion?

My strategies for being an introvert in an extrovert world

My strategies for coping with being an introvert in the accounting world are still under construction. I’m hoping to come up with some new ideas related to this as I read further in the “Introvert Advantage” which proposes to help you use introversion as a strength, rather that teach you how to “fix” yourself to be an extrovert.

During networking events, I find that it helps to prepare your “chit chat” ahead of time, if it doesn’t come naturally to you. Come up with a list of questions to ask people about (what branch of the company they work for, how long they’ve worked their for, recent travel they’ve done), and also think about what you should avoid asking about (personal topics like whether they’re married/have kids).

Preparing ahead of time can help reduce the stress and energy it takes to interact with an overwhelming group of people. I also find that treating it like exercise or saving and setting goals, such as “I will talk to 6 people from the firm” help make it into something that is not fun, but is accomplishable, rather than something that is simply overwhelming.

When working in an audit room with colleagues all week, it can drive you up the wall to be interrupted when you’re deep in concentration. There’s not much you can do to get away from them, but since everyone will be really busy, at least you shouldn’t have to interact the whole time. When someone does want to interrupt you, focus on always looking up from your work with a smile, no matter how deep in thought you were.

The book “Introvert Advantage” suggests planning your day to have some alone time, or to not “schedule meetings” on days where you know you will be recovering from an over-social time the day before. As an auditor, you don’t have that kind of flexibility, so you’ll have to just practice having the extrovert “responses” to your coworkers, rather than just responding naturally.

I also like to bring a book to read before going to sleep after a long day of auditing, which allows me to feel like I got a bit of time “to myself.” If you can bring a book, or a DVD of a tv show you like, etc, then carving out a little time to do a quiet activity might help you recover a bit from being over exposed to people all day.

Does anyone out there identify as an introvert but have times at work where you have to go against your nature to get along with extroverts? Do you have any tips on how to “refresh” yourself when you’re drained of energy from spending too much time around other people?