Job Search and the “Confronter, Boss, Asserter, Challenger”

Type 8 of the nine Enneagram social styles gets his or her energy by confrontation. Sometimes called “The Boss”, Eights need to dominate or avoid being dominated. Eights are good at taking the initiative to move forward; they like being in charge. Working with Eights can be intimidating even for the coach. It helps to understand that Eights are at their core, fair people, and they don’t intentionally intimidate people. They like dealing with the truth. No sugar coating, please. And most of all, Eights are principled individuals. They will protect the weak and fight injustice.

Eights are motivated by the need to be self-reliant and strong, to make an impact on the world, and to avoid being weak. When Eights are out of work and have not identified the type of work that would inspire them, they can be hard to be around. Eights are not used to needing others and they often let their network go fallow. Asking for help from a coach is counter intuitive for an Eight. They would rather go climb a mountain and sit on a cliff and wait for inspiration.

I have a friend who, in his mid-Sixties, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for fun. He is “retired” having sold his truck brokerage business a couple of years ago. He went bankrupt in the mid-1990’s due to employee fraud. To distract himself from his business trouble he started volunteering at a local Hospice. That led him to volunteering at the medical unit at Vacaville Correctional Institute where he found his calling. He led the first Kairos weekend inside the prison; he put together the volunteer team that went into the prison for three straight days. Of course, I was on that team. The Two in me could not resist helping on such a noble cause. Let me tell you, the first time they close the door with you inside the prison, the clank is very unforgettable. At the end of the first day, those burly, tattooed young men refused to hold hands and sing, Shalom. By the end of the third day, they willingly held hands and sang The Lord’s Prayer at the top of their lungs.

Eights can be grouchy and emotionally difficult. They want to figure it out for themselves. Doing The Forty Year Vision Exercise found in The Five O’Clock Club material is a good place to start. Creating a vision to replace the old, failed position helps to carry them forward and feel less victimized by their circumstances.

Brainstorming possible job positions is very helpful. The Eight will not interview well until they sense they are on the right path to their new occupation. The brainstorming exercise helps them create choices as they research the possibilities. Eights can do informational interviews well when they adopt the attitude that this is the way to do “real” research.
One of the rules in a job search is, “Don’t do it alone.” Joining Job Clubs, getting a coach, and volunteering at the association meetings all seem like “namby pamby” stuff to the Top Dog mentality of the Eight. Appealing to the Eight’s sense of helping others, like taking charge of a success team or leading a church group through the job search process, is a good way for an Eight to polish their networking and job search skills.

Eights have big hearts underneath that gruff exterior; get the heart going and the brain and body will follow. Eights should do “strategic volunteering” by keeping their skills sharp donating their time to worthy causes while sorting out their plan for the future.

Keep giving Eights choices and ideas that they can pursue doing “real research” by talking with and meeting people. The Eight will get on the path to a new job in no time. We need Eights to take on the big challenges facing our world. Think big and noble. The Eight will love the challenge.