HackerNoon and the Time We Took the 16 Personalities Test

The HackerNoon team spent a couple of hours learning about each other, what we have in common and what divides us. In a long thread on the HackerNoon Slack, we went down to the nitty-gritty of our personalities. A thread so complex with all our personality types that we almost broke HackerNoon! After careful analysis, we managed to clarify our intakes about each other and how it complements the group. Continue reading to discover what you have in common with our A-team!

The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung, understandable and useful in people's lives. It focuses on determining how people perceive themselves and the world around them, and the judgments that come from it. It takes into account the following metrics:

1. Favorite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world?
2. Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning?
3. Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances?
4. Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options?

Let’s review the personality categories!

Starting with Analysts, these intuitive and thinking personality types are known for their rationality, impartiality and intellectual excellence. This category is divided by:

1. Architects (INTJ): imaginative and strategic thinkers with a plan for everything.
2. Logicians (INTP): innovative inventors with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
3. Commanders (ENTJ): bold, imaginative and strong-willed leaders, always finding a way - or making one.
4. Debaters (ENTP): smart and curious thinkers who can’t resist an intellectual challenge.

Diplomats, on the other hand, are intuitive and feeling personality types, known for their empathy, diplomatic skills and passionate idealism. If you’re a diplomat then you probably fall under one of these subcategories:

• Advocate (INFJ): quiet and mystical, yet very inspiring and tireless idealists.
• Mediator (INFP): poetic, kind and altruistic people, always eager to help a good cause.
• Protagonist (ENFJ): charismatic and inspiring leaders, able to mesmerize their listeners.
• Campaigner (ENFP): enthusiastic, creative and sociable free spirits, who can always find a reason to smile.

Sentinels are observant and judging personality types, known for their practicality, focus on order, security and stability. If you relate to this, you may be a:

• Logistician (ISTJ): practical and fact-minded individuals, whose reliability cannot be doubted.
• Defender (ISFJ): very dedicated and warm protectors, always ready to defend their loved ones.
• Executive (ESTJ): excellent administrators, unsurpassed at managing things - or people.
• Consul (ESFJ): extraordinarily caring, social and popular people, always eager to help.

Lastly, let’s talk about Explorers. This observant and prospecting personality types love spontaneity, ingenuity and flexibility. Explorers divide themselves into:

• Virtuoso (ISTP): bold and practical experimenters, masters of all kinds of tools.
• Adventurer (ISFP): flexible and charming artists, always ready to explore and experience something new.
• Entrepreneur (ESTP): smart, energetic and very perceptive people, who truly enjoy living on the edge.
• Entertainers (ESFP): spontaneous, energetic and enthusiastic people - life is never boring around them.

Now that we covered the basics, and we’re all on the same page, it’s time we go back to the fateful day of August 24, 2022 - the day we found out we had no one in the Explorer category.

Starting with the Analysts

An Architect is defined by the following personality traits: introverted, intuitive, thinking and judging. If you are looking for detail-oriented creative perfectionists, then it’s the Architect you want. In the HackerNoon team, our editor, Jose, and software developer, Guy, are the architects.

Guy Torbet is our Scottish superstar developer. He join the HackerNoon team back in April of 2020 and has been building cool shit with us ever since.

As for his personality test, Guy scored high on the thinking scale (84%), with an inclination towards judging (54%) and turbulence (57%). Much like everyone else on the team, as you’ll see if you keep reading this post, he’s an introvert (57%) and fairly intuitive (59%). Wait to go!

Jose Hernandez is a Junior Editor at HackerNoon, with a long history of prior partnerships with the company before.

When it comes to Myers-Briggs testing, Jose will surely break the scale! Our introvert king is no one other than Jose, scoring an impressive 100%. He also scores high on the thinking (62%) and intuition (65%) flanks, with a flair for turbulence.

Marcos Fabian Aug 24, 2022, 9:01 PM

Jose Hernandez be like!

You’re probably right, Marcos!

It’s Logicians’ time! I guess you can say we’re very prolific in that department. We have not one, not two, but four Logistian among our team! But before we spoil their identities, let’s take a look at what being a Logistician actually means.

A Logician (INTP) is an introverted, intuitive, thinking and prospecting person, characterized by flexible thinking and unconventional approaches to life. They pride themselves on their unique perspectives and robust intellect.

Okay, enough foreplay! Here are our team’s Logicians!

I’m not sure if being a Logician has anything to do with David Smooke’s role as HackerNoon’s CEO, but the fact is he falls into the assertive (63%) and prospecting spectrum (51%), making him the ideal candidate for a leadership role.

David also scored 57% on the introvert scale, 52% on the thinking scale and 68% on the intuitive scale, following the previous members’ suit, percentage-wise.

Hey, Utsav! It’s your time to shine!

Utsav Jaiswal graduated from India's top dental college and decided to become a writer instead. At HackerNoon, he is the VP of Business Development and Blockchain Editor. What a guy!

I think we’re sensing a trend in leadership here: Utsav showed a 99% (WHAT?!) on the prospecting scale and a lovely 67% on the assertiveness scale. He’s also big on thinking (78%), intuition (54%) and introversion (78%).

Sheharyar Khan dreamt of making it in the music industry but ended up becoming a journalist instead.

He’s a turbulent logician (76%) and also scores high in the introverted (72%), intuitive (65%), thinking (52%) and prospecting (58%) scales.

Now, onto our lady in green: Daria Kulish. Daria is a digital marketing strategist at HackerNoon, where she helps the online community of hackers grow, interact and develop.

As for her results, like her predecessors, she exhibits a 68% score in introversion, 56% in intuition, 64% in thinking and an impressive 85% in prospecting. However, she falls into the turbulent category, with 72%.

Let’s Talk About The Diplomats

Oh, Advocates, how you change the world! An Advocate (INFJ) is someone with introverted, intuitive, feeling, and judging personality traits. They approach life with deep thoughtfulness and imagination. Idealistic and principled, they want to stand up and make a difference, seeking success in fulfillment, helping others, and being a force for good in the world.

Truly an inspiration! But who are our real-life Jon Snows (yes, he’s an advocate)?

Kicking us off, Ms. Linh Dao Smooke! Our COO always makes sure the light is on at HackerNoon, growing the traffic, revenue and team quality.

Linh is one of the assertive types of advocate (86%), falling high also in the introverted scale (75%) and judging scale (69%). Feeling (63%) and intuition (58%) also make her at one with the team.

Haaaave you met, Limarc Ambalina? Limarc is our VP of Editorial and SEO Strategist, interested in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and video games.

Limarc is a turbulent advocate (Gen Z trait?) and it shows (61%). Luckily for us, he’s quite balanced: 55% introverted, 76% intuitive, 51% feeling and 53% judging.

Let’s fly to the other side of the world. Mónica Freitas is a marketing and editorial assistant for HackerNoon who takes improvisation to heart.

You might think her the turbulent type, but she scores high on the assertive scale (74%) and judging scale (53%). She leads with feelings (64%) and holds intuition (53%) and introversion (51%) in a thin-blade equilibrium.

Mediators (INFP) are introverted prospectors with an inclination towards intuition and feelings. These personality types tend to be quiet, open-minded, and imaginative, and they apply a caring and creative approach to everything they do. Idealistic and empathetic, Mediators long for deep relationships and feel called to help others.

Richard Kubina is HackerNoon’s VP of Product. He comes from a background in manufacturing where he orchestrated various pieces of hardware to build things on assembly lines while collecting data to make charts and graphs.

He scored some lovely 66% introvert, 68% intuitive, 52% feeling, 72% prospecting, 57% turbulent.

Kien Dao is our Design Lead, in charge of managing subpages, and creating designs and motion graphics.

57% introverted, 63% intuitive, 66% feeling, 51% prospecting and 69% turbulent - pretty much in sync with HackerNoon!

Sidra Ijaz is a curious wanderer. You can call her a late bloomer. She enjoys reading and editing HackerNoon stories while making sales skyrocket!

Sidra has a well-balanced inner world: 59% introvert, 57% turbulent, 53% prospecting, 56% feeling and 54% intuitive. The most zen person on the team for sure!

Jeferson Borba is a full-stack developer, and he works at breaking more things than building.

He is 86% introverted - maybe not as impressive after Jose’s results - 68% intuitive, 64% feeling, 67% prospecting, and 67% assertive.

A Campaigner (ENFP) is someone with extraverted, intuitive, prospecting and feeling traits. These people are free spirits – outgoing, openhearted, and open-minded - but they also long for meaningful, emotional connections with other people.

Introducing the first extrovert (56%)... Beni Mahat. He has a background in Website Development and joined the team in 2021.

Beni is an assertive campaigner (65%), with an inclination to prospecting (68%), feeling (54%) and intuition (79%). Are you the main character?

Asher Umerie is a content writer and Editor for HackerNoon. He loves film, literature, video games, and drinks by the pier.

Asher is the turbulent (53%), intuitive (72%), feeling (52%) and prospecting (51%) type. Seems like extroversion really is a campaigner’s trait - Asher is not far behind Beni, with 52% on his scale.

Sentinels, Your Turn!

We reached our beloved Logisticians (ISTJ). They put the order in Law & Order. These creatures of habit are the ones you want to have around when it comes to organizing. They are top tier to establish a routine with structure and stability along with an unquestionable sense of duty to help others. Logisticians can’t stand missing deadlines! They guide themselves by dependability and personal integrity.

Meet our All Hands boss: Hang Ngo keeps us all on our toes and works on general operational, administrative, and financial activities.

Hang is 79% introverted, 62% observant, 75% thinking, 65% judging, and 76% turbulent. Quite the woman!

Zaeem Shoaib is an Editor at Hackernoon and he loves everything from business to video games and fitness.

Zaeem is 58% introverted, 62% observant, 58% thinking, 76% judging, and 65% assertive. Judge potential right here!

Are you ready for our last Sentinel? Sara is a typical Portuguese gal who loves true crime series. She’s fully aware that she’s an organizing maniac, and she’s working on it. Sara is 58% introverted, 60% observant, 57% thinking, 85% judging, and 65% turbulent.

Consul (ESFJ) is known for being a helper. They are the euphemism for positive energy and cheerfulness. This personality is the definition of a people person, and they enjoy sharing their life with their social community.

Meet Marcos Fabian, a senior full-stack developer, in charge of developing and improving cool apps.

Marcos is 54% extroverted, 52% observant, 67% feeling, 86% judging, and 56% assertive. Will he take the judging cake?

In the end, what have we learned about the team…

As a group, we’re pretty introverted, and when I say pretty I actually mean 83%! And the same goes for intuition. What this tells us is that, as a team, we prefer to exercise our imaginations and inner world as we seek new ideas and possibilities, questioning, wondering, and connecting the dots in the “bigger picture.”

Our team is also big on feeling, prospecting and turbulence, meaning they tend to follow their hearts and emotions and are caring, compassionate, and warm. Moreover, HackerNoon’s team is much more flexible when it comes to dealing with unexpected challenges, which helps them seize unexpected opportunities as well. Finally, the group tends to be more anxious, self-conscious, and perfectionist.

HackerNoon’s biggest percentage of personality types falls under the Diplomats category, with 4 Mediators, 3 Advocates, and 2 Campaigners. In the Analyst category, Logicians stand out with 4 members with the Architect type. This means that the bulk of the team cares about helping and connecting with others, prioritizing being kind and generous, and cooperation over competition. Empathy seems to come naturally to these personalities.

As for the creme de la creme, here are the human hyperbolas:

• Jose Hernandez is the most introverted (100%)
• Utsav Jaiswal is the most likely to change his mind (99% prospecting)
• Marcos Fabian is the least likely to change his mind  (86% judging) and the most likely to lead with his feelings (67%)
• Linh is the most assertive (86%)
• Hang is the most turbulent (76%)
• Guy is the most thoughtful (84%)
• Beni is the most intuitive (79%)
• Hang and Sara tie as the most observant (62%)
• Asher is the most extroverted (56%)
• Sidra is the most balanced (50+% for all things)
• Marcos is the most unique personality (Consul)

To our shock, we have no one in the Explorer category.

My money would be on artists and performers, Linh. But I prefer to keep my eye on the immediate perks of this test, just like Hang!