John Holland 's Theory Of Types

During the interview, Stashia presented issues of career changed frequently as she diverted from majoring in one career path to another. She divulged in the interview that she had once listened to others and not decided on her own path. She reported changing her major, considered doing things differently if she could, and not having taken any vocational assessments that would have helped her. The writer will conceptualize interviewees barriers with theories of career counseling.

Aptitude tests come in many different shapes and sizes. Tests such as the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) is given often in schools. SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) and ACT (American College Testing) tests are often used to help students get into certain schools, to John Holland’s six personality types theory. Each of these aptitude tests are designed to give the test taker a better view of where their strengths and perhaps weaknesses lye. To help them start on the path of different possible careers or career learning. Currently, Holland’s theory of career choice is being used by the U.S. Department of Labor. This is being billed as “What do you want to do for a living”. Holland’s career choice theory is broken down to

Patton and McMahon (2006) developed a systems theory framework for development of careers called the Therapeutic Framework. The system categorizes the various factors that influence the choice of career into individual factors (for both the learner who is to choose their career and their counselor), organizational factors, or environmental factors (Patton & McMahon, 2006). The system also recognizes the effect of timing on these factors; thus incorporating the aspects of past, present and future (McMahon, Forde, & Dickson, 2015).

Dr. John Holland created a theory and inventory to help describe personality types that can be used to identify occupations that are best suited for a particular personality type, or “Holland Code.”

According to Jung’s theory, people can be characterized by their preference of attitude: Extroverted vs. Introverted, Sensing vs. Intuition, Thinking vs. Feeling, and Judging vs. Perceiving (“Personality Type,” n.d). Understanding how each of us operates in this world is complex and challenging. However, if we manage to have information of different personalities it may help to better understand our strengths, weaknesses, the way we perceive and process information, and the way we manage time and solve problems (Bajic, 2015). Through many years of work, I have had colleagues with different type personalities. Some personalities are easy to get along and work goes smoothly.

Holland has proposed six different vocational personality types. Any person resembles each of the six types to varying degree.

John Holland was a remarkable psychologist that took special interest in career choice and personality traits. Holland’s career counseling perspective started while studying at the University of Minnesota for graduate school in counseling. In graduate school, was when he discovered that people express personality in various ways (Nauta, 2010, p.12). He expressed that personality and career interests work together somehow (Nauta, 2010). The John Holland’s Typology “is the concept that one chooses a career to satisfy one’s preferred modal personal orientation” (Zunker, 2012, p. 27). He made two major points about how people are influenced for a career choice. The first point was that people search for an environment that they can utilize their skills and abilities, and reveal their values and attitudes in the most influential way. The second point was that “a person’s

After reading and learning about Holland’s Six Personality and Occupational Types I have discovered that the one that is most similar to what I am would be a mixture of artistic, social, and enterprising. I would not be able to pinpoint myself to just one type because I found too many similarities between the descriptions and myself to settle to just one. The reason I would consider myself to be artistic is because I have always been an extremely crafty person, I was a competitive dancer for 17 years, as well as enjoy writing for fun. I would also consider myself social because I spend most of my time trying to help people. I try to share my knowledge of what I know to others, as well as try to be as helpful, and an advocate for certain ideas to others. Lastly, I would consider myself to be of the Enterprising type of personality trait because I am a Public Relations and Marketing major, meaning the basis of my job is going to be to try to persuade people and convince them of either an idea with PR, or an actual product with marketing. I like to think that I have a lot of positive energy, that im a go-getter and that I am extremely sociable.

John Holland’s RIASEC (1997) theory has had a major influence within the field of career counseling. His theory, which promotes that satisfaction increases when there is similarity between individuals’ interests and related environments, has led to the development of many useful, reliable, and valid inventories, such as the Self Directed Search. The Self Directed Search (SDS) is a popular assessment that has been used by more than 30 million people worldwide, and it is available in multiple administration formats (e.g., paper and pencil, Internet, computer software). The SDS is used to assess the career interests of adolescents and adults and it has become popular in college and university career centers, courses, and counseling settings (Holland, Fritzsche, & Powell, 1994). The SDS was developed on the assumption that people can be closely classified into six different groups or personality types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional. The SDS ultimately estimates how closely you resemble each of the types. Your scores are used to derive a three-letter Summary Code, where the first letter shows the type you resemble most, the second letter shows the type you resemble somewhat less and the third letter indicates the type you resemble less still. The test itself is broken down into 228-item self-report interest inventory that yields scores for six RIASEC types. The SDS assessment includes four sections yielding

Though a generally overlooked and unappreciated field of work, career counseling has made significant impact in the field of psychology. Frank Parsons’ 1906 lecture, “The Ideal City,” emphasizes the need for young people to receive assistance in choosing a vocation (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2013). Further, Parsons was one of the pioneers in linking personality traits to vocational success, thus coining him as the father of vocational guidance (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2013).

Allport defines personality as ‘the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment’ (Allport, 1937). An individual’s unique personality traits and attributes are a powerful indicator of how he/she will interact with the work environment. The difference between average and outstanding employees can often be solely personality related. As the employee is the most valuable asset to the company, ‘selecting the right employee during the process is critical’ (Carbery and Cross, 2013, pp. 41-53)

For many people, finding a career that is both fulfilling and practical is a strenuous task. Fortunately, there is a plethora of different interventions, techniques, assessments, and inventories designed to aid those individuals in making the wisest career choices possible. But are any of those routes inherently better than the others? Or are all the differing options separate but equally effective? Donald Super’s Life Span Theory and John Holland’s Theory of Vocational Choice are just two of the many theories used for career counseling. Both methods are distinct in the way they approach career issues, yet despite their differences, there are some resemblances between the two theories as well. Comparing and contrasting these two theories will make it easier to see if one theory is better than the other for career counseling or if they are both equally effective.

I believe that my personality and the expected work roles and environment align with each other very well, and so my career choice is congruent with my traits (Zunker, 2016). As seen in the assessment that draws the personality types from Holland’s theory, my personality closely aligns with what employers desire in school counselors (123test, 2017). Employers desire someone who can interact with others and help them solve problems, which aligns with social and conventional categories found as described by Holland’s theory (Zunker, 2016). The work setting is an office space and in schools, which is an environment I desire to work in (BLS, 2015). As such, I

According to John Holland’s Theory of Career Choice, he explains the significance of involving work related behavior. Holland makes a connection between personality type and working environment, and how these two aspects guide one to career success and satisfaction. After taking the personality test, I found out that I am an extrovert. Being a very social person, I need to have a job that is not boring, keeps me on my toes, and I am constantly being challenged in. After working at the Property Management Company I learned that just when you think your day can’t get any more hectic, it does. So you always have to be alert and ready to handle whatever comes your way. This is exactly the kind of job I want, and although some people may get freaked out and scared by this, things like that are what make me happy and feel accomplished.

Work-related preference frameworks imply that personality aspects persuade person-job fit. This paper hub on personality factors and career fulfillments of human resources in their workplace.