Holland's Career Assessment Theory

Paper Summary:

The paper overviews John Holland's career assessment theory, considered the most influential in the field of career counseling. The paper applies this theory to a client who has sought career counseling, participated in an interview, and took Holland's RIASEC assessment. The paper shows how the client's profile and her performance test results can guide her towards the most suitable career path.

From the Paper:

"To begin with, John Holland's theory connects an individual's personality to particular work environments or occupations. Often called the RIASEC theory for short due to the six typologies that take into consideration personal characteristics and interests: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, or Conventional. Essentially, the theory states that if a person and an environment have the same or similar traits, then the individual will most likely be content in that environment (Holland, 1997). For example, an artistic person who perhaps has an active imagination, enjoys creating original work, and is impulsive, nonconforming, and original might enjoy being a dancer, actor, or painter. The importance of one's environment or occupation being similar to his or her personality traits is that a career path can be supportive enough for that individual to be authentic and express their personality. In other words, certain work environments encourage the right individuals to express their interests, skills, attitudes, and values (Johns Hopkins University, 2006), and thus thrive in that environment."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brown, D. (2002). Introduction to theories of career development and choice. In D. Brown (Ed.), Career choice and development (4th ed., pp. 3-23). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Bullock, E., Reardon, R., Leierer, S. (2004). An Exploration of Profile Elevation on the Self-Directed Search. http://career.fsu.edu/documents/technical%20reports/Technical%20Report%2039/Technical%20Report%2039.doc
• Day, S. X., & Rounds, J. B. (1998). Universality of vocational interest structure across racial and ethnic minorities. American Psychologist, 53, 728-730.
• Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work environments. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.
• Johns Hopkins University. (2006). Human Resources. http://hrnt.jhu.edu/cmp/HollandTypes.cfm?SMSESSION=NO

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