Holland Codes

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The Holland hexagon
The Holland hexagon

Holland Codes are personality types created by psychologist John L. Holland [1], [2], [3], [4]as part of his theory of career choice. Holland's (1985) Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) is the name of the test he created to measure an individual's type and match it with a list of career choices that would theoretically be good for that individual.

Holland mapped these types into a hexagon which he then broke down into the RIASEC job environments :

  • Realistic - practical, physical, hands-on, tool-oriented
  • Investigative - analytical, intellectual, scientific, explorative
  • Artistic - creative, original, independent, chaotic
  • Social - cooperative, supporting, helping, healing/nurturing
  • Enterprising - competitive environments, leadership, persuading
  • Conventional - detail-oriented, organizing, clerical

Holland argues that 2-3 types dominate in each person.

Contents

[edit] Example Professions

The following lists contain examples of professions that typify persons dominant within a category.

[edit] Doer (Realistic)

Working with your hands, tools, machines, and things; practical, mechanically inclined, and physical:

driver

[edit] Thinker (Investigative)

Working with theory and information, analytical, intellectual, scientific:

[edit] Creator (Artistic)

Non-conforming, original, independent, chaotic, creative:

[edit] Helper (Social)

Cooperative environments, supporting, helping, healing/nurturing:

[edit] Persuader (Enterprising)

Competitive environments, leading, persuading, selling, dominating, promoting, status:

[edit] Organizer (Conventional)

Precise, perfect attention to detail, orderly, organizing, status:

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Scherdin, M. J. : Discovering Librarians: Profiles of a Profession, p. 108. American Library Association, 1994.

[edit] References

  • Holland, John. L. (1997). Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments. Psychological Assessment Resources Inc. 
  • Holland, John. L. (1996). Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes. Psychological Assessment Resources Inc. 

[edit] External links

General:

College and university career centers: