Holland Codes

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The Holland Codes or the Holland Occupational Themes (RIASEC) represents a set of personality types described in a theory of careers and vocational choice formulated by the late psychologist John L. Holland beginning in the 1950s.[1] The US Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA)'s free online database, The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) has used the RIASEC model in the "Interests" section since its inception during the late 1990s. [2][3][4]

Contents

[edit] Summary of theory

The Holland hexagon created by John L. Holland

The six types developed by John L. Holland (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional)[5] reflect his theory that "the choice of a vocation is an expression of personality." [6] According to the Committee on Scientific Awards, "his research shows that personalities seek out and flourish in career environments they fit and that jobs and career environments are classifiable by the personalities that flourish in them."[1] Holland's theory does not assume that a person is just one type or that there are "only six types of people in the world." [6] Instead, he suggests that any person could be described as having interests associated with each of the six types in a descending order of preference. This assumption allows the Holland Codes to be used to describe 64 (26) different personality patterns. As the theory is applied in interest inventories and job classifications, it is usually only the top two or three most dominant codes that are used for vocational guidance. In presenting his theory, Holland graphically represented the six types as arrayed on a hexagon. This graphic representation serves to describe the empirically determined correlations between the types. The shorter the distance between their corners on the hexagon, the more closely they are related.[6]

[edit] Sample professions

The following professions are listed by a dominant category.

[edit] Doer (Realistic)

Working with one's hands/body, with tools, machines, and things; practical, mechanically inclined, and physical:

[edit] Thinker (Investigative)

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

[edit] Creator (Artistic)

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

[edit] Helper (Social)

Cooperative/non-competitive environments, supporting, helping, healing/nurturing:

[edit] Persuader (Enterprising)

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

[edit] Organizer (Conventional)

Precise, perfect attention to detail, orderly, organizing, likes to work with data, status:

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b John L. Holland: Award for Distinguished Applications of Psychology
  2. ^ Replace with a database: O*NET replaces the Dictionary of Occupational Titles
  3. ^ Rounds, James, Patrick I. Armstrong, Hsin-Ya Liao, and Phil Lewis & David Rivkin. "Second Generation Occupational Interest Profiles for the O*NET System: Summary." The National Center for O*NET Development, June 2008.
  4. ^ O*NET OnLine: Interests
  5. ^ Johns Hopkins University (Self-Assessment)
  6. ^ a b c Holland, Making Vocational Choices: a theory of careers. Prentice-Hall, 1973.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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