Discovering Your Personality Traits To A Better Job – Holland Codes
Written by: Shafie
We all have this niggling feeling, at some point in our working life, when we start to question ourselves at the work place: ‘What the heck am I doing here?’.
Job satisfaction is such a fleeting myth here as people struggle to even get a job nowadays with the huge influx of foreigners in our midst.
Young graduates usually take on any job that pays the best even though it is not their ideal kind of work. Some undergraduates even could not get into their choice faculty in varsity and have to settle for second or third best.
Personally, I have encountered this soul-searching feeling last year at my work place.
I have been in the infocomm technology (ICT) industry for more than a decade and was totally jaded with the industry. I wanted out in order to pursue a career that I love and not doing something just to pay the bills.
However, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted for myself and drifted aimlessly for eight months until I stumbled on the Holland Hexagon – theory of career choice.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not asking everyone here to quit their jobs when they are unhappy at work and start to day dream about their ideal job at home.
However, if you are grossly unhappy with your job and experience massive work-related stress, it may be time to seriously consider throwing in the towel.
Let me now walk you through the personality test that has literally save my corporate life.
John L. Holland – Holland Codes
John L. Holland is an American psychologist and the creator of the best known and widely researched theory of career choice. It includes six personality types that are often abbreviated as RIASEC and are used to create the well known Holland Codes.
Holland theorized that the choice of a vocation is an expression of personality and that the six factor typology he articulated could be used to describe both persons and work environments.
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.” Instead, he assumed 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 720 different personality patterns.
| Types | Personality | Preferred Work Environment |
| R ealistic | Strong mechanical, psychomotor, and athletic abilities; honest; loyal; like the outdoors; prefer working with machines, tools, plants, and animals. | Structured; clear goals and lines of authority; work with hands, machines, or tools; casual dress; focus on tangible results; engineering, military, skilled trades |
| I nvestigative | Strong problem solving and analytical skills; mathematically inclined; like to observe, learn, and evaluate; prefer working alone; reserved; idea generators | Nonstructured; research oriented; intellectual; discover, collect, and analyze ideas/data; science, math, medicine, and computer related; labs, universities, high tech, hospitals. |
| A rtistic | Creative; complex; emotional; intuitive; idealistic; flair for communicating ideas; prefer working independently; like to sing; write, act, paint, think creatively | Nonstructured; creative; flexible; rewards unconventional and aesthetic values; creation of products and ideas; arts organizations, films/TV, publishing, advertising, museums, theater, galleries |
| S ocial | Friendly; outgoing; find fulfillment in helping others; strong verbal and personal skills; teaching abilities; impulsive | Harmonious; congenial; work on people-related problems/issues; inform train, develop, cure, or enlighten others; team oriented; human resources; training, education, social service, hospitality, health care, nonprofit |
| E nterprising | Confident; assertive; sociable; speaking and leadership abilities; like to use influence; strong interpersonal skills; status conscious | True business environment; results oriented; driven; high-quality service and product orientation; entrepreneurial; high prestige; power focused; sales, management, politics, finance, retail, leadership |
| C onventional | Dependable; disciplined; precise; persistent orderly; efficient; practical; detail oriented; clerical and numerical abilities | Orderly; clear rules and policies; systematized manipulation and organization of data; control and handling of money; high income potential; accounting, business, finance, administration |
Note: None of us has only one distinct personality type.
The Holland Hexagon
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.
Most people’s interests combine several types to some degree. The six types can be arranged around a hexagon. Types that are next to one another on the hexagon are most closely related. Types that are opposite one another on the hexagon are the most dissimilar. For example, the Realistic and Investigative types are similar, while the Realistic and Social types are often dissimilar.
So, a person can be Realistic and Investigative, or Realistic and Conventional but unlikely to be Realistic and Social to a certain degree.
Moreover, if a person’s type is extreme, for example, Realistic and Enterprising; it is likely the person is Conventional too, or if a person’s type is Investigative and Conventional, it is likely the person is Realistic; but of course, to a certain degree.
Case Study
Using the Holland Hexagon, I found my personality type to be Investigative and Social. Thus, it does explain why I was in the ICT industry and my love to teach and train people. Smacked in the middle of my Investigative and Social type was my Artistic nature
I remembered my intense love for Art and Drawing during my younger days.
My original plan was to be an Architect.The dream was however banished forever when I was met with an accident severing the ligaments in my right thumb.
After discovering my personality trends I have now made concrete long terms plan and aspire to take advantage of my Investigative, Social and Artistic types.
So you might ask what kind of profession suits my personality type?
Well, I can start an online publishing firm or work for an online publishing firm as an illustrator once I have honed my skills among others.
Learning About Your Personality And Professions
So using the below simplified Holland Code and the above Holland Hexagon, which professions or mix of professions will suit you best?
| Types | Personality | Possible professions |
| Realistic (Do’er) | Working with your hands, tools, machines, and things; practical, mechanically inclined, and physical | AgricultureArchaeologyArchitectAstronautAthleteChefComputer scienceDriver
Electrical engineering Engineer Firefighter Gardener Information technology Instructional technology Martial arts Mechanic/Automobiles Mechanical engineering Paramedic Pharmacy Physical therapy Pilot Police Officer Soldier Veterinarian |
| Investigative (Thinker) | Working with theory and information, analytical, intellectual, scientific | ActuaryComputer scienceEconomistEngineerFinanceLawyerMathematicsPharmacy
Physician/Medical school Professor (all fields) Psychologist Psychiatrist Science Statistics Surgeon |
| Artistic (Creator) | Non-conforming, original, independent, chaotic, creative | Actor/PerformanceAnimationArt therapyArtistAuthor/ PoetDance therapyExpressive therapyGraphic designer
Library and information science[3] Music therapy Musician Painter |
| Social (Helper) | Cooperative environments, supporting, helping, healing/nurturing | Art therapyAudiologistBabysitterCaretakerCounselorDance therapyEducationInstructional technology
Martial arts Music therapy Nurse Nutritionist Physician Professor Psychologist Social Work Teacher Theology Trainer Speech-language pathologist Occupational Therapist |
| Enterprising (Persuader) | Competitive environments, leading, persuading, selling, dominating, promoting, status | AdministrationAcademic administrationBusiness/MBACommunicationsInsuranceInvestment BankerJournalismLaw / Politics
Marketing / Advertising Management Management Consultant Public Health Publishing Public relations Public policy Real Estate Retail Stockbroker Salesmen |
| Conventional (Organizer) | Precise, perfect attention to detail, orderly, organizing, status | AccountantActuaryAdministrationAcademic administrationBanking/ Investment bankBusiness/MBAClerkCopy Editing
Instructional technology Payroll Proofreader Receptionist Retail Secretary Technical writer |
Conclusion
If you wish to take an online test you can go to: -http://www.roguecc.edu/Counseling/HollandCodes/test.asp
Just be honest when you’re taking the personality test and you will never go wrong.
The self discovery of doing something that you really like must be worth all the hassle of taking the evaluation test. Good luck!
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Holland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Codes
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