Holland's Career Typology

When choosing a career, there are a multitude of elements that can impact the decision making process. Holland’s Career Typology utilizes a clear examination of the personality factors that make up a person and how they may interact with the characteristics of specific jobs (Andersen & Vandehey, 2012). While other theories appreciate the relationship between an individual’s personality and a job’s characteristics, however, they also take into account that individual’s are constantly changing and evolving. In essence, an individual’s career path is a synthesis of an individual’s personality, career demands, as well as the natural changes that occur throughout the lifespan. I have had a multitude of factors affect my career path, each factor
During this time I have grown in a multitude of ways, my psychological knowledge base has become more enriched, I have also been introduced to areas of work that I felt was beyond my capacity. I have recently completed my practicum experience in a Bristol K-8 school working primarily with the elementary school age children. This was a pivotal step in my career development. Prior to my practicum experience, my preference as a school psychologist lay in the realm of high school. I felt ill prepared as well as disinterested in working at the elementary school level. However, after completing my year-long practicum, I grew to thoroughly enjoy working with children ages 5-13 and this experience vastly changed my perspective on my career development. From this I understood how my own preconceived thoughts on my interests and abilities can limit my growth throughout my career path. This experience can be easily seen through the lens of Constructionist theory of Career Development (Andersen & Vandehey,
My family created my interest in viewing the world from a psychological aspect. My personality is outgoing, logical, and spontaneous as seen in the Strong Interest Inventory and my Type Focus results. Finally, I feel that a certain amount of chance or opportunity played a role in my career path. Essentially, my own view of my career path thus far is an integration of Holland’s Career Typology theory, Super’s Life-Span theory, and Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory of Career Choice. Holland’s Career Typology uses a trait-factor approach that takes into account personal characteristics of an individual and the demands of the career. Holland focused on the concept of personality types and suggested that personalities fall into six broad categories: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional (Andersen & Vandehey, 2012). When completing