Holland's Theory of Vocational Choice

All theories in general have limitations. This is the case as much with career development theories as with any other psychological theories. While reading about Holland’s Theory of Vocational Choice (Brown, 2016, p. 47-51), I felt that none of the categories listed would fully apply to me or my husband. One would have to take pieces of each “pure” personality type and determine which features are more salient than others in order to apply this theory. For example, I identify most with the “artistic” personality type, but I do not see myself as “unsociable” or “submissive” (p. 49). I also feel that I have some of the traits from the Enterprising and Social personality types.

In addition, I don’t agree with one of Holland’s original assmptions, that “an individual’s personality is the primary factor in vocational choice” (p. 47). There are many aspects to an individual’s personality, and to try to put people in a “box” and say because they have these traits, they should have this career, is unreasonable. But his theory provides a good starting point for determining what makes up someone’s personality and attempting to fit that individual with a career in which they could be successful.

Holland’s point regarding the need for congruence between an individual’s personality type and work environment resonated with me personally (Brown, p. 50). I do not think congruence is necessarily required for an individual to make a living at a job or do well in that field, but I agree that it influences job satisfaction. I can provide two real-world examples of this: as I intimated, I am most likely an AES on the Holland scale. For many years, I worked as a secretary to pay the bills and I hated almost every job I had. There was nothing interesting about filing, typing letters or answering phone calls for someone else, and I detested the feeling of having to be told every move I could make. Those job environments were almost always Conventional and provided little opportunities for me to take a leadership role or brainstorm new ideas. Another example of this need for congruence is the situation of a friend of mine, who became a doctor because of the desire for an increased salary and opportunity to be intellectually challenged. The environment she works in is most likely Investigative or Social, yet her Holland code would probably be REI. This may be why she consistently states she is unsatisfied with her job and often feels very stressed about her responsibilities.

Brown, D. (2016). Career information, career counseling, and career development (11^th ed.). New York: Pearson.