John Holland's Theory
Last Tuesday's class was hosted by the Career Center as we discussed the "Four Phase Plan and Holland Codes." The Four Phase Plan certainly gives a nice set of structured guidelines for career development. However, I felt the Holland Codes were less helpful.
John Holland created his theory, that became the Holland Codes, by separating personality types into six categories: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. He found that work environments could be broken down into those categories as well. According to Holland's theory, a person should select a career that aligns his/her personality type to the work environment that matches. I do see that there is some merit to this theory. Of course, choosing a career that complements your interests will be satisfying. However, I find it difficult to accept that someone can only fit into just one category. I feel that people are much more complex and should not be asked to limit themselves to one of six descriptions. I could place myself in two to three of those categories and several of my other classmates made the same comment. I think that at some point we are being given too many limits. What happened to teaching students that there are no limits but the sky? I think that career counseling is important to get students on the right track, but when we have so many personality tests and codes and inventories, etc, it can get a little overwhelming. One starts to question if there is even a career that exists that he/she will enjoy.
Comments
Posted by: Danny Pho
Posted on: December 6, 2005 11:34 PM
I completely agree with you on the effectiveness of the code. It does appear to be nice to be able to fit into one specific category but I don't think there are many people in the world who can do that. When I saw the six categories, I felt like a part of me can fit into 4 of the 6. When he started explaining it, I am pretty sure I can fit into 3 of them. The biggest thing is that I feel like I can fit into two categories that are complete opposites of each other. It just gets more confusing each time we do another assessment.
Posted by: Eugene Roytberg
Posted on: December 9, 2005 10:33 AM
Hey Jen,
I agree with your points and think they are very insightful. However, I’m just going to play a little devil’s advocate here. I think it is fairly obvious to assume that there are very few lucky individuals who would fit into one of the six types. I believe that John Holland considered that when he designed his theory; it almost seems silly to think that he wouldn’t. The challenge here isn’t to decide which spot you fit perfectly in, but which one is most like you. If people could fit perfectly into any test than we would not need counseling and we would have exact paths that we would follow based on our personalities and interests. I think that the theory can be helpful when applied as an aid rather than a path.