Career Guidance Theory - Kuder, Inc. · Kuder® Career Essentials Training MODULE 1 Career Guidance...

Kuder® Career Essentials Training™

MODULE 1

Career Guidance Theory

There is nothing as practical as a good theory, and practice should always be based on well-researched theory. Several theories prove useful for providing career guidance to students and adults, but few are as well researched or practical as that of Dr. John L. Holland. For that reason, his theory has been adopted as the basis for the Kuder assessments of interests and skills. This module will explain that theory and its practical application. You will find it useful both in understanding My Education Online (ME Online), a customised version of the Kuder Career Planning System® (KCPS) for Tasmania, and in your day-to-day work with students/clients.

Kuder® Career Essentials Training™2

Copyright © Kuder, Inc. Kuder Visions Unlimited, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuder, Inc.

The Theory ItselfHolland’s theory can be summarised in four statements:

• The personalities of individuals can be described as a combination of six types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional.

• Environments (including occupations, specific jobs, programs of study, and leisure activities) can be described as a combination of the same six types.

• Persons of a given type are attracted by environments of the same or similar type.

• Placing oneself in an environment of the same type, or one very similar to one’s own type, is likely to bring satisfaction to the individual and benefits to an employer.

Descriptions of the Six Holland TypesFollowing is a brief summary of each of the six Holland types of people. They are fully described in Holland’s book Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments (1997), and on numerous websites.

Realistic (R)

• Likes to work with tools, objects, machines, or animals.

• Develops manual, mechanical, agricultural, and/or electrical skills.

• Prefers occupations that involve building or repairing things.

• Tends to be down-to-earth and practical.

• Gains satisfaction from seeing a tangible job completed.

Investigative (I)

• Likes activities involving the biological and physical sciences.

• Develops mathematics and science ability.

• Prefers occupations in scientific and medical fields.

• Tends to be curious, studious, and independent.

• Likes and has the ability to develop new ways of doing things.



Artistic (A)

• Likes creative activities free from routine.

• Develops skills in language, art, music, and drama.

• Prefers occupations using creative talents.

• Tends to be creative and free-thinking.

• Tends to avoid activities that require a schedule or conformity.

Social (S)

• Likes activities that involve informing, teaching, and helping others.

• Develops the ability to work with people.

• Prefers jobs such as teaching, nursing, and counselling.

• Tends to be helpful and friendly.

• Finds satisfaction in making a contribution to others’ lives.

Enterprising (E)

• Likes leading or influencing other people.

• Develops leadership ability, persuasiveness, and other “people” skills.

• Prefers occupations involving sale of products or management of people.

• Tends to be ambitious, outgoing, energetic, and self-confident.

• Works with people for the purpose of selling them a product or managing them.

Conventional (C)

• Likes organising information or things in an orderly way.

• Develops organizational, clerical, and computational skills.

• Prefers occupations involving record keeping, mathematical, keyboarding, or computer operation.

• Tends to be responsible, dependable, and detail-oriented.

• Gains satisfaction by organising activities so that they function smoothly.



Holland personality types are typically expressed as a three-letter code, such as SEA, RCE, or IER. The first letter in the code describes the person’s most characteristic personality traits and interests while the second and third letters describe interests and personality characteristics in descending importance. For example, we might describe a person with the code of SEC as follows: This individual really likes to work with people face to face to help them in some way, such as to teach them or care for their mental, spiritual, or physical needs (S). They might also like to work with people to manage, lead, or influence them in some way (E). This person also likes things to be well organized and run smoothly (C) so we would expect them to bring this interest, and potentially skill, to any activity or job.

The primary way for students/clients to find their Holland codes is to take an assessment designed to measure their interests or skills, such as the Kuder Career Interests Assessment® (KCIA) or the Kuder Skills Confidence Assessment® (KSCA). Figure 1A shows a sample results report.

Figure 1AAssessment Results with Holland Code Example



This profile could be called differentiated because the scores are spread from low to high. However, there are three letters – I, E, and C – that are higher than the others. This person should explore occupations and courses by using these three letters. The profiles of other students/clients may have one or more types in the high range with all others falling in the medium or low range. And, some people may have all six scores in the low range – meaning low interest in all activities. These are the most difficult individuals to help with career planning. In general, students/clients should learn about occupations and courses whose codes match their top three codes.

How Holland Codes Impact Choices of Occupations, Jobs, and Postsecondary CoursesHolland said that work environments or jobs can also be assigned a code. He proposed that when people work together they create an environment that reflects their personal types. For example, accountants create a work environment that could be coded CE and nurses create a work environment that could be coded SI.

Interpretation of a Holland Code as Pathways and ClustersMy Education (ME) Online, a customized version of the Kuder Career Planning System for Tasmania, displays the results of the interests and skills assessments using the a career pathway and cluster framework. This method of organising occupations divides them into 16 industry-based (National) clusters, such as Agriculture, Architecture and Construction, Manufacturing, Health Science, and Transportation and Distribution. Each of these clusters is further subdivided into two to six career pathways, which are smaller groups of occupations that form a specialty under a cluster. There are 79 total pathways. Here are examples for two clusters:

• Cluster: Architecture and Construction

─ Career Pathway 1: Construction

─ Career Pathway 2: Design

─ Career Pathway 3: Maintenance

• Cluster: Health Science

─ Career Pathway 1: Biotechnology Research and Development

─ Career Pathway 2: Diagnostic Services

─ Career Pathway 3: Health Informatics

─ Career Pathway 4: Support Services

─ Career Pathway 5: Therapeutic Services



When Holland codes are used to provide results in this method of organising occupations, the interests and skills reports are listed as users’ top five career pathways and as all 16 clusters in descending rank order. These results are calculated by finding the pathways and the clusters that have the largest proportion of occupations in them that are coded with the users’ personal Holland code.

For the interests assessment results presented with the career pathways and clusters, it would have two parts as shown in Figures 1B and 1C.

Figure 1BKuder Career Interests Assessment Results – Top Career Pathways

This report lists the five career pathways (out of the 79 possible) that contain the highest proportion of occupations coded the same as the user’s personal Holland code. Users can view the definitions of each of these pathways as well as a list of either occupations or postsecondary courses at the education level chosen. These lists of occupations and courses are the closest fit for the student/client, and should be considered and explored in depth.



Figure 1CKuder Career Interests Assessment Results – National Cluster Ranking

A second part of the report from either the interests assessment or the skills confidence assessment, lists all 16 clusters in rank-order, from those that contain the most occupations related to the users’ Holland codes to those containing the least. Users should pay particular attention to the top three clusters. From the online ranking report, they can learn more about the entire cluster, watch a video, and see all occupations and postsecondary courses (by educational entry level). Typically, some of the career pathways listed on the first report are contained in the first three to five clusters on this report.



For either the Holland code version or the career pathway and cluster version of the interpretation, an Interest and Skills Composite Report is provided, shown as Figure 1D (for career pathways) and Figure 1E (for the 16 clusters).

Figure 1DInterests and Skills Composite Report – Top Career Pathways



Figure 1EInterests and Skills Composite Report – Top Career Clusters



Kuder systems provide a third assessment, though not related to Holland’s theory, which measures an individual’s work-related values. This assessment is called Super’s Work Values Inventory-revised. It is based on the work of Dr. Donald Super, a well-known theorist in the field of career development. After completing its items users receive a report like that provided in Figure 1F.

Figure 1FSuper’s Work Values Inventory-revised Results – Work Values Ranking

Note that this report indicates, in descending order, the 12 work values identified in Dr. Super’s research. Individuals should factor the top-rated values into their career choices. Definitions of these values are provided on the report and on the screen when clicking on a title. These results can be used to generate a list of occupations in which the attainment of the top two values is most probable.

Because the list of occupations suggested by the results of the interests and skills assessments might be quite long, it is wise to use a person’s most important values as a



way to reduce a long list of occupations. It is possible to do that from the screen shown in Figure 1G by noting which occupations are marked under all three columns.

Figure 1GOccupations Suggested by Assessments



The Importance of Following ThroughA web-based career planning system can be tremendously helpful in providing online assessments whose results are based on Holland theory. Result reports will suggest a list of occupations and postsecondary courses most closely related to users’ Holland codes. Students/clients need your help in order to use this valuable information to make good career and educational decisions. So, after using the assessments in the Kuder Career Planning System, you should work with students/clients to do the following:

• Learn about and compare the suggested occupations and courses. The Kuder system contains thorough descriptions of the occupations and brief descriptions of the courses.

• Using personal criteria (such as the amount of further education desired or planned, desired salary level, or preferred median annual salary), help students/clients limit the list of occupations to five or fewer.

• Help students/clients get closer to reality for this short list of occupations through work experience and informational interviews with people who work in each occupation. After such experiences, help individuals determine whether to retain an occupation on the short list.

The real payoff of taking these assessments will be the interpretation you lend to the reports and the follow-through that you encourage and monitor.

Module SummaryDr. John L. Holland’s theory serves as a research-based foundation for providing career guidance assistance. The four basic statements of the theory were summarized. The descriptions of Holland types, as applied to the personality characteristics of individuals, were provided. As Holland types can be measured by the Kuder Career Interests Assessment and the Kuder Skills Confidence Assessment, examples of the reports from these assessments were provided in two forms of interpretation: by Holland code and by the 16 National clusters and pathways. Further, some explanation was provided about the fact that occupations and postsecondary courses can be described by the same six Holland codes. For that reason, it is possible to provide a personal list of both for a user’s exploration. Another factor in career choice should be one’s work values determined through taking Super’s Work Values Inventory-revised, an assessment based on the theory of Dr. Donald Super. Finally, suggestions were provided about how ME Teachers can follow through with students/clients to help them use the information they have gained about themselves to further their career planning.

Career Guidance Theory - Kuder, Inc. · Kuder® Career Essentials Training MODULE 1 Career Guidance...

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