“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

    This assessment is based on the Theory of Careers propounded by John L. Holland which is one of the most widely researched and applied theories of career development. The theory organizes extensive data about people in different jobs and different work environments to suggest how people make vocational choices and explains how vocational achievement and job satisfaction occur. It states:

  • Most people are of one of six personality types when it comes to choosing a career: Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E), or Conventional (C). The six personality types are a way of classifying people according to their interests so that they can be paired up with appropriate careers.
  • There are six types of work environments corresponding to the six personality types: Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E), and Conventional (C). Each work environment is dominated by a given type of personality.
  • People search for work environments where they can use their skills and abilities, express their attitudes and values, and take up agreeable circumstances and roles.
  • A person’s behavior is determined by an interaction between his or her personality and the characteristics of the work environment. Based on an individual’s personality pattern and the pattern of the work environment, some outcomes of such a pairing can be predicted. These include choice of vocation, job changes, vocational achievement, personal competence, and educational and social behaviour.

The assessment generates a career interest indicator based on vocational personality types derived from responses in terms of like and dislikes to vocational interests. It is important to understand that there is no right or wrong career interest indicator.

This assessment will be useful in the process of planning careers and education pathways. However, it will need exploration of career options suggested and careful thinking to reach a decision.