USING CAREER THEORIES TO
HELP CLIENTS
HOLLAND’S THEORY
Ria E. Baker, Ph.D., LPC-S
THEORY OF JOHN L. HOLLAND
Some attention to heredity, environment,
influence on career choices
 Emphasis on the factors that impact choices at a
given point in time
 Counselor is focused on the “now”
 Some interest in past work history

HOLLAND’S THEORY
The personalities of individuals can be described
as a combination of six types: realistic,
investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and
conventional.
 Environments can be described as a combination
of the same six types.
 Persons of a given type are attracted by
environments of the same or a similar type.
 Placing oneself in an environment of the same
type, or one very similar to one’s own, contributes
significantly to the potential for an individual’s
satisfaction, persistence, and contribution in that
environment.

THE SIX TYPES (HOLLAND, 1997)
Realistic (R)
 Investigative (I)
 Artistic (A)
 Social (S)
 Enterprising (E)
 Conventional (C)

INDIVIDUAL’S TYPE ASSESSED
Administration of Holland’s Self-Directed Search
(Holland, 1994) or Vocational Preference
Inventory (Holland, 1985)
 Administration of instruments by other authors
who use the Holland typology (p. 13)
 Informal assessment
 Analysis of past jobs held for which client has
interests and skills.

THE HOLLAND CODE OF A SPECIFIC
OCCUPATION
The Self-Directed Search
 The Vocational Preference Inventory
 Position Classification Inventory
 http://online.onetcenter.org

THE SHAPE OF AN INDIVIDUAL’S PROFILE
Profiles of the client’s interest and self-perceived
skills on the six types have differing levels of
differentiation.
 Differentiation: the numerical difference between
the lowest and the highest scores for the six
types.
 See page 13 - 15

COUNSELING GOALS
Determine client’s present code and its characteristics
 Using the Educational Opportunities Finder, find
programs of study that match or are highly similar to
the client’s code
 Using Occupational Finder, the Dictionary of Holland
Occupational Titles, or the O*Net database, find
occupations or jobs that match or are highly similar to
the client’s code
 Using the Leisure Activities Finder, find the leisure
activities that match or are highly similar to the
client’s code.
 Assist the client to gain information about the
identified options.
 See example on page 18 -19

ASSIGNMENT
Explore the International Association for Educational
and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG) website and write a
half a page description of what information you gained
from it.
http://www.iaevg.org/iaevg/nav.cfm?lang=2&menu=1&
submenu=1
 Explore the O*Net site. Provide a half a page
description of what the site has to offer.
 Choose an article from the list (see syllabus) and
prepare a one-page summary of the article. Prepare to
present it to the class.

THEORY OF DONALD E. SUPER
Focused on:
 Length and breadth of career development
 Sequential life stages and developmental tasks
relevant to career development
 Life-Career Rainbow – includes activities in all
interacting life roles as part of his definition of
career
 Self-concept influences career choices
SUPER’S THEORY








Career is influenced and mediated by one’s self-concept
Continues to develop throughout the entire life span
Selection of an occupation is an implementation of one’s
self-concept, which includes an understanding of their
interests, abilities, and values.
Five distinct life stages: growth, exploration, establishment,
maintenance (increasing portion of the population shifting
to different employers or occupations)
Making effective career choices requires specific knowledge
and completing appropriate tasks
Definition of career: a combination of all of the activities
that take place in life roles being played by an individual at
a given point in time.
Depicted in Super’s Career Rainbow
Conditions of the environment are also strong influences.
COUNSELING GOALS
Identifying the level of career maturity and attempting
to reduce deficits found in possession of needed
attitudes, skills, knowledge, and accomplishment of
career development tasks
 Analysis of self-concept and strengthening it through
assessment and counseling, if appropriate
 Understanding that a career is a combination of
interacting life roles and assistance with selecting
those roles and defining their dimensions in order to
achieve balance in life.
 Identifying interests, abilities, and values and
distributing them across life roles.

A
SSIGNMENT
Go to Vocopher, http://www.vocopher.com/register.cfm , use the







registration access code: amsa. Each student/client must complete
the registration process.
After you register with Vocopher, find a “client” (class mate, friend or
family member) and complete two of the following assessments; use
one to assess yourself and one with this individual:
Adult Career Concerns Inventory
Career Development Inventory (High School Form)
Career Development Inventory (College Form)
Career Mastery Inventory
Career Maturity Inventory
Turn in a description of the experience and results of assessments by
next class ( 2-3 pages).