Everyone has their own distinct personality, which sets them apart from others. Certain types of
jobs are better suited to specific personality types. However, some personalities might be
compatible with multiple types of jobs, albeit to varying degrees of suitability. For instance,
someone might excel in an entrepreneurial role, be reasonably well-suited to teaching, but not be
a good fit for engineering.
Personality Types
Entrepreneur’s Job
Teacher’s Job
Engineer’s Job
A
Perfect fit
Moderate fit
Unfit
B
Unfit
Perfect fit
Moderate fit
C
Moderate fit
Unfit
Perfect fit
Every individual has a unique personality, shaped by a combination of genetic predispositions, life
experiences, and environmental factors. These factors interact to create a distinct set of
characteristics, traits, and behaviors that define how a person thinks, feels, and acts.
Certain personality types are often better suited for specific types of jobs due to the alignment of
skills, preferences, and characteristics required for success in those roles. For example, someone
with strong leadership skills, creativity, risk tolerance, and resilience may have a personality wellsuited for entrepreneurship.
What is Personality
Personality refers to the pattern of characteristics that distinguishes one person from another. It
includes the person’s traits, values, motives, genetic blueprints, attitudes, emotional reactivity,
abilities, self-image, intelligence, and visible behavior patterns.
Personality refers to the overall pattern of characteristics that distinguish one person from another.
These characteristics encompass a wide range of psychological traits, tendencies, and attributes
that collectively shape how an individual perceives and interacts with the world.
a. Traits: Personality traits are enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are
relatively stable over time and across situations. Examples of traits include extraversion,
agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience.
b. Values: Values represent the core beliefs and principles that guide an individual's attitudes,
preferences, and decision-making. They reflect what is important and meaningful to a person.
c. Motives: Motives refer to the underlying psychological needs, desires, and goals that drive an
individual's behavior and choices. These may include motives for achievement, affiliation, power,
and autonomy.
d. Genetic Blueprints: Genetic factors play a role in shaping personality by influencing traits,
temperament, and predispositions towards certain behaviors.
e. Attitudes: Attitudes are evaluative judgments or opinions that individuals hold about people,
objects, or ideas. They can influence behavior and perceptions.
f. Emotional Reactivity: Emotional reactivity refers to the intensity and frequency of emotional
responses to stimuli or events in the environment. It reflects how easily and intensely an individual
experiences emotions.
g. Abilities: Abilities encompass cognitive, emotional, and physical capabilities that contribute to
an individual's performance in various tasks and activities.
h. Self-image: Self-image or self-concept refers to the subjective perception and evaluation of
oneself, including beliefs about one's identity, capabilities, and worth.
i. Intelligence: Intelligence encompasses cognitive abilities such as reasoning, problem-solving,
memory, and learning capacity.
j. Visible Behavior Patterns: Personality is also manifested through observable behavior patterns,
including actions, habits, communication styles, and interpersonal interactions.
John L. Holland - John Lewis Holland (October 21, 1919 – November 27, 2008) was Professor
Emeritus of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University and an American psychologist. He died on
November 27, 2008, at Union Memorial Hospital. Holland is best known as the creator of the
career development model, Holland Occupational Themes (Holland Codes).
Psychologists have made great advances in research about personality. According to John
Holland's theory, most people are one of six personality types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic,
Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. The characteristics of each of these are described below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The realistic type
The investigative type
The artistic type
The social type
The enterprising type and
The conventional type
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include
Realistic (Do-er)
practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with
plants, animals and real-world materials like wood, tools, and
machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside and do
not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas and
Investigative (Thinker)
require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can
involve searching for the facts and figuring out problems mentally.
Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs
Artistic (Creator)
and patterns. They often require self-expression, and the work can be
done without following a clear set of rules
Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating
Social (Helper)
with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or
providing service to others.
Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting and carrying out
Enterprising (Persuader) projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making
decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with
business.
Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedure
Conventional (Organizer) and routines. These occupations can include working with data and
details more than ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to
follow.