Career Choice: John Holland’s Career Construction Theory

Choosing a career can be a very tough decision, it can change your life either for better or worse. It will also bring personal satisfaction for the present and future. Finding a career that fits our needs can be compared to finding our life partner. It takes time, dedication and love to be able to make things possible to work. With choosing a career it is very similar, we must take time to work and have the dedication to do it while loving what we are doing in order to evolve and not get bored of it. 

Career counseling theories can help in the selection of a career. This can help the individual choose a path that will help them better their ultimate career goal. For this paper, John Holland’s Typology and Career Construction Theory will be explained to comprehend their idea and implementations. 

John Holland’s Typology is built around the idea that individuals' personalities and characteristics impact their preference when it comes to their chosen career. In Zunker says that Holland’s theory was based on four assumptions. 

The first assumption that Holland proposed is that individuals can be classified by their personal styles into six different themes like artistic, conventional, enterprising, realistic, and social. The second assumption that Holland proposed is that there are six different occupational environments that fit the exact six themes mentioned in the first assumption. Hollands' third assumption is that individuals want to be in a surrounding that it is equal to their attitudes, abilities, skills, goals, and values. The last assumption of how an individual interacts with the environment is what determines their behavior. 

Hollands theory says how an individual decides their career in order to fulfill their modal personal orientation. Holland mentioned that the individuals' Modal personal style is similar to the idea of occupational preference. When an individual’s orientation becomes stronger and price then that’s when their satisfaction will increase. Holland’s theory can be seen by the Model of Personality Types and Occupational Environment, this model is known as the hexagonal model. The classification of RIASEC (i.e. Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional) as mentioned in use the hexagonal model which creates a code of three letters. Those three letters demonstrate an optical representation of the internal relationship of personality styles and occupational environment connection. Numerous assessments and inventories use the hexagon model in the counseling environment, such as My Vocational Situation, Self-Directed Search and Vocational Preference Inventory. These tools together can better the individuals' career information and self-knowledge. Those tools combined serve as an important asset when it comes to deciding a career. Hollands theory can be helpful for individuals who might want to change their current profession, searching for the first time for a career and even for someone who needs a job that suits them better. 

Zunker mentioned that the RIASEC model has actually been tried out in different populations in different international groups and socioeconomic backgrounds. Career Construction Theory (CCT) is the psychological approach to constructivism. In constructivism, the clients are seen as working participants in their career evolution who establish their personal construct from their awareness of interactions. Career Construction Theory consists of the development of vocational self-concepts, developmental contextualism, and vocational developmental task. Self-Concepts are knowing and developing the individuals’ awareness of their own characteristics which are compatible with their work roles. Those work roles include vocational characteristics, occupational requirements, individual differences, work satisfaction and what means self-concepts evolve and how they are carried out into their roles at work. Development contextualism is used to help counselors interpret the individual’s commitment and their career choice, this is done by observing and acknowledging the inner constructs which give significance to the individuals' life role. 

Vocational development includes different stages which are, exploration, establishment, growth, and disengagement. As a counselor, it is important to know what stage the client might be in. This theory is used by counselors to learn that in order to have career satisfaction it is normal to experience career adaptability. In the mental health field, some professionals choose Career Construction Theory in a narrative approach. They do this by asking individuals questions that they have to disclose their life and career, with this information they begin to create their own narratives which helps them to explore different life themes that have to do with education and career. CCT can also be ideal for students who are trying to find an area of study which fits them. Tools like Career Maturity inventory can be used for high school students and Career Development Inventory for college students This theory can benefit individuals who are having vocational identity issues, going through a transition at work and having irrational self-concepts. 

There are also other helpful tools like autobiographies to find career themes and self-concepts. This career theory can be applied to a wide range of diverse cultural groups. Things like race and ethnicity can be a factor in the type of career chosen by the individual. There are delicate circumstances which should be contemplated when counseling about careers. The career counseling theories mentioned before are not excluded from including multicultural approaches. In today’s world multiculturalism is a component of families. Individuals are including different and new customs and values. This is not only from older generations but also from the media. 

Today’s media has increased multicultural values attitudes and ideas. There are two different cultural considerations from both theories which counselors should know. The first one is to determine family backgrounds related to career choices. There have been many instances where individuals are in a certain career or on the path to that career because of their parents or family member’s influences. In other instances, these individuals are following their parents' career paths without even realizing it. I think this has to do with the parents speaking to their children about a certain career from a very young age. But like everything, there are other cultures that avoid their children following their same career paths. 

By considering the clients' cultures relating to their family background, can help the mental health professional to understand not only the individual but also why they have certain specific goals, values, and characteristics. It is also important to determine other cultures' values that can relate to career besides the parents’ culture. The counselor should familiarize themselves with the family culture but as well to look for other cultural characteristics in the individual. There are multicultural families that adapt traditions from other cultures as their own. If the counselor knows the clients' cultural background they can understand them better and know how to counsel that specific person. 

Being a student and an employee, I can benefit from Career Construction Theory and John Holland’s Typology. In my current job, I have been given the opportunity to be at a level higher than what I currently am now. With that position, I would have more responsibilities and the description of my current job would change. I have some doubts if I am able to meet all of those responsibilities, which is where Hollands Theory comes in. Based on Hollands Theory, I need to stop and think about my goals, abilities, ideas, and values. Doing one of the inventories I can acquire the code of three letters which demonstrated the areas in which I have the strongest concern. After doing this I would have to examine the outcome of the inventory to the job description. This will help me to understand the similarity between the new position and my personality. 

In my personal life Career Construction Theory would have been very useful when I was unsure what career path to take. Since young, I was influenced by my parents to become an attorney and be an advocate for others. As I grew older and working in the law field, I realized this was not my calling. Career Construction Theory could have helped me in those times to have helped me realize which education path I really had a passion for. Sometimes it is hard to not let our parents influence our ideas. Career Development inventory could have also been helpful with this theory to have helped me with career development at that point in my life.