● Your interests
● Your favorite high school courses
● Your skills
Each time you draw conclusions about your priorities, you’ll get immediate
feedback in terms of college majors and related careers that you should
consider.
Your Interests: The Six Holland Types
Surely you have been in a situation where you attended an event, switched
to a TV channel, or picked up a piece of reading matter that you found
boring—knowing all the while that other people found it fascinating.
Different people have different interests.
Becoming aware of your interests is an important first step in career planning.
If your work tasks, work settings, and the information you use on the job are
interesting to you, you are more likely to be happy and successful in your job.
One of the most useful ways of looking at work-related interests is in the terms that were
developed by the researcher John L. Holland in the early 1950s. Analyzing the results
of interest inventories, Holland found it helpful for people to compare themselves to
six major interest types that he devised. (The Holland types are often referred to as personality
types because they are sometimes applied to more than just career choice.
But for the purposes of this book we’re going to discuss them as interests.)
The terms Holland used for his six types may not be immediately clear to
you when you first encounter them. That’s why it helps to read these definitions:
The Holland Types Defined
Realistic
Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities
that include 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
Investigative occupations frequently involve working with
ideas and require an extensive amount of thinking. These
occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring
out problems mentally.
Artistic
Artistic occupations frequently involve working with
forms, designs, and patterns. They often require selfexpression
and the work can be done without following a
clear set of rules.
Social
Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating
with, and teaching people. These occupations
often involve helping or providing service to others.
Enterprising
Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up
and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve
leading people and making many decisions. They sometimes
require risk taking and often deal with business.
Conventional
Conventional occupations frequently involve following set
procedures and routines. These occupations can include
working with data and details more than with ideas.
Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Perhaps you already know what Holland types describe you best, either
based on the earlier definitions or because you have taken an assessment
that has had its results reported as Holland types. If so, you can skip the
next section and go to “Relating Interest Types to College Majors and
Careers” on page 12. But if you are not clear about how to characterize
your interests in Holland’s terms, try the following exercise.
The following checklist contains Holland’s six work-related interest types
and examples of activities for each. Think about which interest type
includes one or more activities that have the greatest appeal to you. Keep in
mind that these are only examples, not an exhaustive list of every activity of
that type. You may know you are greatly interested in an activity of this
type that is not listed among the examples. (For example, you may be interested
in an art form not listed under Artistic.) Similarly, you can choose an
interest type as the one that describes you even if you’re not interested in all
the activities listed. Many people have diverse interests; feel free to choose
one or two types that might be of secondary interest to you.
In the blank spaces to the left, write a “1” to indicate your dominant interest
type. You may also write a “2” or “3” to indicate other interest types
that feature activities that interest you, but not as much as your principal type.
INTERESTS CHECKLIST
Realistic: Putting out forest fires; laying brick or tile; growing
Christmas trees in a nursery; testing the quality of parts before shipment;
enforcing fish and game laws; refinishing furniture; applying
pesticides and fertilizers to plants.
Investigative: Making a map of the bottom of an ocean; determining
the infection rate of a new disease; investigating crimes;
studying the governments of different countries; inventing a replacement
for sugar; diagnosing and treating sick animals; studying ways
to reduce water pollution.
Artistic: Playing a musical instrument; creating special effects for
movies; writing reviews of books or plays; dancing in a Broadway
show; designing artwork for magazines; announcing a radio show;
painting sets for plays.
Social: Teaching children how to read; helping people with
family-related problems; organizing activities at a recreational facility;
working with juveniles on probation; helping disabled people improve
their skills for daily living; helping conduct a group therapy session;
teaching children how to play sports.
Enterprising: Giving a presentation about a product you are selling;
managing a department within a large company; marketing a
new line of clothing; negotiating business contracts; selling houses;
managing the operations of a hotel; buying and selling stocks and
bonds.
Conventional: Organizing and scheduling office meetings; inventorying
supplies using a hand-held computer; taking notes during a
meeting; developing a spreadsheet using computer software; assisting
senior-level accountants in performing bookkeeping tasks; maintaining
employee records; using a word processor to edit and format documents.
Read More: Find Your Interest Before Choose A Major
