Holland Code: How to Use the Holland Code to Find Careers

Developed by US psychologist John L. Holland, the Holland Code is a classification of personality types used to match different kinds of people with careers most suited to their interest areas. A Holland code assessment narrows your personality type from six choices down to a combination of three, giving you your three-letter code.

The Holland Code originated with Dr. John Holland’s Theory of Career Choice, which states that your vocational choice correlates with your personality type and preferred work environments. Holland shared his theories for the first time in the article “A Theory of Vocational Choice,” published in 1959 in the Journal for Counseling Psychology.

Also called the RIASEC model (an acronym based on the first letters of the six types of personalities), Holland based the code on his theory of careers and vocational choice. Modern career assessment tools, such as The Strong Interest Inventory and the Occupational Information Network interest profiler (O*NET), use Holland’s theory as a component in their public career resources.

Dr. Holland posited that people fall under a combination of three out of six personality categories. Choosing a career path that matches your mosaic of personality types leads to a happier, more satisfying work life. The six categories include:

1. 1. Artistic (creators): Artistic types enjoy self-expression through creative pursuits, such as writing, art, music, or performance. Artistic personalities want independence, originality, and emotion and rebel against rules or structure. The right career for artistic types might be a designer, creative writer, or performing artist.
2. 2. Conventional (organizers): Conventional type personalities like structure, rules, and attention to detail. If you’re a conventional type, you might enjoy occupations like bookkeeper, actuary, human resources, tax accountant, or loan officer.
3. 3. Enterprising (persuaders): As an enterprising type, your self-confident attitude primes you for leadership. Extroverted go-getters who enjoy a good challenge and like data, the enterprising type fits well with professions such as CEO, salesperson, or buyer.
4. 4. Investigative (thinkers): The investigative type means you enjoy thinking more than doing, with activities like puzzles, math problems, and figuring any complex problem out on your own. An introvert at heart, you’ll most likely enjoy analytical careers such as scientist, statistician, researcher, or economist.
5. 5. Realistic (doers): As a realistic person, you enjoy working independently with your hands on external tasks. Realistic types tend to be competitive and assertive and enjoy professions that require physical skill, such as athlete, race car driver, engineer, technician, or plumber.
6. 6. Social (helpers): As the name suggests, social types enjoy being sociable and want to help people by teaching or solving social problems. Occupations social types enjoy include community organizer, social worker, sociologist, or clergy member.

The Holland Code can help you take the first step in your career development by providing job options similar to your interests and personality type. Though it won’t give you an exact career match, it can give you an idea of what appeals to you and narrow the field down to a manageable list for you to explore. To use the Holland Code, follow these steps:

1. 1. Take the Holland Code assessment test. You can find the official test online. It takes ten to fifteen minutes, and you’ll answer questions about your interest areas. You can also take the Strong Interest Inventory, which incorporates Holland Codes into a more extensive occupational assessment.
2. 2. Determine your RIASEC or Holland Code. Based on the assessment, you’ll know your three-letter RIASEC code or interest profile, which reflects your top three interests. For example, your three-letter code might be SEC, meaning your top traits are Social, Enterprising, and Conventional.
3. 3. Explore careers. Use your three-letter code to search for and explore careers that match that particular code. O*NET, the Occupational Information Network interest profiler, uses your interest code to deliver a list of occupations that match.
4. 4. Research your options. Dive into some of the career options with further research. Examine factors like salary, education requirements, job locations, and competition. If you find a job you’re interested in, consider doing an internship or contacting someone who works in the field to gather more information.

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