Holland's Theory of Personality Types and Super's Life Career Rainbow - Essay Example

VC-WK 2 Assignment The use of theories is important to career counselors because they give the counselor an opportunity to create a foundation forworking with clients. I will be working with teens ages 12-17. These teens may have a variety of challenges that include alcohol or drug addiction, problems at home or at school, and mental health challenges. The older teens are also looking for career guidance because they need part-time jobs and many are preparing or will eventually prepare for college or work after high school. The two theories that I have chosen are Hollands Theory of Personality Types and Supers Life Career Rainbow. The reason I chose these two are because they are similar and they are easy to use with teens. Hollands Theory of Personality Hollands Theory is based on six personality types that he has placed around a hexagon figure. Hollands focus is on "Why career choice occurs and the outcome of that choice" (Capuzzi and Stauffer, p. 42). He attempts to match career choices with work environments. Holland saw that a career was a life choice and not only a set of skills. Hollands theory assumes four things: 1. Most people can be categorized into six personality types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (RAISEC). 2. They can be matched to six environments are the same as the six personality types. 3. People look for environments that match their attitudes and values along with their skills and abilities. 4. A persons behavior is a direct result of the interaction between their personality and characteristics with the environment (Capuzzi and Stauffer, 2006). Holland was also looking for congruence between the individuals career and their environment. "There is congruence between a persons type and a particular occupation when the occupation type matchs the persons type" (Capuzzi and Stauffer, p. 43). This means that an individual can be reasonably certain that they have a match with an occupation that will be happy in. Supers Career Rainbow Super understood that a persons career was more than just matching their skills and abilities; instead, it was "an expression of their self-concept" (Capuzzi and Stauffer, p. 49). He believed that people looked for a match with their self-concept, and with their ability to "implement self-concept" (Capuzzi and Stauffer, p. 4) within their work choices. When they did this, they were able to connect with a deeper meaning to their abilities, values, interests and choices. Super also saw the concept of Life Space that included constructs of "Life Style, Life Roles, Life Role Salience, Life Structure and Values" (Capuzzi and Stauffer, p. 49). He focused on how these life choices create a lifestyle for the individual. When these life roles are brought together, they create a Career Pattern. Super also used a structure like Holland, but his was in the shape of a rainbow. His model showed a "continuous, lifelong progression of stages and substages (Capuzzi and Stauffer, p. 51) that are cyclical rather than linear. Comparison of the Two Theories Both theories have a structure that they use to explain their theories. Holland was more interested in personality and how people searched for environments that matched their personalities. In contrast, Super saw this as a developmental process and a self-esteem issue. Super saw career development as a lifelong process while Holland saw it as a one time opportunity to match personality and the work environment. Strengths and Weaknesses Hollands Theory of Personality Types has many strengths for work with teenagers. The hexagonal shape is easy to read and it is a teaching tool. When students receive their three letter code after taking the test, it will be easy to explain the codes to teens. Other strengths are that the counselor can easily understand the directions for administering the test, the information is organized well, it is supported by a lot of research and there are valid instruments that have been used to verify the information (Capuzzi and Stauffer, 2006). The only weakness that I found is that some of the occupations may be unknown to teens, so I would have them explore these new careers. The strengths of Supers Career Rainbow are similar to Hollands Theory. The structure of the Rainbow is easy to read for both the counselor and the teenagers. Super made a way to talk about the cycling and recycling of developmental tasks that start with teenagers (See chart in Capuzzi and Stauffer, p. 52). The developmental aspects of career are important for teens to understand so they understand that career planning is a lifelong process that starts when they are young and goes until they retire. The only weakness I saw was that some teens may have difficulty relating to a rainbow or they may think it is for smaller children. I would explain that the test has been used by many adults and that it is just a Rainbow for easier reading. Applying the Theories to Practice I would use both tests as a way to begin career research with my teenagers. In order to help them find careers they must find careers to research. Hollands theory would help them find out more about their personalities, and this would be a very good place to start. The Rainbow is a way to talk about their self-esteem and how it is important to find a career that makes them happy. Both tests would also help to talk about the difference between a job and a career. Reference Capuzzi, D., and Stauffer, M.D. (2006). Career counseling: Foundations, perspectives, and applications. NY: Pearson Assignment 3 The theory I have chosen is John Hollands Theory of Personality Type. He has created a hexagon to make understanding these personality types easier. Holland had four assumptions he made about his personality types: 1. That most people can be categorized into six personality types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. 2. The six environments match the six personality types. 3. People look for environments that match their attitudes and values, along with their skills and abilities. 4. A persons behavior is a direct result of the interaction between their personality and characteristics with the environment (Capuzzi and Stauffer, 2006). Holland believed that when there was congruence between the individuals personality type and a particular occupation, the individual would be happier in their work. The setting "I would use this in is a high school. I would use this with seniors to help them identify a major for college. I chose this population because they are in need of career direction, especially before they graduate. I would use this as a way to begin career exploration and after taking the test, I would have students identify a few careers to research, and then I would have them talk about the careers they had researched. We would then talk about how those careers may translate to a degree or certificate for college. I think this would be efficacious because estudents need visuals in their education and information specific to them. Hollands theory gives this type of information and the information they gain from taking the test is specific to their needs. Reference Capuzzi, D., and Stauffer, M.D. (2006). Career counseling: Foundations, perspectives, and applications. NY: Pearson Read More