Vocational Career Counseling and Theories of Development

Part I: Background
Introduction
A personal career case study combines a personal reflection with scholarly research on career development and motivational theories. During the process of compiling information for the case study, I will present my past educational and career choices, my personality types, and my goals for the future. After a brief introduction, I will discuss my personal and social history, and also the environmental factors that might have influenced my career choices. In the past I have applied different theories of career development to my case, including Holland’s type theory, Krumboltz’s social learning theory, social cognitive career theory, and Super’s career development stages. In this paper, I will focus on Holland’s type theory, which combines personality with career development. Finally, I will synthesize what I learned to better understand my past, present, and future.
My name is ____ and I was born and raised in ____. I am an African American woman who is single and thirty years of age. I now work in the Department of Family and Children Services as a Family Independence Case Manager. As much as I appreciate helping individuals and families access social services like day care or income assistance programs, I am currently exploring different career paths for personal and professional development. Career development theories will better help me understand why I have made the choices I did make until this point, and show me how to make future decisions that maximize my strengths.
Personal and Social History
I come from a small family, with just one sister and our parents. My father is a police officer, and his highest level of formal education was high school. My mother is a school teacher who graduated from college. In early childhood, I was happy and admired both my mother and my father. Although it was difficult at times having a dad as a police officer, ultimately we took pride in his work. He did come home stressed at times, as did my mom, but no more than the average person. We considered ourselves middle class, having enough money for all of life’s necessities but not too much more. Family vacations included local destinations like theme parks, the beach, and recreational areas.
We were a spiritual family, but did not attend church as religiously as some of our friends and family members. My parents had strong values and ethics that came from their sense of right and wrong. Dominant values were simple: do good things for other people, cause no harm to others, and strive to do the best we can always. Early on, my sister and I learned good manners, etiquette, and respect for elders. In fact, having a dad as a police officer helped impart a healthy respect for authority. There were times my sister and I would rebel and test our boundaries, but we were generally well behaved and did well in school. We were also taught to live a balanced life, by not focusing too much on material acquisitions and more on how we could dedicate our lives to helping others. I believe that the roles of police officer and teacher are both service-oriented positions, allowing both my sister and I to have strong role models. My goals in life were shaped partly by my parents, but also from an inner determination to succeed while also enjoying life.
Both my parents were moderately strict. Neither parent would tolerate bad behavior, and this helped me to develop good habits early on. I would say that both my parents have an authoritarian style, but have a good sense of humor as well. Their balanced approach to parenting allowed us to communicate freely in the household. We all strove for honesty and directness, and were not afraid of confrontation or directness. This led to my development of a strong and confident personality, as well as to my willingness to take risks. As most parents do, mine encouraged me to work as hard as I can and pursue my dreams first by achieving my educational goals and later by finding a secure but rewarding career. While I was not raised in an environment that gave us a false sense of bravado, such as “You can do anything!” we were never discouraged from dreaming. My parents wanted me to do the best I could, but also wanted me to choose a practical career path, rather than go out on a limb such as being an artist or an entrepreneur.
In addition to the good relationship I had with my parents, I also had strong social networks throughout childhood and adolescence. Even when we moved, I made friends easily. My friendship cliques changed, but I had strong ties with my female friends. A police officer and a teacher naturally become entrenched in the community, and are invited to countless social engagements. Therefore, we attended many events with members of the community. We had an active social life and a genuine sense of caring for other people.
Educational History
When I was in elementary school, and even through middle school, I wanted to be a police officer like my dad. Then I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, perhaps more to follow in my mom’s footsteps. I probably wished I could do both jobs at once when I was young. Later, I decided that psychology was a field that interested me in particular. I was fascinated by human behavior, and interested in helping people with their problems. Therefore, I received a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University, and am currently enrolled in a Master’s degree program to become a rehabilitation counselor. Whereas I initially went into the fields of child psychology and early childhood education, I later switched to rehabilitation counseling because I felt this would be a better fit for me. More importantly, my work in family and child services and being a case manager made me aware of the need to provide better rehabilitation counseling for underserved communities. As a case manager, I could only do so much. I decided to develop myself professionally with a Master’s degree in rehabilitative counseling. Guidance counselors and career counselors helped me to see what steps I needed to take and how to reach both short term and long term goals.
Physical, Socioeconomic, and Cultural Environment
I live in a suburban area, but attended college in an urban environment. Currently, I live alone. My environment has not had a major impact on my career choices or development, but I always do feel connected to my community and interested in serving in any way I can.
Vocational History
While I dreamed of being a police officer when I was a kid, I ended up gravitating more towards helping professions. One of my first jobs was as a summer camp counselor. My first full-time job was as a customer care representative for a disability transportation service. I worked for the transportation service for almost seven full years. I have worked in my current position as Family Independence Case Manager for the past two years. Reflecting on my career trajectory, I can see that I was drawn to counseling roles all along. Any time I am helping people, I feel energized. My current vocational aspiration is as vocational rehabilitation counselor, which is a natural extension of my career in human services.
Career counseling has helped me focus, plan, and strategize. Moreover, the career counselors have offered me personality assessments that also showed why some work environments are more suited to my temperament than others. I am obviously comfortable in bureaucratic environments because I appreciate structure, orderliness, and organization. I also like role clarity and the opportunity to pursue official pathways to success. Right now, career counseling is helping me trace a career arc, seeing how I can establish stepping stones throughout my career as a counselor.
Part II: Selected Theory of Career Development
John Holland combined a theory of personality typing with organizational and vocational psychology (Walsh & Holland, 1992). The Holland typing model is now widely used in human resources development and career counseling. Although it seems simple, the theory takes into account individual/personality factors as well as external/environmental factors. For this reason, I appreciate applying the Holland types to my career development.
Holland’s model is divided into six personality types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. Although some people will exhibit predominantly characteristics of one type, most people will have traits from different types, leading to combination types. Holland proposed the use of letters to create individual personality types (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Office of Faculty Development, n.d.). The main strength of the Holland model is that it interfaces easily with other models of personality assessment, and is especially instructive for use in guidance or career counseling (Holland, Johnston & Asama, 1994). Having taken other personality tests in addition to the Holland One, I did find this method helpful for self-assessment and self-awareness.
Another strength of the Holland model is that it is not just about personality, but also about work environments. Each personality type will have corresponding preferences for the work environment. In fact, Holland also proposed six “parallel model environments” to show that “person–environment congruence or fit is associated with a variety of healthy outcomes,” (Walsh & Holland, 1992, p. 35). A person who is dissatisfied in their job can use the Holland types to understand why, and what to do to change the workplace environment. Likewise, to be more satisfied in one’s job, it is best to choose career paths with environments that are suitable to the personality type. The Holland model or theory can also be applicable to multiple population groups in different cultural settings. No theory is perfect, though, and Holland’s main weakness is that it does not necessarily address issues like cognitive-behavioral theories, cognitive-social theories, or theories that explain how childhood experiences shape career choices.
Part III: The Synthesis
Having been impressed with the accuracy of the results from my Holland word choice and personality tests, I selected this theory for further analysis. I also appreciate the way the Holland theory combines personality with environmental factors that are important for career development. Knowing more about my communication styles and preferences is helpful for career mapping. The Holland personality types also help account for behavioral patterns and goals. For example, a person who scores high on the Social domain (S) will be better suited for a career as a vocational rehabilitation counselor than someone who is Realistic (R) or Artistic (A) primarily. Other personality variables that lend themselves well to a career as a vocational rehabilitative counselor include possibly Conventional (C) traits, given that many of these jobs are in health and human services. As such, the position requires a degree of comfort with rules, regulations, and bureaucracy. Personality testing using the Holland theory does show that the career is a good fit, and that so is the particular work environment of this career.
On the basis of the vocational development theory, I can make several inferences related to my present state. One is that my personality is naturally driven by Social (S) impulses. Predominantly social people like me are “humanistic, idealistic, responsible and concerned with the welfare of others,” (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Office of Faculty Development, n.d.). Group activities and team environments are also appropriate for this type, which is also why I have thrived in positions like camp counseling and family and child services. Social people are also “helpful” as well as “trustworthy,” which makes us successful working with new clients in establishing rapport (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Office of Faculty Development n.d.). In the past, I have wanted to help others in some way, which is why I first studied psychology. As my career developed, I became a case manager, reflecting my slight predilection for being a Conventional (C) organized person who likes a set plan or procedure when working with clients.
The Holland theory is helpful in illuminating the best career paths for me, as well as which types of careers or work environments would not be suitable for my personality. With the Holland theory, I recognize a positive prognosis for my future vocational development. My investment in higher education, especially my Masters’ degree, will pay off if I remain focused and dedicated to this career. Although the Holland theory will not necessarily provide much information about other types of motivation, I can combine it with other theories that lend deeper insight into cognitive biases that might be holding me back in my personal development, social-environmental factors that are influencing my work status such as race or gender, and finally, higher needs. Other theories, such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs or Krumboltz’s social learning theory will help illuminate other areas of myself in the future, as I plan my career. In conclusion, the application of Holland’s theory to this personal case study has demonstrated the efficacy of my current career path and gives me tremendous confidence in the future.








References

Career Resource Network, ND Department of Career and Technical Education (n.d.). Holland’s Six personality types. Retrieved online: http://www.nd.gov/cte/crn/docs/HollandTypes.pdf
Holland, J.L., Johnston, J.A. & Asama, N.F. (1994). More evidence for the relationship between Holland’s personality types and personality variables. Journal of Career Assessment 2(4): 331-340.
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Office of Faculty Development (n.d.). Holland’s occupational personality types. Retrieved online: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/fac_development/_documents/lisa_heiser_faculty_development_handout.pdf
Walsh, B. W., & Holland, J. L. (1992). A theory of personality types and work environments. In W. B. Walsh, K. H. Craik, & R. H. Price (Eds.), Person–environment psychology: Models and perspectives (pp. 35-69). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.