Blog 10: Holland Code

           This chapter discussed so many important things that it is hard to only focus on a few.  The first thing that really seemed to hit home with me was the section that discussed society’s obsession with forcing individuals to know what type of career they want to have.  As a child, I remember so many adults asking me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  This was terrifying because I had absolutely no idea! I grew up in a house where my father absolutely hated his job.  He dreaded going to work every day.  I made a vow to myself that I never wanted to be like that; I never wanted to do something that I did not love.  What I did not realize was that by making this promise to myself, I was putting even more pressure on my decision.  It is hard enough to decide what type of career path you want to choose, but with this added pressure, I made it even harder. 

As an Admissions Representative at a post-secondary school, I am constantly seeing young adults make rash decisions about their future and then change their minds a few months later.  It is a shame that as a society we are forcing these young people to make life decisions at such a young age.  As Corey & Corey (2008) states, “the typical student does not have enough self-knowledge or knowledge of educational offerings and vocational opportunities to make realistic decisions” (p. 285).  I was very fortunate in my decision.  I chose a major in communications which was flexible enough with my ever changing mind and allowed me to ultimately decide my junior year of college that I wanted to be a school counselor without requiring any additional time in school.

                The Holland Codes were also something that I really enjoyed about this chapter.  Ever since Career Development, these six personality types have intrigued me.  I seem to score very highly in the social type, which is to be expected of a counseling student.  An interesting fact for me is that my second most common type is Conventional.  These two types are not adjacent on the hexagon and therefore are not typically compatible with one another (Corey & Corey, 2008).  As I was reading over the list of suggested career options for each personality type, I came to this conclusion.  I enjoy working with individuals and I can see myself doing almost all of the careers listed under the “social” type; however I could not see myself being satisfied with any of the jobs listed under “conventional”.  I believe that although I have several conventional traits, like being extremely organized and appreciating routine, I can use those qualities to my benefit in a more social field.  As a counselor, we will need to spend time sitting at a desk working on paperwork and reports and although that would not satisfy me on a daily basis, it is something that I can appreciate for short periods of time and I can succeed in it.

Corey, G., & Corey, M.S. (2008). I never knew I had a choice: Explorations in personal growth (9^th ed.). Belmont, California: Thompson Brooks/Cole.