Recorded Webinar

Using Holland Typology to Quickly Assess Career Personality

By Dr. Gary Gottfredson and Dr. ZiYoung Kang
Recorded on March 7, 2022

Many career professionals use the theory of personalities and work environments developed by the late John Holland in their work. We use it to teach clients one way to think about themselves in vocational terms and to identify career alternatives likely to be compatible with their interests and skills. Nevertheless, experienced practitioners often use only a part of this theory. For example, counselors often focus attention on vocational personality while giving little attention to clients’ history of work and educational environments. Using the Holland structure, we can help them not only to explore career possibilities but also to construct personal narratives These narratives help give meaning to the situations clients are experiencing or construct narratives that shape their future careers.

Following a brief review of Holland’s theoretical formulations, the presenters will demonstrate a method for assessing persons through brief interviews about aspirations (or history) to arrive at classifications that exceed the validity of classification based on elaborate interest inventories – and which are quicker and less costly to use. Webinar participants will practice using the assessment technique, and then discuss the experience and get help from webinar leaders in coping with difficulties experienced.

Two career professionals will lead the webinar. Gary Gottfredson is professor emeritus at the University of Maryland and co-author of My Life with a Theory, John L. Holland's Autobiography and Theory of Careers. He has spent many years developing and validating psychometric tools to assess personality and work environments, often in collaboration with John Holland. A psychologist, he has published widely in counseling and psychological journals.

ZiYoung Kang earned a Ph.D. in counselor education at Pennsylvania State University and is an ordained Won Buddhist minister. Her work on constructivist and social constructionist career counseling and on assessment using the Holland typology has been published in the Career Development Quarterly and the American Psychological Association Handbook of Career Intervention.