In the first lesson of this unit, you will visit the Holland Personality Types and use your Summary Code to investigate careers. The career exploration resources that you will learn about are The Dictionary of Occupational Titles, The Occupational Outlook Handbook, and Computerized Career Information Systems. These three resources are designed to provide the user with information about almost any career that can be imagined.

Another thing that you will do in this unit is have the opportunity to deal with real people. It is important that you get some "hands-on" experience in learning about certain occupations. Many people go into careers with inaccurate or unrealistic expectations. In the last lesson, you will be asked to interview someone about a job or occupation. You will also spend time observing someone in the workplace performing a specific job. This unit will be very valuable to you. You will learn something about several of the occupations that you find interesting.

Holland’s Career Hexagon

Although the Holland personality indicator is not the only tool to use to investigate personality types, it is universally known. Dr. Holland was a career theorist that believed people tend to fit into several of six career categories. Dr. Holland uses a hexagon to symbolize the six career categories. Notice that the hexagon begins with the Realistic category at the top and proceeds clockwise to show the Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional categories.

The value of the categories in Holland's hexagon is that they help give some structure to career decision making. For example, if you enjoy a summer job as a host or hostess at a resort or restaurant, but know that it is not what you want to do for the rest of your life, you can investigate at least fifteen other possibilities that have the same Holland Summary Code letters. At this point, you will begin to see the many options open to you given your individual skills and interests.

Click on each of the types below to learn more about each one. You should investigate all six personality types not only those represented by your Holland Summary Code as you will be tested over all types in the unit evaluation. Video clips of many of the careers will give you a good idea of what that person does in that particular career.

Realistic

The Realistic category is usually the first one considered because the occupations included in it are quite basic and "down to earth." Because realistic occupations often include skilled and technical jobs, the people who best match them are generally interested in working with tools and machines. If you are a person who takes pleasure in building something, or in working outdoors, or in making mechanical things work, you probably fall into this category. Most people in the Realistic occupations resist radical change and probably place great value on things that could be called traditional. If you are attracted to a Realistic occupation, you probably prefer to avoid complicated people and ideas and do not want to make complicated philosophical choices.

Key abilities for the Realistic type occupations are:

• Organization--you're good in organization if you can keep track of details and make up a system for getting a job done.
• Manual Dexterity--you have manual dexterity if you can make and fix things with your hands.
• Mechanical--you're good at mechanical work if you know how simple machines such as levers and pulleys work and understand the laws of physics (for example, warm air rises).

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Investigative

In the Holland hexagon, categories that are closest to each other are thought to be most alike, just as those that are opposite from each other on the hexagon are considered to be most different. The Investigative category is closest to the Realistic category. Investigative careers usually include jobs that are scientific and inquisitive in nature. If you would enjoy working in a laboratory or a clinic, you may very well fall under this heading. Investigative people may not necessarily like to run a machine that makes things, but rather operate a machine that produces information. People who like investigative jobs may be very analytical, unstructured, and curious. They would probably enjoy the freedom to be able to "do their own thing" while on the job.

Key abilities for the Investigative type occupations are:

• Numerical--you're good at numerical work if you can do arithmetic quickly and correctly, use arithmetic to solve work problems, and understand and use mathematical formulas.
• Reading--you're good at reading if you understand the factual information that you read. Magazines, textbooks, and non-fiction books contain factual information.
• Spatial Perception--you're good at thinking about spatial perception if you can look at a drawing of something (such as a house, a coat, or a tool) and imagine how it would look from another side.
• Scientific--you're good at scientific work if you understand scientific laws and theories and do well in scientific class work.

Artistic

It is obvious that people who fit under the label Artistic would tend to be creative and expressive. They would probably not want to be in a job in which they would be inhibited or expected to conform. If you are a person who likes to be alone and who usually does not go along with the crowd, you may very well fit under the label Artistic. People with artistic abilities and interests are certainly progressive and innovative. They are always looking for new ways to express themselves.

Key abilities for the Artistic type occupations are:

• Spatial Perception--you're good at thinking about spatial perception if you can look at a drawing of something (such as a house, a coat, or a tool) and imagine how it would look from another angle.
• Language Usage--you're good at language usage if you can recognize correct and incorrect uses of language, including grammar and punctuation.
• Creative/Artistic--you're creative/artistic if you do well at drawing, painting, music, acting, or dancing.
• Creative/Literary--you have creative/literary ability if you do well at expressing your ideas or feelings in writing.

Social

Most people have a pretty good idea whether or not they are "social." Persons who fall into Holland’s Social category probably are concerned with other people, and interested in helping, teaching, training, and curing others. Most of us encounter Social people every day. If you are in school at the present time, you certainly meet them often. Those who are in Social occupations are interested in solving problems through discussion with others and by exhibiting good leadership skills. If you like to work closely with other people to solve problems, and like to encounter people who often think and feel as you do, you may fall into the Social category.

Key abilities for the Social type occupations are:

• Reading--you're good at reading if you understand the factual information that you read. Magazines, textbooks, and non-fiction books contain factual information.
• Language Usage--you're good at language usage if you can recognize correct and incorrect uses of language, including grammar and punctuation.
• Helping Others--you're good at helping others if you like to take care of other people, teach other people what you know, and make people happy.
• Meeting People--you're good at meeting people if you can talk to people you don't know, get along well with other people, and make a good impression on people.

Enterprising

If you are a good talker and you can sell something to someone, you probably fit into the category of Enterprising. People who are "enterprising" usually can be classified as good organizers as well as risk-takers. Most "enterprisers" are quite competitive and do well in jobs in which they can persuade others to do things their way. If you took a survey of successful business persons, you might find many of them wearing the Enterprising label. These people tend to exhibit their success by placing great emphasis on personal and material possessions. They like nice houses, cars, and boats, and often belong to the best social organizations. It is probably quite safe to put most successful entrepreneurs into or close to this category.

Key abilities for the Enterprising type occupations are:

• Numerical--you're good at numerical work if you can do arithmetic quickly and correctly, use arithmetic to solve work problems, and understand and use mathematical formulas.

• Language Usage--you're good at language usage if you can recognize correct and incorrect uses of language, including grammar and punctuation.
• Sales--you're good at sales if you can get other people to buy something you suggest or take your advice about something.
• Leadership--you're good at leadership if you can lead a group of people toward a goal or get different people to work together to get a job done.

Conventional

Like the Enterprising type, people who are good organizers and are very efficient fall into the Conventional category. They differ from Enterprising people in that they are not risk-takers or aggressive entrepreneurial types. Most Conventional persons are conformists who like order and efficiency. Much of the business world depends on such people to get the job done. Most "conventionals" are not willing to plunge into something new, and are quite conservative, but are generally very good at whatever they do.

Key abilities for the Conventional type occupations are:

• Numerical--you're good at numerical work if you can do arithmetic quickly and correctly, use arithmetic to solve work problems, and understand and use mathematical formulas.
• Language Usage--you're good at language usage if you can recognize correct and incorrect uses of language, including grammar and punctuation.
• Organization--you're good in organization if you can keep track of details and make up a system for getting a job done.
• Clerical--you're good at clerical work if you can find things you have to look up, keep good records, and sort things.

Developing Your Contact System

Surveys have shown that friends, relatives, and acquaintances are valuable resources for people who are looking for jobs. These resource people can help you when you actually look for a job and when you want to learn more about a job that you think you are interested in. Regardless of what you want from your contact system, the people in it probably can help you. Your contacts can give you direction, motivation, encouragement, and advice. Another thing that these people can do for you is to tell you about job vacancies that they may know about or identify people that you might talk to when seeking employment. Your contact system may also be a useful source of recommendations for prospective jobs.

You may feel that you really don’t know very many people on whom you could call for job advice. It would stand to reason that the older a person gets, the more people he or she will know. As you begin to list all of your acquaintances, you probably will be surprised at how long the list is. You know people in your family, your school, your social activities, your place of worship, your neighborhood, and many other places. Some of these people you can truly count as friends, while others are merely acquaintances. Nevertheless, they are people that you can draw on in your job exploration. The best way to begin to build a network of personal contacts for career exploration is simply to list all of the people you know and what they do.

Informational Interview

What is an information interview? It is just what you might guess -- an interview or conversation engaged in solely to obtain information. An information interview is not a job interview and should never be regarded as such, even if you are seeking a job. All you are trying to do in an information interview is to gain knowledge about an occupation from a person who is or has been engaged in it.