Conceptualization of Case Study #2 According to Hollands theory of vocational personalities and environments, people ten to choose a career that is reflective of their personality. Because people tend to be attracted to certain jobs, the environment then reflects this personality. Holland classified these personality types and work environments into six types which he labeled realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional (RAISEC).
He suggests that the closer the match to job, the greater the satisfaction the person gets from work (ICDM, 1991, p. 4-4).
Henri has had a very interesting life and many opportunities to find out for himself who he is and what he wants to do. However, that also poses a very difficult choice for him. He is so confident that he can be good in many things that making a final decision seems to be a problem.
If the company that he works for does not really care which field he gets his bachelors degree in, he should definitely go for what interests him most, which turns out to be psychology. Psychology might be very interesting to him because he developed good communication skills while he was traveling since the very early childhood. That, probably, means that he belongs to the social type. During his traveling he most likely had to adjust to various customs and learn how to find his own way around unknown people and environments. That taught him a great lesson and contributed to his development as a person. The early start of his professional life has developed such entrepreneurial qualities in him as risk-taking and responsibility in making decisions for himself.
This points to his second type of personality enterprising. A good proof of that is his outstanding achievement of being a corporate supervisor for a large corporation, where he was responsible for over 30 employees and millions of dollars of products. There is no evidence in the case that Henry belongs to the artistic type. He, however, also proved himself to be a realistic types, as he held many positions that required working with things: tools, machines, etc. He has worked as a laborer, military soldier, food service worker, security guard, machinist, tractor-trailer driver, heavy equipment operator, welder, plumber, electrician, mechanic, woodworker. It seems like Henry has actually never been to a situation, where he could not perform one or another job.
He seems to be a very talented and developed personality. Besides the positive sides of his fast-moving life, there are some negative ones, though. Henrys ever-lasing traveling did not contribute to his settling down and choosing one single career for himself. That potentially may cause a serious problem, because the older a person gets, the more secure and protected he/she wants to feel. That is why it is extremely important to make a wise career choice for Henry at the moment. He needs an occupation that he would stick to for at least a couple of years.
Even though Henry is quite young he is only 30, it is essential that is decides what he wants to do. That is not so much a question of money or career development, as it is a psychological factor. If Henry likes what he chooses to do, it will give him more confidence in his ability to make right career choices. Even if he gets tired of what he studied for, he will feel secure to study something else and work in a different field. The sense of determination and direction is going to be a new experience for Henry and will bring more organization into his somewhat chaotic career path. Works cited: – Improved Career Decision Making (ICDM) in a Changing World, NOICC Garrett Park Press, 1996..