How We Relate To Work
Do you find yourself gravitating toward certain jobs or career choices? Do you know what type of work you enjoy doing most? Or don’t enjoy? When we choose work that matches our key personality traits, we likely will experience more fulfillment and satisfaction in the long run.
Psychologist Dr. John L. Holland classified work and interests into six categories based on personality types: Realistic; Investigative; Artistic; Social; Enterprising; and Conventional. Here’s a brief overview of each category: (To download our full resource on “Holland Codes”, please click here.)
Realistic: Physical work involving manual skills and working with your hands that often produces tangible results
Investigative: Analytical work involving research, investigation, evaluation, and decision-making based on those skills
Artistic: Creative work involving intuition and innovation that brings unique or creative ideas into the world to impact people
Social: Interpersonal work that directly helps people in one-on-one or small group interactions
Enterprising: Persuasive work involving persuading and leading people, performing, and planning, often impacting large groups of people and organizations
Conventional: Detail-oriented work that involves gathering information and organizing things
Knowing how we relate to work based on our personality traits informs what type of work we may thrive in - not just the jobs that we have the skills to do, but work we actually enjoy. For example, in one of our Life Mapping U workshops, where these six working types provide a roadmap to individual skills and interests, we counseled a young man who is just starting his career as an engineer. He was experiencing much dissatisfaction with his current job and didn’t understand why because he loves engineering in general. As we helped him discover his transferable skills - skills he both excels in and loves to use - he realized that he enjoys employing his Artistic skills. He discovered that he actually likes generating new ideas and concepts and creating new things, and his current job of manufacturing the same component over and over again does not allow room for this type of creativity. Thus, based on this knowledge of his personality and what he enjoys doing, he received new sight lines to the type of work within engineering that he might find thrive in and find satisfaction in doing.
These “Holland Codes” can be immensely helpful in revealing your key interests and even pointing you toward whole-life purpose. You can take a step toward a more satisfying career or uncovering your deeper interests and passions by registering for one of our Life Mapping U workshops. Prior to an in-person workshop with our expert facilitators, you’ll complete a few pre-work assignments in our Life Mapping U course so that you can be prepared to share your story and receive an accurate assessment of your key traits and skills. Learn more and register here.
We’re excited and ready to help guide you on the path toward purpose and greater fulfillment in all that you do.
