If you're like most people, at least once in your life, you have probably wondered: What career should I go into? Whether you're just starting your occupational choice journey or at a crossroads considering a new career, it's important to choose a job that matches your interests.
Studies repeatedly show that work satisfaction, professional success , employee performance, and risk of burnout are strongly connected to how well a job aligns with a person's needs and interests.
The Holland Career Test, based on the John Holland RIASEC Model, is a tool that identifies your unique personality type and interests to suggest suitable career paths. For over 60 years, this model has helped people match their interests with potential careers, offering meaningful guidance on vocational choices.
Learn how taking a Holland Codes Quiz can help you find the right job for you!
What Is Holland's Theory of Occupational Choice?
American psychologist John Lewis Holland first began exploring the connection between a person's occupational interests and their character in the 1950s.
In 1959, he published an article titled "A Theory of Vocational Choice" in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, which outlined six types and how they impact career choices. This early version of the Holland Occupational Theory used these six labels to describe different work personalities: motoric environment, intellectual environment, esthetic environment, supportive environment, persuasive environment, and conforming environment.
In 1966, Holland updated the types into six major occupational areas—Realistic (previously motoric), Intellectual (which was later changed to Investigative in 1973), Artistic (previously supportive), Social (previously conforming), Enterprising (previously persuasive), and Conventional (previously esthetic)—what is now known as the Holland RIASEC model.
The main premise of the Holland occupational theory is to better understand the factors that influence how people choose jobs, change careers, and attain work satisfaction. With Holland's Occupational Choice Theory, it is possible to predict and explain things such as: “what personal and environmental characteristics lead to satisfying career decisions; what personal and environmental characteristics lead to stability and change in the kind and level of work a person performs over time; and what are the most effective methods for providing assistance to people with career problems (Holland, 1997 ).”
According to John Holland's Theory of Career Choice (also known as the RIASEC Model), people prefer work environments that best allow them to utilize their abilities, aptitudes, and skills. People do better at jobs and careers that are congruent with their interests, work values , learning and communication styles, and attitudes. Additionally, people tend to be happier in careers where they are working with people who are like them.
A person's behavior can be determined by the interaction between their personality and the environment.
Holland types and interest profiles don't only apply to people; jobs and careers can also be described with the same six Holland codes. This means that the John Holland RIASEC Model can be used to match people with careers where they are more likely to succeed. When a person chooses a work environment that is in alignment with their interests and personality type , there is increased job satisfaction and a higher potential for career success.
Because of its empirical nature and popularity, John Holland's RIASEC model has also become the most extensively examined theory about how people choose careers. As a result, Holland codes are widely used as the foundation for many free career quizzes as well as more comprehensive career tests .
Career Guidance: What Are the 6 Holland Personality Types?
Holland's occupational theory centers on the idea that people tend to fit into six main types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. However, it is important to note that, with the rare exception, people don't fit neatly into a single category (nor do jobs, for that matter).
People are complex and have multi-faceted personalities, and the Holland theory takes that into consideration.
When you take a Holland Codes career test, you don't get a single score or personality type. Rather, you learn how strongly you relate and have interests within the six different interest categories.
The name “RIASEC” comes from the first letter of each of the occupational themes. Your actual results from taking a Holland codes career test will have the letters in the order of how you scored, from highest to lowest. Most people are dominant in two to three of the categories, so it is common to shorten a person's Holland code down to either two or three letters rather than using all six.
For example, someone whose three highest scores, in order, are Realistic, Investigative, and Conventional, would have a Holland code of RIC. A person's Holland career codes are often displayed on a RIASEC bar graph. In this case, the scores are visually displayed either vertically or horizontally, with more dominant traits being higher.
Keeping in mind that each of us is a blend of traits, let's explore the six Holland types in their “purest” forms. Remember, it is extremely rare for someone to fit into ONLY one category, so don't be surprised if, as you read these descriptions, you see yourself in several places. Or alternatively, find yourself fitting one item within a category (for example, liking animals or the outdoors), but not the rest.
That's why it's important to take a career aptitude test to better understand your unique occupational profile.
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What is the Realistic Personality Type in the RIASEC Model? The Realistic Holland personality can be described as “doers.” They value things you can see, touch, and do.
People who fall into the Realistic category tend to be practical, technical, systematic, and straightforward in their approach. They typically prefer physical activities, working with plants and animals, or real-world materials such as wood, land, tools, and machinery.
A person with a Realistic personality likes to tackle problems and tasks hands-on by getting right in there and doing something. In the construction world, they are the builders.
People with Realistic personality traits are often kinesthetic learners who prefer get creative and think outside of the box to “learn by doing” over sitting in a classroom listening to lectures.
Most professional sports players are likely to score high on the Realistic Holland code, so much so that this personality type is sometimes referred to as “athletic.” While not exclusive to the Realistic trait, there is also a strong correlation with preferring outdoor work in this category.
What is the Investigative Personality Type in the RIASEC Model? Another term that could describe the Investigative personality type is “thinker”. Holland's original name for this category was “intellectual ”, probably because people with this personality style tend to be analytical, research-oriented, precise, and scientific.
Because a lot of the work is “in their head,” Investigative persons often prefer to work independently, but not always.
Investigative people think abstractly, enjoy searching for facts, like to dive deep for information, and love figuring out complex problems. They could be considered idea developers and ask a ton of questions. They want to understand the how and why of things. These are the people who thrive on calculations, theories, and challenging ideas.
What is the Artistic Personality Type in the RIASEC Model? If someone fits into the Holland Artistic personality type, they are creators by nature. When it comes to solving problems or generating new ideas, these are the kind of people who are going to get creative and think outside of the box.
A person with a high Artistic Holland code is likely to be imaginative, unconventional, and emotionally expressive. In the construction world, these are the designers and architects. Artistic personality types are drawn to work that can be done without set rules or structure.
What is the Social Personality Type in the RIASEC Model? The “helper” could be another word used to describe Holland's social personality type. Within the Holland RIASEC Model, the word “social” is not used solely to describe whether a person likes being around others, but rather their internal motivation related to vocational interests.
For example, a person with a high Social Holland code is likely to be a team player, caring, flexible, and reliable. However, we are sure that if you stopped to think about it, you can think of at least one gregarious, extroverted person who thrives on being the center of attention, that doesn't fit that bill. We will talk more about this important distinction later.
When we talk about Social personality traits as they relate to occupational choice, the main goal of work for this group is service to people. They thrive on working with others to help them grow, develop, and/or heal. They are the caretakers and the great listeners. They are also skilled with words, but in a manner that is geared towards helping, teaching, and informing, rather than persuading.
What is the Enterprising Personality Type in the RIASEC Model? Another name for the Enterprising personality type is the “persuader.” This group of people is also great at communication and words, but their motivation is to lead, guide, influence, and persuade. These are the same reasons why they like working with people, and when asked for a single word to describe themselves, “leader” is likely to be at the top of the list.
Someone with a high Enterprising Holland code is likely to be results-oriented, eager to take challenges head-on, spontaneous, and adventurous. They are the risk takers and are often goal-oriented towards economic gain.
Most entrepreneurs will have a relatively high Enterprising score. What business they choose to get into is likely to be related to their other interests and personality traits. For example, someone who also scores high on Artistic and Social traits might start their own dance studio, rather than work for someone else.
Additionally, how well they succeed at that business can be greatly influenced by either their other scores or how well they can identify their weaknesses and get help. Every successful business needs someone with at least some organizational, time management, and accounting skills.
What is the Conventional Personality Type in the RIASEC Model? Someone who has the Conventional personality type could also be called the “organizer.” This group tends to be focused, data-oriented, detailed, and great with numbers. On the surface, there may seem to be a lot of similarities between the Conventional and Investigative types, and there is overlap, but a key difference is that they are more logical, concrete thinkers rather than abstract.
A high Conventional RIASEC score indicates that a person is likely to be orderly, methodical, and enjoy structure in their approach towards work and life. They like working with plans and are great at keeping records (and don't mind doing it!).
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Get Valuable Insights from Your Holland Codes Career Test Score When you take a Holland personality test, you are able to get a better understanding of your potential occupational interests. This will help you to choose the career that suits you best.
By examining the fit between individual and vocational traits and themes, the Holland RIASEC model can be used to predict the potential for positive career-related outcomes. The higher the degree of congruence, the higher levels of job satisfaction, achievement, performance, and persistence will be.
Holland used a hexagon to illustrate the personality traits, organized so that personality types closest to each other are more similar than those further away.
However, with the Holland RIASEC model, how people fit into each category does not have to be an “either-or” decision. Being high on “Social” people-oriented traits doesn't mean that you can't also have a lot of “Realistic” thing-oriented traits. Believe it or not, there are people who score high on both “Artistic” and “Conventional” traits, even though they appear to be polar opposites. A technical writer comes to mind.
As good as the Holland RIASEC model is for helping to predict job satisfaction and performance, it does have some limitations. For example, the questioning focuses on “things you like doing” and doesn't fully assess things such as introversion, extroversion , or social anxiety .
While there is some connection between Realistic traits and introversion and Social traits and extroversion, it cannot be considered a clear-cut assessment measure. A person can have both Realistic and Social interests, but only ambiverts are both introverted and extroverted. Another example would be the Realistic construction worker who is the extroverted prankster and is the first person to invite everyone out for a beer come Friday.
The Holland RIASEC model also doesn't consider things such as time management , frustration tolerance, social skills , or even something as simple as kindness —all of which will impact how well someone does in their career, no matter how much they like it.
For this reason, a multifaceted career personality test is a better way to predict career success and satisfaction. To accomplish this, BrainManager's career test combines Holland's theory with the Big Five personality model .
Holland Occupational Themes: What Is Holland Code Careers List?
When John Holland developed his theory, it started out as purely a personality test, but over time, he discovered a connection between certain characteristics of a person and those of specific careers.
One of the things that makes a Holland Codes career test stand out from other personality tests is that they are specifically designed to match interests with career fields.
The underlying premise of this theory of occupational choice is that when other things are equal, people will do better at a job that matches their interests and where they are around others who are like them. Of course, job satisfaction and performance also depend upon a person's aptitude, social, and employment skills, as well as the work environment itself, but getting your Holland RIASEC code is a great way to start out.
Remember, when looking at the Holland occupational theme for different careers, just like with personality traits, there is overlap. As with people, most jobs are a blend of different characteristics, and very few careers perfectly match a single category.
For example, a pediatrician is likely to score high on both Investigative and Social traits. In contrast, a surgeon is likely to have a high Enterprising score and may even score low on Social traits. A sculptor whose craft is hands-on working with clay will probably have an Artistic and Realistic interest profile.
Despite this, it is still beneficial to understand the general Holland occupational themes. This knowledge can prepare you for potential challenges if you choose to enter a career that is not intrinsically compatible with your dominant personality characteristics (or avoid them altogether).
Individuals with Realistic traits often thrive in practical, structured, and analytical settings and are most compatible with realistic, conventional, and investigative work environments. Those with Investigative traits shine in occupations that involve deep thinking and complex problem-solving, making them compatible with investigative, artistic, and realistic environments. People with Artistic inclinations excel in creative, innovative, and expressive settings, and are most compatible with artistic, investigative, and social environments. Social individuals flourish in helping, teaching, and caregiving settings, making them compatible with social, artistic, and enterprising work environments. The Enterprising individual’s talents for leadership and their preference for dynamic work activities make them compatible with enterprising, conventional, and social environments. Those with Conventional attributes perform best in organized, detail-oriented, and methodical settings and are most compatible with conventional, enterprising, and realistic environments. Let’s take a closer look at some options for each Holland type, keeping in mind that the best career fits will take your secondary and tertiary traits (your 3-letter Holland code).
Realistic Holland Code Occupations Realistic careers are characterized by being task-oriented, technical, mechanical, and/or physical in nature. Work tasks tend to be concrete and hands-on, with tangible results.
Some examples of compatible careers for someone with Realistic personality traits as part of their Holland Code include:
Construction and building trades Professional sports, athletics, and physical training Mechanics and engineering Military and protective services Agriculture, wildlife, and forestry Commercial drivers and truckers Computer technicians, software developers and testers, and IT Support Ultimately, the best fit for someone with Realistic traits will also depend upon their secondary and tertiary Holland codes. For example, an architect is likely to also have artistic and creative traits.
► Learn more about careers best suited for people with Realistic personalities.
Investigative Holland Code Occupations Careers within the Investigative occupational theme tend to be in the fields of psychology, science, technology, journalism, and mathematics — with an emphasis on the research side of things.
People with Investigative personalities lean toward careers that require observation, abstract thinking, and evaluation. They like working with ideas rather than physical things. The degree to which an Investigative person enjoys being around others for work is dependent on other personality factors.
Some examples of investigative careers include biology, archeology, physics, detectives, and forensic psychologists.
► Learn more about careers best suited for people with Investigative personalities.
Artistic Holland Code Occupations Artistic occupations are careers in which people are free to express their creativity and imagination. Typically, there is little structure or set order to the work, but that doesn't mean that artistic careers don't require discipline.
As can be expected, Artistic personality types are drawn to careers in the visual and performing arts, such as acting, music, drama, dance, photography, and design. Jobs that allow a person to express their creativity in their work would be a good fit for Artistic types.
With Creatives, like all other personality types, the other dominant personality traits will impact career choice and fit. For example, event planners also need to enjoy working with people (Social), whereas a floral designer is likely to have a strong Realistic streak.
► Learn more about careers best suited for people with Artistic personalities.
Social Holland Code Occupations Careers in Social occupations pretty much always fall within the helping profession in some way. This makes sense since these people are the “helpers” who place a high value on service to others.
Remember, social in Holland theory is not just about whether someone likes being around people, it's the WHY that's important. The RIASEC Social personality type wants to be around people for humanistic, caring, nurturing, and empathetic reasons. Some of the most obvious jobs with the Social career code include teachers, social workers, therapists, childcare workers, law enforcement, and medical professionals.
But there are many careers that you may not automatically think of as being “social,” such as funeral attendants, wait staff, bartenders, and ushers.
Within social careers, the actual occupation chosen will strongly depend upon the secondary and tertiary traits, with the helping field being related to those codes. For example, doctors and nurses are most likely to have a high Investigative score, too. A detective or lawyer is likely to have high investigative and enterprising traits, along with a desire to help others.
► Learn more about careers best suited for people with Social personalities.
Enterprising Holland Code Occupations People with Enterprising traits are likely to find them in occupations where they take on leadership, management, and/or decision-making roles. If they are not in control yet, they have the “go-getter” attitude that they are going to work their way up the ladder. Think of the line cook who will someday become the head chef, the salesperson who becomes the store manager, and the attorney who eventually becomes a partner or starts their own firm.
Careers within the Enterprising occupational theme often require strong negotiation, motivation, management, leadership, and communication skills. When working on group projects, regardless of the profession, these people are likely to be voted team leader—and they are comfortable leading large teams.
Occupations that fall within the Enterprising Holland career code include management, law, sales and marketing, advertising, politics, stock brokers, and chief executive positions.
The entrepreneurial spirit is typical of people with a high Enterprising career code. As mentioned earlier, the chosen field in which that entrepreneurship is expressed will depend upon other personality traits in their Holland code.
► Learn more about careers best suited for people with Enterprising personalities.
Conventional Holland Code Occupations Careers within the Conventional occupational theme most often involve working with records, information, files, and data. Conventional jobs require employees who can work in a systematic, orderly, and methodical manner, usually with precision, attention to detail, and accuracy.
Many of these are in the accounting, finance, mathematics, business administration, information technology, or business finance fields.
Like with all Holland interest profiles, the best career fit for someone with Conventional interests will depend upon how they score in the other personality categories. These organizers often work as librarians, accountants, engineers, loan officers, bookkeepers, administrative assistants, travel agents, pharmacists, cashiers, and auditors, just to name a few.
► Learn more about careers best suited for people with Conventional personalities.
Can the Holland Career Test Tell What Job Is Right for Me?
There is a well-known saying: choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
While no one knows who first said it, or when (some sources attribute this idea all the way back to Confucius), truer words could not be spoken. Sadly, however, study after study shows that most people are not happy at work and feel stuck . For example, in a 2019 Gallup poll , only 15% of people around the world (30% in the United States) reported feeling truly engaged in their jobs.
Taking a career test based on the John Holland RIASEC model — the most widely used occupational interest code system — can be the first step towards helping you choose a career that will be personally fulfilling and make you happy. On top of that, a career that you love can be a great preventive measure against burnout syndrome.
When you take a “what is the right career for me test” based on the Holland model, don't think about whether you currently have the skills, training, or education to do the work.
Just think about whether you would enjoy doing it.
You also don't want to think about what the salary is or how much money you can earn with a career. Answer the questions as if money didn't matter — is it something you would enjoy doing for fun, in your spare time? As a hobby?
The Holland Code Career Test is a valuable tool for identifying which kinds of work activity with your interests, individual preferences, and talents. While there are only six types in the pure sense, people typically exhibit a combination of these traits. This approach helps you avoid occupations you might dislike and steers you toward a fulfilling career tailored to your unique profile.
Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you like doing it!
