Making Vocational Choices, 3rd Edition (MVC)
John L. Holland, PhD

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Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments presents John L. Holland’s RIASEC theory of careers and its successful application to vocational life. Holland’s formulation is the basis for all major career inventories used today. It can be easily understood and used by practitioners whose goals are to help individuals make successful career choices and/or to achieve the best person-job fit. The primary focus is to explain vocational behavior and to suggest practical ideas to help people select jobs, change jobs, and attain vocational satisfaction.

The Holland theory of careers is an interactive model based on a typology of persons and environments. First, people can be characterized by their resemblance to each of six personality types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. Each personality type has a characteristic set of activities, skills, and talents. Second, the environments in which people live and work can be characterized by their resemblance to model environments classified according to the same six types. Finally, the theory allows us to predict the outcome of person-environment interactions, providing explanations for three fundamental questions:

• 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 a lifetime?
• What are the most effective methods for providing assistance to people with career problems?

This 3rd edition provides some clarifications and revisions of the theory; discusses recent (1985-1996) related research; and extends the practical applications of the theory in career guidance, social science, business, and industry.