Chapter 3

In Chapter 3 of Brown (2016), many different types of theories are presented and explained.  In Holland’s Theory of Vocational Choice, “the emphasis is placed on the fact that an individual’s personality is the primary factor in vocational choice” (pg. 47). The text describes the different types of personalities as enterprising, social, artistic, investigative, realistic, and conventional.  At school, we all have the incoming freshman take an extensive personality test.  The personality test will give students results that show them what kinds of professions or what majors fit their personality the best.  The students find these results to be extremely helpful, especially when it comes time to pick an area of study in college.  Since personality traits do not tend to change much over time, these results will always be available to them through their years in high school.

In the TWA model, “a person interacts with their environment in specified ways and both in action and reaction the environment responds” (pg. 55). Essentially what we see here is people will pick jobs that are personally satisfying and workers are chosen because their skills will meet the needs of the workplace.  This theory seems pretty standard in picking a profession and also during an interview process.  When thinking of a job to choose to pursue, it is good to consider whether or not you will be able to enjoy what you are doing. When trying to find suitable employees, employers try to find workers that meet the description and the characteristics that they are looking for.

In the Brown’s Value Based Theory, he points out that one’s values are the biggest determinant of job choice one will pick.  Values with high priorities will be chosen over anything else.  For example, if one’s top value is to make a lot of money, then these individuals will pick a job that will fulfill this need.  Since I am moving into the role of a counselor, the idea of helping people through career development as well as personal and social development is more of a higher value to me than making a lot of money, even though have a little to spend is never a bad thing.

In the Gibson (2005) text, there is talk about how genograms can help to predict and help students find an occupation that suits them well.  I think this is a good idea and can help shed light on the situation; however, I do that that this would be something that could only be done over a span of time.  While this might be tough to administer and interpret, especially for a teacher who is not trained in doing so, it definitely will help students communicate and connect with their family. 

References

Brown, D. (2016). Career information, career counseling, and career development (11^thed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN 978-0-13-391777-2.

Gibson, D. (2005, June). The Use of Genograms in Career Counseling with Elementary, Middle, and High School Students. The Career Development Quarterly, 53, 353-362.