Understanding What Makes a Job Satisfying: How Prostaff Recruiters Help You Find Your Passion

You know when you are in a job you like. You also know when the task you're doing just isn't right for you.

What lies behind our feelings of work satisfaction or dissatisfaction are our fundamental work interests: these are the things that we enjoy doing, whatever the industry or the job title. The trick to finding career satisfaction can be to identify those core interests and match your job to them.

In the 1970s John Holland developed a popular theory of interest development based on these six personality types:

R for ‘Realistic’

People who have athletic or mechanical abilities, prefer to work with objects, machines, tools, plants, or animals, or to be outdoors.

Answering yes to these four questions suggests that the letter R might be a part of your three-letter Holland Code:

1. Do you learn better by doing?
2. Do you like to use your hands, machines or tools in your work?
3. Do you enjoy working outdoors or with animals?
4. Do you have strong mechanical skills?

C for ‘Conventional’

People who like to work with data, have clerical or numerical ability, carry things out in detail, or follow through on others’ instructions.

Answering yes to these four questions suggests that the letter C might be a part of your three-letter Holland Code:

1. Are you orderly and good at following a plan?
2. Do you thrive in settings with structure?
3. Do you find rules to be of high value in society?
4. Are you a logical thinker?

E for ‘Enterprising’

People who like to work with people - influencing, persuading, performing, leading, or managing for organizational goals or for economic gain.

People with E as part of their Holland Code often answer yes to these questions:

1. Do you consider yourself persuasive?
2. Are you good at leading people or selling things?
3. Do you aspire to find financial success?
4. Do you gain excitement and energy from challenges?

S for ‘Social’

People who like to work with people - to inform, enlighten, help, train, develop, or cure them, or are skilled with words.

If you answer yes to any of these four questions, the letter S might be a part of your three-letter Holland Code:

1. Do you value chances to help others?
2. Do people ask you for help to solve personal problems?
3. Do you like to volunteer or donate to causes you are passionate about?
4. Does interacting with others give you energy and joy?

A for ‘Artistic’

People who have artistic, innovative, or intuitional abilities, and like to work in unstructured situations, using their imagination or creativity.

Answering yes to these four questions suggests that the letter A might be a part of your three-letter Holland Code:

1. Do art, drama, dance, music or crafts intrigue you?
2. Do you get energy and excitement from thinking creatively?
3. Do you value self-expression?
4. Do you seek to avoid repetitive tasks?

I for ‘Investigative’

People who like to observe, learn, investigate, analyze, evaluate or solve problems.

Answering yes to these four questions suggests that the letter I might be a part of your three-letter Holland Code:

1. Do questions in science and math interest you?
2. Do you consider yourself precise?
3. Do you make keen observations?
4. Do people regularly describe you as a thinker?

Holland's conclusion was that for any personality type, the career most aligned with that type is most likely to be enjoyable and satisfying. For example, a Realistic person would be best suited for a Technical job and least suited for a Social job. Jobs with Conventional or Operational characteristics would be the next best choices.

The way that this works in practice is that people use a personality test to identify their three top personality types. This gives them Holland's code (for example, ESA). This is then matched against Holland's codes of people typically found within particular careers.

Holland’s codes are just one of the tools that an expert recruiter at Prostaff can use when recommending ideal positions to you. To take the next step in your career, start by sending your resume to [email protected]!

Article by Sean Breault