We present the PreferenSort, a career counseling instrument that derives counselees' vocational interests from their preferences among occupational titles. The PreferenSort allows for a holistic decision process, while taking into account the full complexity of occupations and encouraging deliberation about one's preferences and acceptable…

Unemployment continues to be a growing concern among both civilian and veteran populations. As 14% of the veteran population currently identify as disabled because of service, this population's need for specialized vocational rehabilitation is increasing. Specifically in Veterans Affairs (VA) Blind Rehabilitation Centers (BRC) where holistic…

In the field of career development, there is an acknowledged relationship between career assessment and career counseling. Traditional career assessment and more recent narrative approaches to career counseling are perceived as having an uneasy relationship because of their different philosophical bases. A sustainable future story for the field…

We examined a longstanding assumption in vocational psychology that people-things and data-ideas are bipolar dimensions. Two minimal criteria for bipolarity were proposed and examined across 3 studies: (a) The correlation between opposite interest types should be negative; (b) after correcting for systematic responding, the correlation should be…

Students (N = 247) responded to Self-Directed Search (SDS) per the standard response format and were also instructed to record a question mark (?) for items about which they were uncertain (item response indecision [IRI]). The initial responses of the 114 participants with a (?) were then reversed and a second SDS summary code was obtained and…

The authors examined U.S. war veterans' career concerns (e.g., interests, personality, barriers, career thoughts) to provide possible avenues for research-based and theory-driven intervention. The veterans who participated in the study were receiving mental health, substance abuse, and vocational services at a residential facility. Participants…

Holland influenced practice and research in career development by contributing a clear theory useful in organizing information about individuals and career alternatives and for understanding individuals' entry and persistence in occupational and other environments. His theory was repeatedly revised in response to evidence. As Holland's own career…

The study used the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and the NEO-FFI to explore profile elevation, four secondary constructs, and the Big Five personality factors in a sample of college students in a career course. Regression model results showed that openness, conscientiousness, differentiation high-low, differentiation Iachan, and consistency accounted…

The NEO Personality Inventory, Personal Styles Inventory, and Self-Directed Search (SDS) were completed by 319 participants. Higher profile elevation (total score of SDS scales) was associated with higher openness to experience and extraversion and lower depressive personality. Results help interpret high or low SDS profiles. (SK)

Examined interpretations of 100 career counselee's responses to Self-Directed Search (SDS). Found that agreement between scales identified as relevant was as high as agreement among counselors, insignificant correlations between counselors' judgments of counselee's degree of interest crystallization and Holland's (1985) measure of consistency, and…

Using Holland's Self-Directed Search, compares the career interests of 28 adjudicated male adolescents with a normative high school male sample. The mean Artistic score of the adjudicated adolescents was significantly higher than the normative sample. The adjudicated sample showed poor differentiation and significantly higher intercorrelations…

Suggests counselors measure vocational interests with three inventories: Ramak Interest Inventory, Courses Interest Inventory, and Self-Directed Search. Discusses implications from studies on vocational congruence, environmental congruence, structure of occupational fields, and within-occupation congruence. Presents five defense mechanisms for…

Career assessment activities in the Self-Directed Search and constructs in Holland's theory increase understanding of an individual's personal career theory (PCT). The PCT provides information about a person's readiness for career decision making and the types of career interventions that might be effective. (Author/SK)

The Self-Directed Search, a self-administered, self-scored, and self-interpreted vocational counseling tool, was administered to 43 blind adults. Results indicated that the Social (S) personality type was predominant for both men and women, a finding for blind men discrepant with the normative data. (Author/DB)

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the utility of the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) in concert with a widely used interest inventory associated with Hollands theory of vocational behavior. The chapter begins with an analysis of the gap in career interest assessment, followed by a brief review of the CTI and its uses in practice. A case…