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How Did John Holland Use ASVAB Testing

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Aptitude tests come in many different shapes and sizes. Tests such as the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) is given often in schools. SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) and ACT (American College Testing) tests are often used to help students get into certain schools, to John Holland’s six personality types theory. Each of these aptitude tests are designed to give the test taker a better view of where their strengths and perhaps weaknesses lye. To help them start on the path of different possible careers or career learning. Currently, Holland’s theory of career choice is being used by the U.S. Department of Labor. This is being billed as “What do you want to do for a living”. Holland’s career choice theory is broken down to …show more content…

My SAT scores had ranged from 1500 to 1800 depending on the area of the test. (Test ranges have changed now for SAT) Taking the Holland questionnaire I presumed that again, I would do “average” with whatever grading was involved. The Holland code is broken down into categories. Realistic; working outside, hands on work and tend to avoid working with others. Investigative; looking for facts, working with ideas and avoiding the physical activity found with many jobs. Artistic; which much like the name implies working with music, art and design, while avoiding any real set of rules. Social; tends to work with people more than “things”, enjoying teaching and giving advice. Enterprising; is all about action over thinking. Leading people and taking risks. Finally, Conventional, which is about details with a clear set of rules. I personally believed that I would have scored high in Realistic as I enjoy working with my hands, Enterprising because of what I see as a “take charge” personality and Artistic due to what I do for a living by being a writer. I was surprised when my results came back high in Investigative (21), Artistic (19) and Social (16). …show more content…

These jobs are broken down based on experience, education and training. In zone 1 my result was “Within this Job Zone, there are no careers that match your interest profile.” I was a bit dishearten by this. My first thought was what if I was a high school student, no real experience and no desire to go onto college, would there be no real job that I would be happy with? Zone 2 did offer up a couple of results, one of which was Dietetic Technician, but that was only due do a reference of “You might like a career in one of these industries:” which included Health and Counseling. Zone 3 had many possible choices one of them was Photographers, which is a hobby that I enjoy, not something I had ever considered as a career choice. Zone 4 offered my first “perfect match” Which was Poets, Lyricist & Creative Writers. This was not surprising, due to what I do for a living. Zone 5 offered the most results, the best matches and possible best matches. One result that stood out was Neuropsychologists & clinical Neuropsychologists. (Mynextmove.org) Which was what I am interested in primarily for furthering my

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