We know it’s important to give discoverers relevant and meaningful advice. For that reason, we tailor the Assessment Results in CKD to the three most common personality patterns (see next section).

Using our recommended best practices, guides can expand the impact and understanding of results through direct follow up, especially using CK Central’s Let’s Connect email message templates and one-on-one conversations with discoverers.

Advice and resources for all discoverers

  1. Encourage discoverers to explore options for their top two personality types.  This advice is good for everyone, regardless of their scores. Some careers and programs of study are an even or nearly even split between personality types. By only looking at one type, a discoverer could miss an option that may be a great fit.
  2. Keep in mind that there is no meaningful (statistical) difference between scores of 5 points or less.  The closer they are together, the more important it is for broader exploration of types. 
  3. Identify obstacles discoverers have to decision making and help them overcome them. Some may be small and easy to fix like a lack of information, while others may be more complex.  See Decision Making advice below.
  4. Provide discoverers practical, easy to access resources for researching options and making a decision. A few examples:

a. For each career, provide a list of people working in that career who are willing to serve as a resource through informational interviews: teachers, community contacts, school alumni, or parents of alumni.

b. For each program of study, provide a list of students studying that program, program graduates, or professors teaching in that program who are willing to serve as a resource through informational interviews.

c. Ask discoverers to complete a Decision Balance Sheet for their top two or three options and discuss their responses. Learn more: how to use this balance sheet

Keep in mind some limitations

Like any scientific theory and assessment, Holland’s Theory and CKD have limitations. Holland’s six personality types are constructs or concepts. They are guidelines, not boxes in which people must fit. People vary in how closely they match these personality types; and their scores are not positive or negative indicators.

So if a discoverer asks questions about their results, use the opportunity to start an in-depth conversation about who they are.  Ask what scores or elements of a personality type feel like a fit or not for the discoverer. This inquiry reveals insights about the person, clarifying their personality match. Career Key sees the assessment results as the beginning, not end of the discovery process.

Assessing Holland’s personality types and the discovery process in CKD is just one way for discoverers to learn about themselves and the most compatible environments that research shows are more likely to lead to their success.