Grade 9 guide on career assessment: RIASEC test

Therefore, before Grade 7 learners embark on the important exercise of choosing Career Pathways, Learner Profiling revolves around aligning choices to academic performance, strengths, personalities, competencies, intelligences, skills, interests, talents, values, co-curricular activities (CCAs), et cetera. Secondly, academic performance of learners is gauged by the formative 20% Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) they sit at the tail end of Grade 6. Then, 20% is from School-Based Assessments they write in Grades 7 and 8. As well as the summative 60% Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) they sit to write at the tail-end of Grade 9. 

So, before Grade 9 learners choose preferred Career Pathways and subject combinations offered in Senior School, it is important to align everything to their strengths, personalities, competencies, intelligences, skills, interests, talents, values, and many more. This calls for exploration of Career Assessment Tools and Tests. For the factors I have cited play a pivotal role in shaping the career choices. More importantly, Career Assessment Tools and Tests assist them in determining unique qualities and attributes, which is a good guide for vocational volition. As well as what they are passionate about. This is the whole idea of self-awareness, which boosts their confidence and motivation when pursuing plenty of career opportunities. 

Apart from Learner Profiling, learners in Junior School should engage in Career Assessment Tests because the exercise is helpful in self-awareness and subject selection. After school, in the world of work, Career Assessment Tests are useful in career decision-making, career satisfaction, talent exploration, career transition, and educational and career planning. No wonder, I can pen, in a panoramic view, Career Assessment Tests are open to: Learners in Junior and Senior Schools selecting Career Pathways; college and university students pursuing particular careers; inchoate or nascent graduates getting into the world of work; potential job-seekers; employees considering a change of careers; and adults exploring new career opportunities. 

Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional (RIASEC) Test is also called Holland Codes or Holland’s 6 Personality Types. It is a career guidance and personality assessment tool used to help individuals to identify careers, occupations, work environments matching their interests, preferences, talents and personality characteristics. It was developed by the American psychologist Dr John L. Holland (1919-2008). He proposed that people and work environments can be classified into 6 major personality-interest types. He argued that people experience job satisfaction, motivation and success when their personality interests match the work environment. 

These are the raft of guidelines worth putting into consideration while engaging in the RIASEC Career Assessment Test: (1) Knowledge of the purpose of the assessment. (2) Submission of honest responses. (3) Completing questionnaires independently. (3) Freeing oneself from influence towards particular careers. (4) Scoring responses according to assessment instructions. (5) Identifying the 3 dominant interest categories. (5) Understanding the meaning of the resulting Holland’s 3-Letter Code. (6) Discussing possible career opportunities. (7) Comparing interests with abilities, academic performance and qualifications. (8) Developing an individual’s career exploration plan. 

Firstly, realistic people are doers. They prefer practical, physical, hands-on activities. They enjoy working with machines, tools, equipment, plants, animals, and other tangible objects. They are practical and action-oriented. Suitable career opportunities for realistic people include: Engineering, architecture, carpentry, driving, et cetera. 

Secondly, investigative people are thinkers. They enjoy searching, analysing, experimenting, and solving complex problems. They are curious in understanding how things work. Suitable careers for investigative people include: Medicine, data analysis, economics, software development, et cetera. Thirdly, artistic people are creative. They enjoy creativity, imagination, originality and self-expression. They prefer working in environments that allow them to ideate and produce original work. Suitable careers for artistic people include: Painting, music production, writing, authorship, graphic design, fashion design, architecture, acting, journalism, et cetera. 

Then, social people are helpers. They enjoy helping, teaching, guiding, counselling, and interacting with people. Suitable careers for social people include: Teaching, counselling, social work, nursing, et cetera. Additionally, enterprising people are persuaders. They enjoy leadership, influencing others, managing projects, convincing people, and achieving organisational or business goals. Suitable careers for enterprising people include: Entrepreneurship, business management, marketing, law, political science, public relations, project management, business consultancy, real estate agency, et cetera. Moreover, conventional people are organisers. They enjoy organising information, handling records, following procedures, and working with numbers and structured systems. Suitable careers for people who are conventional include: Accounting, banking, auditing, office administration, records management, data science, procurement, et cetera. 

Put aptly, John Holland developed a Hexagonal Model to explain the relationship among the 6 personality-interest types. The 6 types are arranged in a hexagon: Realistic is close to Investigative and Conventional. Investigative is close to realistic and artistic. Artistic is close to investigative and social. Social is close to artistic and enterprising. Enterprising is close to social and conventional. Conventional is close to enterprising and realistic. 

Therefore, what are the major principles of the hexagon? Adjacent types have relatively similar interests. Opposite types have relatively different interests. People may have complementary combinations of neighbouring personality types. The relationship between personality interests and work environments can help guide career choices. For example, a person with an artistic-social combination may enjoy creative work involving people such as drama, teaching, communication, or performing arts. 

Actually, this assessment helps people to discover which of the 6 personality-interest types best describes their career interests. It encompasses the following steps: (1) Answering questions: the individual responds to questions about activities, subjects, hobbies and occupations they enjoy. (2) Rating preferences: they indicate whether they like, dislike or are uncertain about particular activities. (3) Scoring responses: the responses are analysed to establish the individual’s interest levels in the 6 RIASEC categories. (4) Identifying dominant interests: the assessment identifies the 3 highest scoring categories. (5) Developing a Holland’s 3-Letter Code: the 3 strongest categories are combined to create a 3-letter career-interest code. (6) Matching careers: the code is used in exploration of occupations and working environments corresponding to an individual’s interests. 

Somewhat, an important feature of the RIASEC Career Assessment Test is that an individual is not restricted to just one personality type. Instead, most people have a combination of interests. However, some interests may be stronger than others. The 3 highest scoring categories form a 3-Letter Holland’s Code. For example, the Holland Code of realistic, investigative and artistic (RIA) can point a person to careers such as engineering and architecture. Realistic, investigative and social (RIS) can point a person to careers in healthcare technology. Investigative, artistic and realistic (IAR) can point a person to a career such as architecture. 

Then, artistic, social and enterprising (ASE) can point a person to the profession of creative leadership in media. Social, enterprising and conventional (SEC) can point a person to careers such as human resource and education administration. Enterprising, artistic and social (EAS) leads to marketing and public relations careers. Enterprising, conventional and realistic (ECR) leads to careers in business management and administration. Conventional, investigative and realistic (CIR) leads to careers such as accounting and data management. These are just illustrative career possibilities, not fixed career prescriptions. 

Finally, a classic case of an individual’s RIASEC Career Assessment Test results may read: Social = 90/100, artistic = 80/100, investigative = 70/100, enterprising = 55/100, conventional = 40/100, realistic = 30/100. Therefore, the 3-Letter Holland’s Code for this person is SAI. What is the interpretation of the assessment outcome? S (Social): the student enjoys helping, teaching and interacting with people. A (Artistic): the student enjoys creativity and self-expression. I (Investigative): the student enjoys research, analysis and problem-solving. So, what are the possible career options? Teaching, counselling, psychology, journalism, communication, research, et cetera.