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Abstract
The Self-Directed Search (SDS) has proven to be an invaluable tool in career counseling and is currently in its 5th edition. Easily scored and interpreted, the SDS is a measure developed from John L. Holland's RIASEC theory of work personalities and environments. The unique measure addresses both client's interest and skills. High reliability and validity as well as availability to various languages and reading levels make the SDS accessible to a wide range of clients. Complementary resources also help clients throughout career counseling, especially in the search for a job that matches their personality. This article details one case in which the use of the SDS was able to help a client in need of career assistance.
The Self-Directed Search (SDS) was initially developed by John Holland around 1970 (Reardon & Lenz, 1998) in an effort to create a more accessible and self-scorable interest inventory. The SDS is grounded in Holland's (1997) RIASEC theory. RIASEC theory holds four main assumptions. These assumptions include the idea that most people can be categorized as one of six personality or interest types and most work environments can also be categorized by these six types. Individuals develop into these personality types through the influence of various factors, such as heredity and parental influence (Holland, 1997; Miller, Wells, Springer, & Cowger, 2003). Additionally, reinforcement of activities leads to the honing of skills and competencies that increase interests and development of personality types (Holland, 1997). The assumptions also hold that people look for environments that allow them to exercise their preferences and skills. Reinforcement through activities leads to the development of self-concept and personality, which can help individuals understand environments that best match their personalities. Additionally, behavior may be affected by the person and environment interaction.
The SDS aids clients in determining which of the RIASEC types they most resemble and provides resources by which they can search for an occupation with a similar RIASEC make-up. RIASEC is an acronym for Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. Holland placed the RIASEC types around a hexagon to represent the relationship among the types. This hexagon, including a short description of each type can be found in Figure 1 [see Appendix]. We assumed most readers are familiar with the...