ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

John L. Holland

John L. Holland was a very smart man who liked to study different ways people like to work. He found that people have certain personalities that match well with different jobs. Each personality type likes different things about their jobs, such as using their hands or talking to people.

Holland made a really neat system to help people figure out what kind of job they would like based on their personality. He created six different personality types that he called RIASEC. These stand for realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional.

For example, if you really love to work with your hands and build things, you might be a realistic type. Or if you love learning new things and solving problems, you might be an investigative type. If you love to sing or draw, you might be an artistic type.

People who have the same personality type will often feel most comfortable working in similar jobs. So if you know what your personality type is, you can look for jobs that will be a good fit and make you happy!