WELCOME TO THE PARTY! AN EXPRESSION OF VOCATIONAL PREFERENCE Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 20, 1993 167 WELCOME TO THE PARTY! AN EXPRESSION OF VOCATIONAL PREFERENCE Trudy L. Somers, Towson State University ABSTRACT Holland’s Self-Directed Search (SDS) is often used to identify occupational interests by assessing an individual’s skills and abilities, interests, and affinity. The assumption that individuals possess the greatest occupational skills in areas that they enjoy may be invalid when experiences are determined more by chance or circumstance than by choice. The exercise in this paper classifies by interest and affinity, and is, therefore, useful to confirm SDS scores for some students, and to provide a more legitimate measure of those preferences for others. INTRODUCTION One contemporary approach to career theory stresses the successful matching of individual preferences with occupational characteristics (McFarlin and Rice, 1992; Scarpello and Vandenberg, 1992). Holland’s vocational preference profile (Holland, 1985) is an example of this type of career theory. Vocational preferences can be characterized by six identifiable occupational themes Realistic - Rugged, robust, practical, task and mechanical interests Investigative - Scientific, task-oriented, abstract, ambiguous interests Artistic - Creative, sensitive, emotional, independent, original Social - Concerned with others, extroverted, cheerful, popular Enterprising - Energetic, extroverted, persuasive, competitive Conventional - Stable, dependable, predictable, ordered, routinized which are measured with a variety of instruments, such as the Self-Directed Search. Individuals tend to score high on some, but not all, of these occupational themes. A vocational preference is determined by the identification of the three highest scores. Patterns developed from the representation of high and low scores on these themes may be drawn to identify an individual’s vocational preference. Figure 1 illustrates such patterns, with the first letter of each preference used to identify a point on the hexagon. The representation in Figure 1 is a multidimensional scaling diagram -- the distance between the letters may be used as an indication of congruence. Congruent themes (adjacent letters) possess mutually supportive characteristics. For example, Enterprising and Social (E-S) are congruent preferences. The shared characteristic is extroversion, or a desire to be with people. Letters separated on the diagram are not congruent, and have mutually exclusive characteristics. For example, Realistic and Social (R-S) are opposing themes. Realistic individuals prefer to work with things rather than people, while Social individuals prefer human interaction to isolation in the workplace. These opposing themes are at opposite sides of the diagram. Work environments may be also characterized with these same six vocational themes. For example, a research laboratory provides workspace for one individual. Such a work environment could be characterized as Realistic (practical, mechanical, with equipment rather than people for interaction), Investigative (opportunity to explore, probe), and Artistic (not a routine or highly structured work process). Such an environment is a good match for the scientist who is Investigative (inquisitive), Artistic (finds her own way through a problem), and Realistic (prefers solitary work opportunities), “Welcome to the Party’’ provides an experience of Holland’s vocational preference model that is based on interest and affinity. For individuals with vocational preferences accurately identified by the SDS measure, the exercise often confirms those scores. For individuals who deny the accuracy of their SDS-derived vocational profile, this exercise often provides a more legitimate measure of Holland’s vocational preferences. EXERCISE Resources/Preparation 1. Before participants enter the room, instructor places conspicuous signs on the interior walls, arranged in the Figure 1 pattern. For example, the Realistic location sign could be “WORKSHOP”. 2. Arrange room so that participants may move around easily. 3. Provide “WELCOME TO THE PARTY” instructions (shown in the Appendix) for each participant. Process 1. Greet participants at the door with a copy of “WELCOME TO THE PARTY!” and instruct them to proceed to their first location choice when they have read the instructions. Prompt their discussion with others who have chosen the same location: Why are you here? I am really interested in - ---. I would come to this group because 2. Allow five minutes for discussion, more if all groups are still lively. If this exercise is part of an ongoing class, ask students to locate their other group members. Tell them to “Wave across the room.” 3. Instruct participants to proceed to their next choice of group location. Don’t allow anyone to stay in the same location. 5. Repeat step 3. 6. Repeat step 4. Make sure the third choice is a new location. 7. Repeat step 3. 8. Have participants be seated. Discuss relevant theory. VARIATIONS/CAUTIONS Occasionally, a group will have only one participant. The facilitator should join that person and say, “I would be here because providing appropriate activities from the Holland theory. Discuss why s/he is there, not about how out of place s/he feels because no one else showed up. If pressed for time, allow three minutes per group location rather than deleting the third group location. APPENDIX WELCOME TO THE PARTY! Welcome to the party’ You have just arrived, and there are six different conversations going on. Read the descriptions of the conversation groups, and then choose the group, which you would most like to join. You know some of the people in each group. 1. Actually, this group is heading out to the workshop/garage area to admire (and perhaps tinker with) some machine that your host owns. 2. This group is talking about new discoveries in space and life on other planets. That does not surprise you. The topic in this group usually centers on new discoveries in some field. 3. Most of this group has been to the newest art exhibit in the community, and they are talking about that exhibit. They are also planning a trip together to another cultural event (dance, drama, etc.). 4. This group is just friends, enjoying casual conversation. 5. Everyone in this group looks very important and very successful. 6. This group is playing a board game with well-defined rules, one that you know well. (i.e., Trivial Pursuit). Please write 1” next to the group you would join. If later during the party you went to a second group, which group would that be? Write a “2” next to that group. If, later still, you could join a third group, which group would that be? Write a “3” next to that group. REFERENCES: Available from the author. Table of Contents Volume 20, 1993 Dominant Personality Types and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Shelf Wars: A Grocery Channel Simulation Shared Cultural Perspectives: An Experiential Exercise Utilizing International Students to Globalize the Classroom An Instrument for Investigating the Effectiveness of Teaching Methods in the Business Policy and Strategy Formulation Course Providing Better Trained Graduates for Accounting Employers The Ambition Gradient Approach to Evaluation of Computer Simulation Game Team Performance Alphatec: A Negotiation Exercise with Logrolling and Bridging Potential Using the Ideafisher Idea Generation System as a Decision Support System in Marketing Strategy Courses A Dynamic Market Share Allocation Model For Computerized Business Simulations Multi-Cultural Adaptability Using Experiential Learning in a Graduate Course Development of Experiential Applications in HRM: Practicing What Preach and Preaching for Practice Linking Students and Business Leaders Through Portfolios Debriefing International Experiential Learning Exercises: Road Signs for Effectiveness Sales Manager: A Simulation Modeling Interactive Effects in Mathematical Functions for Business Simulations: A Critique of Goosen's Interpolation Reducing the Complexity of Interactive Variable Modeling in Business Simulations Through Interpolation Antecedent Biases of Experiential Learners: Trainee Occupation and Subgroup Diversity Pax in Terra Sancta: Simulating the Middle East Peace Negotiations A Multiple Regression Case In Experiential Learning Changes in Ethnocentric/Geocentric Orientation by Business Students after Exposure to a One Summer Course in International Marketing's A Systematic Approach to the Development and Evaluation of Experiential Exercises Entrepreneurs Evaluate Experiential Education A Linear Programming Approach to Open System Total Enterprise Simulations Reflecting Leader Behavior from the Looking Glass, Inc. Simulation Linking Cognitive Styles, Teaching Methods, Educational Objectives and Assessment: A Decision Tree Approach Restructuring Management Education in Post-Communist Countries: How Western Experts Can Help Managerial and Cultural Pre-Conditions for Superior Performance in a Global Setting: An Experimental Study with the Aid of Business Games Multiple Industries in Computerized Business Gaming Simulations Content or Process? - Content and Process! Some Observations and Reflections About Management Education in Central Europe Out-of-Class Experiences to Promote Volunteerism Enacting the Linguistic Consciousness of the Modern Managerial Mind: Post-Modernism and Experiential Learning Intergrating Experiential Exercises into the College Curriculum: The Case of Internationalizing the Business Curriculum Simulation Marketing Oversights Incorporating Advertising Creative Strategy into Computer-Based Business Simulations The Dynamics of a Partnership Between Business and Education Collaborative Education Done Globally Experiential Systems Analysis CADPLAN: A Simulation for Comparative Advertising A Doctoral Symposium: Preparing Students for Conference Behavior Comparing the Simulation with the Case Approach: Again! Total Quality Management: A Model for Continuous Quality Improvement The Quality Audit: An Experiential Exercise for Business Students Extending the Reach of Simulations: DECIDE Heads for the Inner City Lessons Learned from a Customized Management Development Simulation The Foreign Exchange Spot Trading Simulation Using Lotus 1-2-3 to complete a Triple Play in a Simulated Competition International Business Education: Is Enough Being Done? Matching of Student-Teacher Cognitive Style as a Factor in Student Success in an Introduction to Information Systems Course Breathing (More) Life into the Case Approach Lord of the Flies: A Live Case Approach to Leadership Cooperative Case Studies: Experiential Tools for Teaching Business Problem Solving Tools Strategy Simulations in Context: An Evaluation of Key Dimensions The Distribution Channel Game Evaluation of a Simulation Game as an Education Tool for Utility Professionals The Relationship Between Total Enterprise Simulation Performance and Learning Total Quality Management does not Happen by Magic, but it can be Taught Using a Pedagogical Methodology that Utilizes Magic Effectively Preparing Students for Careers in a Global Environment by Integrating Total Quality Management Thoughout the Business Curriculum An Empirical Investigation of Cognitive and Performance Consistency in a Marketing Simulation Game Environment Using MARSGAP with LAPTOP: (A Marketing Simulation Game Analysis Program) with LAPTOP: A Marketing Simulation Adapting TQM Implementation to Organizational Level An MBA Business Simulation: Executive Interaction Experiential Exercises and Pedagogy Track Workshop: Experiencing Cultural Diversity in the Classroom (and the Hotel Meeting Room) Closing the Gap between Corporate and National Culture The Dynamic Manufacturing Company The Use of Experiential Techniques in Corporate Training The State of Simulation Gaming in Easter European Countries- Principally Russia An Experiential Exercise in Cross-Cultural Training Valuing Differences: A Conceptual Framework Demonstration of an Experiential Exercise Effectively Using Experiential Learning to Impart TQM Concepts in a High Technology Environment The Older Worker Questionnaire: An Exercise Concerning Older Worker Stereotypes and Behaviors The Crime Fighting Task Force: An Exercise in Organizational Politics Welcome to the Party! An Expression of Vocational Preference Experiential Exercise for Imparting Cross-Cultural Appreciation Six Swift Simulations on Globalization Overview of BASF Delegate Program