Persuaders are one of six career types in the system developed by psychologist Dr. John Holland. Holland's theory of occupational choice uses your interests to classify you as one of six types. Each type has their own values, motivations, and preferred career fields.
A person is classified as a Persuader when he or she is mostly interested in jobs that involve leading or influencing other people (what Holland called the Enterprising interest). Persuaders are typically energetic, dominant people who like to be powerful and motivational.
Persuaders may choose careers in business, management, sales, politics, law, or leadership.
Top Job Tasks
- Managing
- Deciding
- Strategizing
- Selling
- Motivating
Core Values
- Influence
- Leadership
- Risk-Taking
- Achievement
- Initiative
Key Personality Traits
- Assertive
- Energetic
- Confident
- Ambitious
- Adventurous
How Do I Know if I'm a Persuader?
If you are a Persuader, you will probably like working in positions of power and influence. You like making decisions and leading others. Most Persuaders enjoy a certain amount of risk in their work.
Most Persuaders dislike working in isolation. They like to team up with others to complete projects and achieve organizational goals.
If you are not sure if you are a Persuader, you can take a career test to measure your interests. The Career Personality Profiler will test your interest level in all six of the Holland Code career areas and match you with appropriate careers for your personality profile.
Sample Careers for Persuaders
- Judge or Hearing Officer
- Public Relations Manager
- Human Resources Manager
- Training or Development Manager
- Top Executive
- Industrial Production Manager
- Sales Engineer
- Medical or Health Services Manager
How Do I Find the Right Persuading Career?
The most popular careers have been classified according to their interest area, so once you know you're a Persuader, you can match yourself with Persuading careers.
If you take a good quality career interests inventory , then careers will be suggested to you based on your personal interest profile. Or, you can do a search for careers that match the Thinking interest area.
Remember that not all Persuading careers will be right for you. Most careers combine one, two, or even three interest areas, so it is important that your interests match all aspects of a job. You will need to have an idea of your interest level in all 6 interest areas to make the best choice.
More Interest Areas to Explore
There are 6 total interest areas, some of which will appeal to you, and some of which will not. If you haven't yet read about the other five interest areas, you'll want to do so now to get a complete picture of your interest profile. Or, you can take the Career Personality Profiler test to measure your interests in all 6 areas.