The limited research on technicians has produced inconsistent results concerning their job and career concerns. This study compares technician work values with professionals and, through a need-environment congruity model, identifies primary situational factors associated with varying levels of self-investment in their occupational roles. In the sample site, the U.S. Forest Service, three important concerns emerged from this assessment-opportunities for: structure and feedback; job control; and personal growth and development. The contextu ally flexible methodology employed in this study appears to have particular utility in research which attempts to isolate critical individual-environment conflicts in this heterogeneous occupational population.