Self-recruitment to dentistry provides an excellent case of the purposive or negotiated nature of occupational choice, especially of the skilled and professional occupations. Choices were made as compromises between reward preferences and expectancies of access to specific occupations; both of these career perspectives were developed with reference to familial occupational history, especially the occupational status of the father. Evidence is presented which indicates that dentistry was chosen because it combined high rewards with a reasonable degree of access; i.e., a minimax strategy was employed. Medicine, although possessing greater rewards, was rejected because of difficult access; while law, university teaching and accountancy, etc., were rejected because of perceived lower rewards.