Aptitude Testing: The Best Thing You Can Do For Your Career You’ve Never Heard Of
Johnson O’Connor’s aptitude testing uncovers your “Work DNA” that can change your life. Here’s how it changed mine, 30 years ago.
www.techno-sapien.com
I was 28. After five years as a programmer, I didn’t love my job. Self-help books stirred me to find my passion and “the color of my parachute,” but I struggled.
Maybe my company is the problem, I thought. I used a recruiter and found three jobs: two in programming and one in sales. But these were VERY different career paths. Which was best? How would I know?
One of my favorite authors at the time, Denis Waitley, called Johnson O’Connor (JOC) aptitude testing “the best thing you can do for your career.” I signed up.
What I learned changed four lives.
The THEORY: aptitudes are your Superpower DNA. We all have natural aptitudes. According to JOC’s research, there are eight aptitudes you’re born with that are easily discovered. And, like your DNA, aptitudes don’t change. Often, they lie hidden, untapped, unused.
The theory is, if use your aptitudes at work, you’ll be happier and more successful. JOC has refined its aptitude tests since 1922 on hundreds of thousands of people.
The TEST. JOC aptitude testing is a two-day affair. My closest testing center was in Boston--an old brownstone on Commonwealth Ave. The tests were weird. I assembled blocks, solved puzzles, and listened to music.
For example, one test was to use tweezers to put as many tiny metal rods into a block full of holes, as fast as I could. I learned later that this is the “tweezer dexterity” aptitude test. Happy surgeons score high on this aptitude.
After a day of tests, I was exhausted. I wondered, “WTF do these bizarre tests have to do with work?”
The RESULTS. The next day, I met with my counselor. I had never seen him before. As he presented my results, he seemed to know me better than I knew myself. It was, well, spooky.
My aptitudes, he concluded, are found in successful leaders, entrepreneurs, cartoonists, and salespeople.
Sales! I had a job offer in sales…
“But, what about programming?” I asked.
“Meh, you’d be an average programmer,” he replied. And he was right. I was an average programmer. And average happy.
The SHIFT and ACCELERATION. I changed career paths; I took the technical sales job. My career (and love of it) took off. My JOC aptitudes, ideaphoria (generating ideas), and objectivity (influencing others) made sales seem easy and fun. Natural. Two years later, I was the top sales engineer in the company. I was promoted to manager.. then director... then VP…
12 years later, I got my first job as a CEO, putting my "foresight" aptitude to work. I still love my job!
The TWIST. At 25, the "cartoonist" was, as my daughter would say “sus” (suspect). I didn’t doodle. Writing scared me. The most creative thing I did was try to sing falsetto with the Bee Gees.
Then, when my kids were born, I became fascinated by photography. I bought books, cameras, lighting. A creative train had left the station… professional photography retreats… Photoshop…
Six years later, photography took on special meaning when my wife died of cancer at 43. Jack and Ruby were six and four and hardly knew their mom. My images became and remain cherished memories to me, my wife, and my kids.
Aptitude testing: the DNA of fulfillment. Johnson O’Connor aptitude testing is a commitment. It's not a quick fix. It's comprehensive and personalized. It’s not free or cheap ($750). But what could be more important than learning how to be happy during the 1/3 of your life you spend at work?
And it works. In many ways.
This holiday season, consider giving yourself or someone you the gift of knowing your Superpower DNA. Finding and using them is one element of a happy life. I can't think of a better gift.
I have no commercial tie to Johnson O’Connor. I just love this stuff. To discuss this article, visit this synopsis and discussion on LinkedIn.
To learn more about Johnson O’Connor visit their site.
