Johnson O'Connor Aptitude Testing

I did it when I was a Junior in high school. I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses and it helped me narrow down what I wanted to do in college. Granted, the work I do now wasn't a suggested career path from the testing but a lot of the things I learned about myself are present in this job. I think that is why I am happier in this career than any other I had done previously.

The testing is kind of expensive at $675/ea. Would you say that it was worth it?

Like most college freshman, my kid is having a hard time deciding what to do. Psychiatry was the first choice, but the freshman psych class might have changed that.

Well only you and your son can truly determine its worth. I will say that it made me more aware of what I was good at doing and what to stay away from.

For instance, I scored terribly on using tiny instruments so a future as a surgeon was not a great idea. I didn't know that going in and had I been set on going into that field it would have saved me from 6 figures of student loan debt, malpractice suits, and eventual alcoholism.

My top three aptitudes were something called "ideagraphora" which is having a steady flow of ideas, the other was the ability to do paperwork quickly and efficiently (I didn't know there was any other way to do it), and not doing the same thing every day. I needed to have a career that challenged me and was different frequently (in other words, don't work in a factory).

The career paths were law, advertising, marketing, teaching, counseling, and a couple other that I can't remember. Now I am self employed as a contract auditor that audits insurance companies. It may seem like it goes against everything I discovered about myself but I'm constantly looking at different things within a project every day. Also because it deals with legal statutes you have to be able to come up with ideas of how to approach an issue, and I'm able to breeze through the "status reports, payroll, etc" that some people might get caught up in.

So take my verbal diarrhea for what it's worth. It's expensive but a career can last a long time. But ultimately it's up to you and your son.

Anyone else have an experience with these guys?

I don't believe I did that one, but I did one while in high school that gave me my two top career paths as either lawyer or artist. I went to school for creative writing, then chickened out and decided to go to law school. I don't regret it insofar as I made great friends and met my wife, but I hate being a lawyer. I am in the process of finding another avenue of income because this shite is unsustainable.

So they can be accurate to some degree, but there is no right answer. I do think they are helpful to assess your abilities, but you really, really need to be honest with yourself in order for it to work at all. And even then your son could wind up being a doctor and hating his life instead of being a construction worker and loving it.