An esteemed mentor of mine, Rich Feller, turned me on to the importance of knowing your aptitudes. I was aware of aptitudes, however the cost was always prohibitive; $950 through Johnson O’Connor. Rich shared with me and many others at a presentation at the National Career Development Association Conference in Denver, about his involvement in the development of the YouScience aptitude test. Rich also shared his work story of how his career direction turned around when he took an aptitude test. Rich has had an illustrious career as a graduate school educator in career development as well as a speaker, author, and former president of the National Career Development Association.
What are aptitudes? “Aptitudes are the raw materials through which we can develop skills.”* Natural abilities and talents of which we are born, as well as natural tendencies and inclinations. Aptitudes are hard wired potential that is fully formed after puberty. Aptitudes can be improved with practice.
The YouScience aptitude test’s lead developer has been Betsy Willis, author of Your Hidden Genius. Betsy’s book goes into detail on each of the 15 aptitudes (with the exception of Time frame Orientation) that are tested for when taking the YouScience. The following areas are represented when taking the YouScience aptitude test:
- Interpersonal Style
- Time frame Orientation
- Work Approach
- Vocabulary
- Visual Comparison Speed
- Inductive Reasoning
- Sequential Reasoning
- Spatial Visualization
- Idea Generation
- Numerical Reasoning
- Numerical Computation
- Associative Memory
- Hand-Eye Coordination
- Visual Memory
- Pattern Memory
There are three aptitudes with each theme; such as Future Focuser, Balanced Focuser and Present Focuser (under the theme of Time frame Orientation).
The YouScience also reports your top three Holland Types as this falls under the Interest Profiler Part of the test.
Your careers that are listed are categorized by Strong Overall Fit, Good Overall Fit, Fair Overall Fit, and Weak Overall Fit.
The career report taps into the O*Net’s Department of Labor active database.
I have taken the YouScience and found it very surprising in some areas and reinforcing in others. I have been administering and interpreting the YouScience for students and clients for over five years now and find it a very valuable tool, as do most of my clients.
The test is $49 for individuals and $250 for ten assessments for career development professionals.
If you have not taken it yet, I encourage you to give it a try and let me know what you think. If you have taken the YouScience, and you use it with clients, please share your experiences with me.
Resources:
- *Betsy Wills & Alex Ellison: Your Hidden Genius
- Conversations with Rich Feller
- Personal experiences and observations.