Johnson O'Connor Aptitude Test experiences?

July 12, 2004 3:57 PM

Has anybody tried the Johnson O'Connor Aptitude Test? It was enthusiastically recommended to me, and some of the information I've found makes sense, but I'd like a little more data before I try it, because:

• It's expen$ive
  
• Some of the "science" sounds like new-age horsefeathers
  
• The site is hosted at AOL, which sets off "scam" warning bells
  
• There aren't any straightforward "I did it and it was/wasn't worth it" accounts on the Web.
  

posted by spacewrench to grab bag (3 answers total)

Take an MBTI instead. It's cheaper, more fun, and at least you can read more about it on the interweb.

Here's a free one.
posted by shepd at 4:10 PM on July 12, 2004

The John Connor tests are cheaper, but may not be as useful.
posted by Kwantsar at 4:25 PM on July 12, 2004

I took it in college and found it very useful, and I've referred back to it many times in the 15+ years since I took it. It's a completely different type of test than the MBTI, and both are relevant in different ways. It's not an IQ test either. Part of the test were fun, and parts of it were maddenly difficult, but it quantified my skills in a way that no other test has managed to do.

It is not cheap. But I would not say that it is over priced, either- it's quite thorough. The idea is that if you can use the aptitudes that you have in your career, you will have a more satisfactory career experience. The catch is that the more different things you are good at, the harder it is to create a career that incorporates all of those things. And maybe you can't incorporate everything in a career, but you can build other things in through hobbies. Example: when I was tested, they told me that I have extraordinary finger dexterity, the kind of dexterity one needs to be a surgeon, but then quickly pointed out that I didn't score strongly in three-dimensional thinking (obviously necessary for surgeons) so they suggested that I use that skill in my spare time, and I do.

A cousin of mine took it, and when they gave him the results, they warned him against being a flibbertibgibbet- many different things come easily to him, and he is interested in a lot of different things, and has a hard time sticking with one thing because he can do so many different things. He used that advice to pursue a career that allowed for regular changes in assignments, and does more things in his spare time, like write an opera, explore entrepreneurial opportunities, etc. I think that they gave him an excellent heads-up on an issue that might have taken him a while to notice on his own.

In this case I wouldn't read too much into the AOL-hosted site. It's not a scam, they're just not very tech-savvy. I know probably 10 or 15 people who have taken it, and none of them have regretted it. If anything, some have wished they'd taken it earlier in life, but it's still useful information to have.
posted by ambrosia at 5:15 PM on July 12, 2004