Aptitude...

“Our high school guidance counselor used to ask us what you'd do if you had a million dollars and you didn't have to work. And invariably what you'd say was supposed to be your career. So, if you wanted to fix old cars you're supposed to be an auto mechanic.” – Peter Gibbons, Office Space

Ah, if only it were that simple.

In June I underwent an all-day aptitude test designed by the Johnson O’Conner Research Foundation. My friend, Michelle, works there and suggested I take the tests to get a better idea of where my natural abilities lie and that this information may be helpful as I evaluate future jobs and such.

The tests themselves were rather exhausting and yes, they took the entire day. When I came home I felt drained on all levels and really had nothing left in the tank but monosyllabic words and a few deflated chuckles.

But it was worth it! I recently received my test results and I am flabbergasted at the results – and simultaneously not surprised one bit. Check this out:

--I scored extremely high in many of the categories which pretty much labels me as one of those “mile wide and an inch deep” types. Basically, a generalist.

--I have an aptitude for communicating with words, specifically in a written fashion. Much of the areas in which this is applicable are things like advertising, marketing, journalism, etc. (Kinda puts this whole blog thing in perspective, eh?)

--Working with ideas, brainstorming and following a rapid flow of ideas is something I have a huge aptitude for. This apparently makes me a natural fit for sales, marketing and instructing/teaching/facilitating – anything that gets me in front of people to convey an idea or influence someone.

--I am meant to work with teams of people and not on my own. What’s more, I’m best used in a leader/manager/coordinator capacity. On top of that, I’m one of those people who loves to develop and evaluate a long range plan or goal. (See: enthusiasm and drive around the Community Center and Arts Festival.)

--I have high auditory aptitude and need to have some type of outlet for it. (Probably a genetic thing; my grandfather was a child-prodigy and played piano all his life starting at the age of 3).

--My aptitude with numbers is very high. Let’s face it; numbers can be like crack to me. I love budgets, charts, spreadsheets, etc. That, coupled with what looks like a high aptitude in visual design explains why I color coordinate my spreadsheets, graphs, charts… okay, I’ll stop now.

--Memory aptitude is also very high making me a great candidate for languages and international settings.

The real kicker came when I was told that my aptitude in the areas related to the various aspects of engineering were my lowest scores of the whole thing. (For those of you who do not know, my undergrad degree is Electrical Engineering.) This explains the level of difficulty I had with it and my absolute lack of passion around it. I could go into the whole ‘Why Didn’t I Change Majors’ thing but that is for another posting. Come to think of it, it also explains very clearly why my computer geek job was, well, not the right fit for me, but I digress.

Summary: Journalism, sales, marketing, development, facilitation, music, language and numbers are all easy marks for me. Couple that with a realm where ideas flow and teams abound and I should be happy as a clam.

Anybody out there got an opening that fits all of that? Just curious.