According to the American School Counselor Association, “The three main variables predicting career satisfaction are talent or aptitude, interest, and personality or temperament. In other words, well-matched Aptitudes + Interests + Personality = Career Success.”
According to research, when students have a direction for their life and understand the purpose of their education, they perform better academically. For adults, other research shows that work that allows you to use your strongest aptitudes positively correlates with career success (performance) and job satisfaction, as well as overall life satisfaction. Career Vision is dedicated to helping individuals find direction, make better college and career decisions, and achieve success- saving time, money, and years of uncertainty and frustration.
Aptitude: an individual’s natural potential to acquire skills required to perform tasks competently in different occupations; a natural talent. The full Ball Aptitude Battery® includes testing 23 aptitudes:
Directing Aptitudes: individuals with high scores must include use of these aptitudes in their career plan to ensure satisfaction.
1. Idea Generation: generate a rapid and abundant flow of words and ideas; creativity measure.
2. Idea Fluency: ability to think of creative alternative uses for a given objects; creativity measure
3. Paper Folding: visualize a 3-dimensional figure from a 2-dimensional representation; spatial ability.
4. Shape Assembly: visualize and manipulate objects in 3-dimensions; spatial ability.
5. Work Orientation: generalist (satisfaction from working with and through people; coordinator or management role) vs. specialist (satisfaction from doing own work; individual contributor/expert role).
Reasoning Styles (Problem Solving Style)
6. Analytical Reasoning: ability to put logical structure to related ideas; do things systematically.
7. Inductive Reasoning: ability to see a pattern in a series of unrelated facts and arrive at a conclusion;
ability to reason from specific information to a general principle.
General Academic Ability
8. Vocabulary: knowledge of English language; success in school and career is positively correlated.
9. Numerical Computation: ability to apply basic math skills for simple computations.
10. Numerical Reasoning: find a pattern in a series of numbers and apply the rule to complete a series.
Supporting Aptitudes
11. Associative Memory: ability to recall information learned in a rote manner, important for many jobs.
12. Visual Memory: ability to remember information over the short term.
13. Clerical (Perceptual Speed and Accuracy): ability to work quickly and accurately with details
14. Eye-Hand Coordination: ability to learn and demonstrate skills that require controlling finger, hand and wrist movements.
15. Finger Dexterity: ability to skillfully manipulate small objects with fingers; fine motor coordination.
16. Grip Strength: measures strength; also an indication of overall physical endurance.
- An individual’s overall pattern of aptitudes, or profile, is more important than a particular score on any individual aptitude test. Most people have a profile that includes high, midrange, and low scores.
- Aptitudes are relatively stable throughout one’s lifetime, and are an essential foundation upon which career and educational decisions can be based with confidence.
- Individuals who know their profile can use it to select high school & college courses, college majors and careers; new projects and assignments within a current position; and new occupations or work settings.