How Knowing Your Aptitude Can Help You Choose a Career

How Knowing Your Aptitude Can Help You Choose a Career How Knowing Your Aptitude Can Help You Choose a Career When you are researching occupations, you will often see something about aptitude listed among the requirements. For example, you may read that in order to work in a particular field you need to have an aptitude for science. Other occupations require having an aptitude for math, visual arts, or performing arts; verbal or spatial abilities; or manual dexterity or motor coordination. But what exactly is an aptitude? When a career description lists an aptitude among the qualifications one needs in order to work in an occupation, it is referring to a natural talent or an ability an individual has acquired through life experience, study, or training. The word may also pertain to ones capacity to acquire a skill. Assessing Aptitude Assessing aptitude can help with career guidance. A career development professional who is helping a client choose a career may administer a multi of multi-aptitude tests career development professionals use with their clients are the DAT (Differential Aptitude Test) and the GATB (General Aptitude Test Battery). Another is the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery), which the United States Military administers to students who are enlisting. They use the results to classify enlistees for training opportunities. Aptitude tests may also look for the presence of abilities that are specific to a particular occupation or area of study. Some college programs use these instruments to assess applicants to certain academic programs, and employers use them to evaluate job candidates. For example, many pharmacy schools use the PCAT (Pharmacy College Admission Test) to look for abilities, aptitudes, and skills that pharmacy schools have deemed essential for success in basic pharmacy curricula (Mental Measurements Yearbook With Tests in Print). The Electrical Aptitude Test is another test that looks for a specific aptitude. It is administered to applicants for jobs that require the ability to learn electrical skills (Mental Measurements Yearbook With Tests in Print). Some Important Things to Know It is worth repeating that you should not use aptitude alone as the criteria for choosing a career. You should also learn about your interests, personality type, and work-related values by doing a thorough self-assessment, and consider that information along with aptitude when choosing a career. Here are a few other things of which you should be aware: While having a particular aptitude may indicate you might succeed in an occupation, it doesnt mean you will do well in every job within it. Required abilities may vary from one job to another, even in the same occupation.A number of occupations may require the same aptitude, so you shouldnt feel like you are only qualified to do one thing. In reality, there may be several suitable occupations for you.Just because you are good at something, it doesnt mean you will like doing it. For example, having an aptitude for math doesnt necessarily mean a career using your mathematical ability should be in your future. Do what youre good at, but only if you like it. Sources:Zunker, Vernon G. and Norris, Debra S. Using Assessment Results for Career Development. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. 1997.Mental Measurements Yearbook With Tests in Print.