For many years the school system has relied on aptitude tests to tell your child what they can reasonably expect to do with their life. And while a standardized questionnaire to determine what your child is suited for may help them to narrow down the wide field of choices when it comes to pursuing a higher education and eventually a career, it is a little hard to believe that a series of multiple choice questions can accurately determine what your child will excel at. For example, do you think that if Barack Obama had taken an aptitude test years ago it would have come up with President as his ideal profession? Or would Bill Gates have tested as a business mogul (when clearly his skills lie in the area of computer science)? The point is, only part of what we end up succeeding at in life can be attributed to aptitude. There are several other factors at play.
But let’s start with aptitude, since that is what these tests are purported to measure. Aptitude is basically the likelihood that you can accomplish something based on not only your level of competency, but also your natural inclinations. This is not only hard to define, but also hard to measure, since it is a somewhat ethereal quality. The problem here is twofold. For starters, the test is, by necessity, limited. You can only have so many possible answers to a multiple choice question, and often, none of them are exactly right, which means students have to pick the nearest choice. For example, suppose you are questioned about what you would do if asked to work late and your options include: do whatever the boss says, only stay if there’s overtime pay, or tell the boss no. It doesn’t tell you if the reason for staying late is a time-sensitive emergency or offer the option of taking work home or coming in early the next day, all of which could reasonably affect your decision.
Secondly, aptitude tests deal largely with a student’s predilections rather than their abilities, which play a huge role in success or failure. Just because a student shows an aptitude for office work does not necessarily mean that they could excel at it. A willingness to stay late, or an aversion to office politics does not indicate competency with computers, keyboarding, or interpersonal skills, all of which are necessary to actually succeed in an office setting. By the same token, a loner who might seem better suited to working from home may not have the management skills to set up their own schedule, or the self-motivation needed to be one’s own boss. Plus, just because a student might be inclined to answer one way on a test doesn’t mean they would necessarily react that way in a real-life situation.
While there is certainly some amount of psychology behind these tests, and they often pinpoint certain indicators of success or failure in one area or another, they cannot be completely (or even nearly) accurate without considering other factors. Without the additions of knowledge, attitude, motivation, and outside support, it is difficult to determine where your child might be successful. But one thing is certain. They should be encouraged to pursue whatever career path interests them. They may end up succeeding beyond their wildest imagination or they may fail utterly. Either way, they are making choices that will shape the person they become and learning valuable lessons about self-reliance and responsibility along the way.
Sarah Neilson is a writer for Online MBA.
