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Archive for the ‘ASSESSMENTS’ Category
Sunday, February 14th, 2010
Psychometric tests – how to improve
Over the longer term, your performance may improve by doing the following:
· Reading newspapers, reports and business journals (may improve your verbal skills for verbal tests)
· Solving crosswords (may help verbal problem solving)
· Reading financial reports in newspapers, studying tables of data, doing number calculations and puzzles without a calculator (may help numerical skills)
· Checking details in the paper (could improve checking skills)
· Looking at objects in various ways and angles (could develop spatial skills)
· Looking at flow charts and diagrams (should improve diagramming skills)
· Playing chess or Tantrix (will help develop diagrammatic reasoning skills)
· If you are applying for a job that has its own technical terminology, be familiar with the different terms
Posted in ASSESSMENTS
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Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Finding out your natural abilities is a fundamental step towards a satisfying and successful career.
‘Taking the Highlands Ability Battery was a useful, practical way to get some external guidance when you are bogged down in the complexities of identifying career decisions. Definitely helped to re-energise my thinking.’ Dominic Ball
‘A fascinating and valuable insight into one’s strengths and abilities, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. This will serve me well in my career and in my private life. Absolutely worth the money (even though it is a substantial investment).’ Paula Mason
‘I thought the Highlands Ability Battery was amazing. It tested just about everything there was to test and it is impossible to be happy in your career until you understand yourself.’ Jacqui Knutsford
Real career success is rarely down to money and status and much more to do with finding a job which ties in with your natural talents and abilities.
Understanding our natural abilities helps us understand why we find certain situations difficult and where we will gain most career satisfaction. The Highlands Ability Battery is an objective assessment of your natural ability and consists of 19 work samples. It’s extensive, taking around 3 hours (but you don’t need to complete it in one session) and the results will help you to really understand yourself.
Your results are shown as percentiles on a graph, comparing your scores to other people who have taken the HAB. A high score isn’t better than a low, it depends on whether a job requires it, or not. It’s frustrating to have an ability and not need it in a job or need an ability you don’t have.
The report is divided into driving abilities, specialised abilities and personal style.
Posted in ASSESSMENTS, Career Discovery, Highlands Ability Battery
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Monday, October 26th, 2009
As a career coach I get people wanting to move beyond looking on my web site, to find out if I am the right career coach for them. Sometimes they are interested but their partner is more sceptical. Just recently I’ve had an enquiry, and thought my reply would interest others:
If your wife is sceptical then you may be best to work on your own, using books and low cost online resources. I’ve had clients spend 2 years trying to do things on their own, and when they finally choose to work with me they wish they had done it sooner. But it’s all personal choice, I’m now paying for 2 sessions a week with a personal trainer, I could just go to the gym but I wasn’t pushing myself. In two weeks I’ve upped my programme by 50% – 3 sequences, not two and weights and speed have increased. I’d still be doing the same as the first session if I worked alone.
I am not a sales person, I don’t see my role as to persuade someone, hence providing comprehensive detail on my site.
I never expect people to go beyond their budget, so it might be better to decide your budget and we can create something for you or you choose to ‘pay as you go’
With the Gold Programme a big percentage of the money is taken up by the 3 assessments, reports, discussion and there is plenty of detail about these on the site. So together with your wife, you could both have a look at the reports and see what you think. Because people can read these in advance and I have to pay a fee for the assessments I never give refunds for assessments, and have never been asked for them. By the time you have gone through these assessments you are more than half way through the programme. Some people choose to just take the 3 assessments which is obviously cheaper but I think the follow up support makes the difference between people being successful in making the transition, or not.
Coaching sessions you could choose to pay by the hour. In which case if you ever felt a session was not of value I would offer an additional session.
Would you like to book for a complimentary discussion?
Posted in ASSESSMENTS, Career Advice
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Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
The Highlands Ability Battery helps people to understand more about natural abilities – which are an effective way of making career choices.
Just today I’ve spoken with one of my clients. Clare was interested in the Highlands assessment and had read about it on my web site. She had also been on Amazon’s web site and read my review of Don’t Waste Your Talent.
When somebody takes the highlands assessment they get comprehensive instructions and can then take the assessment in their own home. This means that you don’t have to do the test all in one go. It’s so comprehensive and at over 3 hours no one would expect you to do it in one go! So split it into 2 or 3 sessions.
The great thing about the assessment is that for each of the 19 work samples you get a practice go first of all, so you understand what it is that you need to do. Then, if it is a bit challenging for you, you can always take a break and come back to it later.
As soon as you finish the assessment you get the results immediately on the screen –and it’s a 30 page report with a lot of detail. You don’t need to print it as a colour copy will be posted to you, if we are going to do a phone feedback session or it will be ready for you if you are coming to meet Denise.
You might think you get all you need from reading the report, but Denise will help develop your understanding, answer any questions you may have and make links.
You will also get a 39 page eBook – Highlands explored with reference material, a one page summary to make it easy for you to use the results on CV and at interview and finally (almost always) a list of career paths which match your abilities.
I wrote this to be a helpful explanation of the assessment. Have you any more questions? Do please get in touch. You can also read more on my web site: http://www.amazingpeople.co.uk/highlandsabilitybattery.htm
Posted in Highlands Ability Battery
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Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Why I suggest the Highlands Ability Battery?
Since 1922, hundreds of thousands of people have used aptitude testing to learn more about themselves and to derive more satisfaction from their lives. The Highlands Ability Battery is based on the work undertaken by the Johnson O Connor Research Foundation. The paper and pencil tests were developed into the battery which is now available to take over the Internet.which is now available to take over the Internet.
The Highlands Ability Battery is based on over 80 years of research, beginning with Johnson O’Connor. It is psychometrically valid and reliable. The information and suggestions that it makes are highly accurate. The minimum reliability standard for the 19 tests that make up the Highland Ability Battery is r = .80 and the reliability range is to .93, with 1.0 being perfect. It has been described as the equivalent of getting a CAT Scan for a painful injury instead of a traditional X-ray. As an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, I would not use any test that could not measure what it sets out to measure.
Thousands of people have taken the Highlands Ability Battery and I’ve personally guided over 200 clients using the Highlands Ability Battery. People seek out objective data so they know more about themselves and can use this to identify careers to which they would be well suited. Some people are hesitant to take ability tests because they are afraid their scores will indicate that they lack intelligence. However, aptitudes do not correlate with IQ tests, and aptitude tests are not based on knowledge or experience. You can’t pass or fail the Highlands Ability Battery!
The Highlands Ability Battery does not measure or determine IQ. Most experts agree that IQ tests are not inherently helpful when trying to decide on a career path. Two people can have identical IQ scores but very different aptitudes.
The main reason to take The Highlands Ability Battery is to find out where you have natural ability. Research from the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation says that people tend to be more satisfied and successful in occupations that challenge their aptitudes and do not demand aptitudes that they lack.
You might think the worst option is to work in a job where you don’t have the natural abilities, but research has found that people experience greater problems when they have strong abilities that they are not able to use in their job. These can distract you from your ability to do the job and you would need to find an outlet for them through an out of work activity.
Every occupation, for example, engineering, medicine, law or management uses certain aptitudes. The work you are most likely to enjoy and be successful in is work that uses your aptitudes. For example, if you are an engineer but possess aptitudes not used in engineering, your work might seem unrewarding. If you lack the engineer’s aptitudes, your work may be difficult or unpleasant.
“The individual, who knows his own aptitudes, and their relative strengths, chooses more intelligently among the world’s host of opportunities.” Johnson O’Connor, 1940 p134
To learn more
Posted in Highlands Ability Battery
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Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
How useful were the coaching/ feedback sessions? Where 1 is not very useful and 5 is very useful
1 2 3 4 5
What did you like, what was helpful about our session(s)?
Clarification of the meaning of the report and where the ‘results’ are useful etc.
What were the key learning points for you?
What I can naturally do best – thought this was amazing.
Would you work with me again? Would you recommend this service to your friends/colleagues? What would you say to them?
Yes I would work with you again and may well do to keep me focused.
Already recommended you to a friend.
Told them what I have found out has really helped me – boosted my confidence but I must stay focused.
Have you any further comments which may be relevant to me?
You are good at what you – very helpful – felt inspired when I left our last meeting.
Could I use this as a testimonial on my literature?
Yes
From: Trisha
Want to know more about the Highlands Ability Battery? I’ve comprehensive information on my web site:
Posted in Client Feedback, Highlands Ability Battery
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Monday, September 28th, 2009
My portfolio career includes working as a specialist study skills tutor at Gloucestershire University. The students I work with have been diagnosed as having dyslexia.
Being properly diagnosed can be very expensive, and I know many people who wonder if they have dyslexia. I’ve just found a low price test which not a full diagnisis could be a useful step to decide if you should take it further.
You can read about the assessment here:
http://www.spot-your-potential.com/
Posted in ASSESSMENTS
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Monday, June 29th, 2009
I’ve received feedback from a client who took the Highlands Ability Battery as she didn’t know what to do, career wise, and was certainly unhappy in her current job.
She said
‘Many thanks for sending over my jobs shortlist, the Next Steps booklet and the important factors for me to consider for my career. It was great to meet you the other day, and I definitely found our chat informative and inspiring.
I’ve been thinking about all that we discussed and the test results this weekend. I’m feeling much more excited and motivated about it all now, I think because suddenly you’ve shown me lots of potential options where I could put my abilities to good use, whereas before I was finding it pretty difficult to see anything that I could realistically move into, that I would actually be able to enjoy or be good at. It’s also been interesting theorising about why certain jobs from my past may not have been right for me, based on some of the results on the Highlands, and also why I might have randomly been quite good at other jobs or tasks, like troubleshooting during events, and helping students to solve multiple practical problems with their studies and lives!
I’m now itching to do some more music production and technology stuff, even if only for a hobby for now, and to try out some other new hobbies, definitely some more active stuff like aerobics, and perhaps get hold of the Lego Mindstorms kit to mess about with robotics and engineering type stuff, while I plan and move forwards with my career change.’
She’s now ready to research some jobs.
Posted in Highlands Ability Battery
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Monday, May 18th, 2009
I am a strong advocate for the Highlands Ability Battery. It’s an excellent way of understanding more about the things that you can do naturally, rather than for someone to focus on what they have learnt to do.
Lazar Emmanuel, the CEO of the Highlands Company has produced a comprehensive leaflet on the benefits of the assessment, particularly focused on how this can help students, but interesting for a much wider group than this.
There are 20 points …
1. What is abilities assessment? Abilities assessment relies on the fact that many of our aptitudes are fixed or hardwired and are not essentially modified by training or practice. Every parent with two or more children learns quickly that every child is different. Every teacher knows that no two students in her class are exactly alike. Our studies of genealogy have confirmed the validity of testing for innate aptitudes. Several organizations have developed tests of one or several abilities. Most of these are conducted in hands-on clinics in large cities. These require several trips to the clinic. Only the Highlands Company in Larchmont, NY offers the assessment online.
To read the remaining 19 and to download the article use this link, and if I can be of any help please get in touch.
Denise Taylor, Certified Highlands Affiliate and Chartered Occupational Psychologist.
See also www.highlandsuk.com
Posted in Highlands Ability Battery, STUDENTS AND GRADUATES
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Friday, April 24th, 2009
The CPI is an in depth measure of professional and personal style that helps to understand behaviour.
It is suitable for both personal development and in also used in recruitment.
It assesses a range of personality characteristics with a focus on behaviour. Helping you to understand management style and leadership potential can be very useful for personal development to enable you to build on existing skills to suit current and future interests. The Coaching Report for Leaders helps you to understand your attitudes and behaviours in key areas of management.
It’s not an assessment I have promoted much, but it is really good. These past few weeks i’ve had 3 people take the assessment and everyone has found it very helpful. The report is comrehensive and covers 18 different areas:
Self management
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Self awareness
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Self control
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Resilience
Organisational capabilities
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Use of power and authority
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Comfort with organisational structures
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Responsibility and accountability
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Decisiveness
Team building and team work
Problem solving
Sustaining the vision
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Self confidence
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Managing change
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Influence
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Posted in ASSESSMENTS
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