The OP Career Testing Battery

In the Oxford Program, we will have you go through the most in-depth and complete person and career analysis possible.

These are not the old, relatively useless tests you may have taken in the past.  

The Highlands Ability Battery

The Highlands Ability Battery^TM is the gold standard among tools assessing human abilities or aptitudes, which is the cornerstone of the Oxford Program^TM.

When we did our review of career tests, it came out on top.

More than any other test, it helps you understand the type(s) of work you should pursue and the types you should definitely not pursue.

What can you expect from taking it?

• Understand where you are naturally talented and which work roles would make you most happy and successful.

• Know the careers and roles you are best "built for."

• Understand in black-and-white why you would be happy in some fields and not happy in others.

• Be able to accurately choose the best option from a group of career/job/business choices.

• Make the most accurate career decision possible.

• Understand what specialization is best in your field or organization.

• Know what other jobs within your organization you would be better at (and more fulfilled with).

• Learn of new career ideas.

In October, 2002, 32 graduate students at Colorado State University were asked to compare a number of assessments which they had completed as part of their course.

The group was asked to rate 4 different well-known assessments in terms of effectiveness in measuring their abilities and talents, as well as in guiding them in future career decisions. The assessments were the Highlands Ability Battery, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Strong Interest and Skills Confidence Inventory, and True Colors. Percentage of Students that ranked it #1 in measuring abilities and talents Percentage of Students that ranked it #1 in effectiveness in guiding them in career decisions

Why is measuring abilities/aptitudes so important?

At the core of discovering your "natural vocation" is understanding your natural, driving abilities. Most sources of job unhappiness stem from natural abilities not being used, or being forced to perform tasks for which you do not have the natural abilities.

Research over 40-50 years shows that if a person has a strong aptitude and doesn't use it, it begins to bug him or her. In fact, that situation may be at the core of most cases of mid-life career crises, since people who do not use their best skills often become bored and restless.

If you choose a new career without a knowledge of your innate abilities, you have a relatively high probability of winding up back in a career that you find boring, frustrating, or unfulfilling.

What happens when there is a mismatch between your aptitudes and your job? For anyone other than humans, the answer to this question is: extinction. But because we humans are so adaptable, we survive, but at a terrible cost. What gets extinguished is the pure joy of life spent doing something that comes absolutely naturally. We spend our days in our job feeling either bored, frustrated, and/or sense that "something is missing". Sometimes having only one thing out of whack can ruin your chance for career satisfaction. They key is to find out what needs to be changed for you.

You get...

• Highlands Ability Battery Testing. The test is completed online.

• Your Highlands Ability Battery Report. You will receive a personalized thirty-page report explaining the results.

• Your "Natural Vocation" Report: Master Career Coach Steve Bohler uses our proprietary matching system to write up a diagnostic report which interprets your scores and recommends everything from tasks, to careers, to perfect work environment. We combine your HAB scores with Myers-Briggs and CareerFitNow scores to obtain the most accurate results.

The Results: Using the insights learned from the Highlands Ability Battery in combination with follow-up guidance or coaching achieves a remarkably consistent result: people experience an exceptionally high degree of satisfaction, meaning, connectedness, productivity and success in their work and in their lives.

How accurate is it?

This is not like the aptitude testing from years ago, or the tests available in certain books out there. The information and suggestions that it makes are HIGHLY ACCURATE. Many medical, technology, business, and science students use this aptitude testing to choose an area of specialization. Businesses use it to choose the top candidates for important positions. Entrepreneurs use it to determine the type of business they're most likely to be successful in. The testing is psychometrically valid and reliable. The minimum reliability standard for the 19 tests that make up The Highlands Ability Battery™ is r = . 80. It is like getting an MRI for a painful injury instead of a traditional X-Ray.

The following tests are also included in the program:

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
• Oxford CareerFitNow Analysis
• Minnesota Importance Questionnaire (MIQ)
• Entrepreneur Profile Test

 

Career Options Analysis

In the Oxford Program, we will explore your best options in the following scenarios:

Career upgrade. See how to shape your existing career so that it fits you better and provides you with more satisfaction.

Starting anew. You'll learn of specific career option(s) that would be most fitting to your unique aptitudes, values, personality, and preferences.

Leveraging your education and work experience. Learn of the best alternative yet meaningful options that can leverage your developed skills, education, and experience . You have more options than you probably realize!

Entrepreneurial options. Discover what specific type of business you would be most successful at AND enjoy.

Benefits to you: You'll have confidence that you know all of your best options "out there" that are available to you in your situation (there are more options than you think!)