Did you take one of those high school occupation tests?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

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Did you ever have one of those high school occupation tests? Remember they were supposed to predict what occupation you were well suited for?
I had one in my junior year. According to the test, I was well suited to be a radio DJ, What was kind of strange, before I took the test, I wanted to be a DJ. So of course, I became a psych nurse. So did you take one of those tests? And did you follow the test's advice?
 

Mine deduced I would be good at mechanics. Funny, but I wanted to be a psych nurse. Did not pursue that career.

Considered Social work, and then Animal Health worker but my Science grades were too low for the latter.
 
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They had had aptitude tests at the high school I went to before I attended but discontinued them saying they weren't relevant, supposedly because what if you found out that your aptitude was for doing mechanical work, blue collar work, i.e.? You couldn't get a job in that big city area and the defense contracting industry there without a college degree. So they figured the tests were pointless. After high school, I attended a community college and couldn't figure out what to do for a living. Somebody said check out the Career Planning & Placement office here, it's really good. So I got an appointment there with the gal running it and she told me I needed to take an aptitude test. I said, "Are those really any good? My high school didn't think they were useful & discontinued them." She said Oh they are very helpful. So I took the test pretty hopefully thinking maybe this would help. Welp. You know you're in trouble when you go to get test results and they say, as she did, "Now I don't want you to get upset about this." I said why. She said "the test showed that you don't have an aptitude for anything so the recommendation is that you either get married or join the Army. But don't be upset; these tests aren't really that helpful or accurate." (!) Story of my life...
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Did you ever have one of those high school occupation tests? Remember they were supposed to predict what occupation you were well suited for?
I had one in my junior year. According to the test, I was well suited to be a radio DJ, What was kind of strange, before I took the test, I wanted to be a DJ. So of course, I became a psych nurse. So did you take one of those tests? And did you follow the test's advice?
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I do seem to remember a test along the lines of what you speak of, Fuzzy, but my memory is clouded as to what my test revealed.
 
I took one in college. I don't remember what the class was or why we did it. It was based on surveys of people in those jobs that like their jobs. I came out something over 90% as being similar to a naval officer, and a close second was computer programmer, the rest of the occupations were grouped quite far behind. I always wondered if I'd taken the test again on a different day and answered slightly differently how the results would have been. One of the questions was "Do you like marching people around?" and I remember thinking that it's better than some jobs I've had, so I thought it would be ok. I'm not so certain it was a very good test. I pretty much wound up drifting through life too.
 
"Young man, if it were possible for man to travel to the moon, then you would certainly be daft enough to try it."

Those words still ring in my ears, and man eventually did get to the moon, but I wouldn't want to go there now, there are too many beer cans littered around the place.............

Instead, I think I'll try for Neptune, and when I arrive there, I'll spread a blanket on the ground, pour myself a cup of tea to wash down my sandwiches, then, I'll ask one of the very friendly Neptunians to light the blue touch paper on my rocket so that I can get back to Earth in time for the News. šŸ˜Š
 
Ferocious said:
"Young man, if it were possible for man to travel to the moon, then you would certainly be daft enough to try it."

Those words still ring in my ears, and man eventually did get to the moon, but I wouldn't want to go there now, there are too many beer cans littered around the place.............

Instead, I think I'll try for Neptune, and when I arrive there, I'll spread a blanket on the ground, pour myself a cup of tea to wash down my sandwiches, then, I'll ask one of the very friendly Neptunians to light the blue touch paper on my rocket so that I can get back to Earth in time for the News. šŸ˜Š
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Ferocious. That sounds like something that was born out of the cloud of smoke from a little too much wacky-tobacky. :)
 
I didn't take anything like that in High School, but when I joined the Navy I had a pile of tests resulting in me being an electronics technician. I basically stayed in that career area for 45 years and loved it.
I did a bunch of other things as well, but always returned to technical tasks.
 
Pecos said:
I didn't take anything like that in High School, but when I joined the Navy I had a pile of tests resulting in me being an electronics technician. I basically stayed in that career area for 45 years and loved it.
I did a bunch of other things as well, but always returned to technical tasks.
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I don't remember a test in High School, but we were divided into academic and commercial. I was academic I guess because of grades and commercial was for people who likely would work in a business atmosphere and would need to know things like typing. After that, it was what Pecos said but in the Air Force.
 
Long time ago! back then women didn't really have careers. We were told 95% of we girls were going to marry within 1 year of graduation from high school.
I took a test like that I believe, but wasn't told an occupation, only what NOT to do. I was NOT to be in clerical work and was told NOT to marry a mortician. ( !!???!!!???!!!) Wish they would have told me not to marry a musician!
Later, I took a similar test and scored off the charts in three demensional, so, architectual; and extremely high in science, technology. and in art.
Well, Blew that! but I do sculpt and paint, but primarily a writer. The tests are interesting though!
 
Just for fun, I had my future told by a (what else?) fortune teller. I thought for sure that she was going to tell me that I was going to strike it rich, but instead, she asked me for a date. True story. I had only been back in the states from the military for maybe a few days and we were out celebrating in San Diego and the guys were giving me the stuff about having my future told, so I took a shot. The one guy even paid for it.

When I walked into her place, it smelled funny. Someone said she was burning punk sticks, if there is such a thing. She had all kinds of stuff hanging on her walls. For example, she had a couple of astrological charts and even a voodoo doll with pins stuck in it. I didn't even ask about that thing. I saw a fan that some older women use in church with a picture of Satan on it. After I turned her down for a date, she tried to sell me some holistic energy pills, as she called them. Probably more like 'speed.'

She was dressed like these Gypsies we used to see in the movies.
 
When I retired from the Navy, I participated in a "Strategy of Career Transition" program in the Wash DC area. It covered resumes, interviewing, and a bunch of other things including a comprehensive series of exams followed by a one hour one-on-one meeting with a psychologist who gave additional guidance on what our best choices would be for our follow-on civilian careers. It was well worth the time and expense. I was told:
- That I was among the 25% of people who are actually happy. (another 25% is unhappy and the rest are in between)
- That the best job for me would be a small high-tech company located in the middle of a National Forest.
- That I should decline the job offer to join a construction firm because "people like you hate noise"
- That I would have a solid 2nd career, but I would not be the top guy at a big company because I like people too much.
- That I was best suited for a 2nd career as an: engineer, chemist, pharmacist, bus driver, or forest ranger.
- That while I would enjoy teaching at the college level their politics was much worse than the Navy and I would hate it.
- That while I was not lazy, I would hate having to work more than 60 hours a week.
- That I like to see things get completed and working on a project with a 20 year timeframe would not be good.

As it turned out, several companies came to see me several months before my Navy retirement. I made a number of evening visits to various companies and was all lined up before I got out of the Navy.

Overall, I think these kinds of test can be very useful under the right circumstances.
 
If I had to do it over again I would join the rest of my buddies who dropped out of high school in grade ten and got a job at the local paper mill who was paying good wages.

They ended up being foremen and supervisors for the guys getting out of school two years later and since they were in a union there was no way the graduates were going to take over.

Now you can't even apply without a high school diploma.

A lot of them were very good at what they did even though they didn't have a formal education.

One of them was in charge of wiring plane controls. They all ended up with good pensions.

I ended up being an accountant and frankly I wasn't a whiz at math. However the advent of the computer made the job quite easy compared to hand bombing figures in bookkeeping.

What I was good at was literature so I don't know what career that would have led to.
 
I took such a test in 1957 when I was just 14. I was a bright student in maths/science and English/languages and hopeless at most other things, including throwing and catching a ball and music/art.

Since the test was purely a written assessment I did well and was told that I could do anything I chose to. However, being a girl in1957, I could choose from very limited options - clerical, teaching, nursing and pharmacy. I ended up a teacher who would rather have been a geologist.
 

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