December 2010
During 2010 Julene McCorkindale offered staff and senior students from John McGlashan College the opportunity to undertake aptitude testing on behalf of the Aptitude Institute. As a result, the college intends to embark on further testing in 2011 to include all Year 11 students and link it with a curriculum unit on life skills, transition and careers.
Throughout the testing process John McGlashan College has found Julene to be highly professional and responsive. The quality of the product she offers is continually reviewed and adapted based on feedback from the consumer. Julene has an outstanding ability to interpret the data and link it with life opportunities, future study and career planning in common sense manner.
In completing the testing, many of our students gained a much broader and more comprehensive view of their own talents, strengths and aptitudes along with their weaknesses and identification of areas requiring further work. John McGlashan College plans to continue to utilise Aptitude Testing as part of a broader programme in course planning, goal setting and career planning.
I fully endorse the work of the Aptitude Institute and the personal passion and innovation fo Julene McCorkindale to craft a very useful tool that will serve to assist our young people to find their place as happy and productive members of New Zealand society.
Neil Garry, Deputy Principal
John McGlashan College, Dunedin
We have trialled the Aptitude Training test as a means of assisting learners to gain a ‘snapshot’ of where their personal strengths lie in order to find direction in their job search efforts.
Among other areas, the feedback provided gave an overview of the subject’s personality, job focus and the sort of working environment they are best suited for. If applied properly, this could be a valuable tool for our organisation.
I look forward to working with Julene in the period to come, with the aim of someday integrating this tool into our programme.
Don Hammond, Centre Manager
The Salvation Army Employment Plus, Dunedin and Lower South
I am writing this letter in support of the Aptitude Institute and Julene McCorkindale. Julene approached the Malcam Trust about a year ago now and offered us the opportunity to have our students access the Career Database from Aptitude Institute and complete the online career aptitude tests with a full written report on completion.
The young people we work with are aged 16 – 24 years and we were impressed that this career report met the needs of all ages across this spectrum. Those students who had identified areas of interest gained in confidence from the validation that they had the right aptitude to pursue a career in their chosen field. Those students who did not have any idea were pleased to have something that they could refer too while looking into future career options.
Recently, we have also chosen to offer this test to three past students who have been undecided which career path to take. In all three instances, the young person has been able to clearly identify the best career pathway for themselves based on the feedback report they received and have followed this through to further tertiary training and study.
Having seen young people benefit greatly from the knowledge they have gained from their test results and having read some I am aware of the many advantages of having such a comprehensive database of information on young people to individuals, government and community agencies such as ours.
I look forward to continuing my association with the Aptitude Institute and Julene and wish to continue working with her organisation into the future.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.
Malcolm Cameron, Executive Trustee
Malcam Trust, Dunedin
In the latter half of 2010 I was involved in the running of Sort My Career in a local prison in conjunction with Julene McCorkindale where around 150 inmates were put through Sort My Career as a national trial of the suitability, usability, and functionality of the application. My impressions of Sort My Career and the impact it had on the students are that they got a great deal out of taking part in the trial, and that the outcomes matched very well with what we would expect with our prior knowledge of the students and their known capabilities from working with them in the classroom.
By completing the tests that make up Sort My Career the students were able to view their own strengths and weaknesses and were in agreement with the outcome once a discussion had taken place with Julene about them. Often the comment was that they had learnt quite a bit about themselves and felt much more capable and gained in confidence because of that.
Having observed the reactions of some of these men, I decided to trial Sort My Career myself, to see what the outcome would be for me. I found that it matched careers that I have successfully worked at in the past, and abilities/aptitudes that I know I have very well indeed and in fact recommended that I pursue a career in the field I currently work in! It also produced results that gave cause to reflect – sometimes quite unexpectedly.
I found Julene McCorkindale to be a very professional person who has developed an outstanding application in Sort My Career. I’m sure we will hear a lot more about it in the years ahead and I wish her and the Aptitude Institute all the very best.
Garry Patterson, Lecturer / Team Leader
Otago Polytechnic
User Testimonials
Jessika Hatchell, Santa Ynez California
I was trying to decide what to study at college next year and had some ideas but really wasn’t sure. After I worked through Sort My Career I was a lot clearer about what I should consider. It even gave me ideas that I had never thought about before. Thanks for helping me.
Vicki Moeller, Managing Director, Innovative Learning
This was awesome! At my age who would have thought I could still not know what my learning strengths and challenges are! Sortmycareer helped me understand my aptitudes and where I should focus my efforts in my work. It’s funny because I now better understand why there are things I have not succeeded at in the past and why other things have been more successful for me.
Richard, 18 yrs, Dunedin
It was actually quite interesting to do because after I had done it, it showed up a whole lot of engineering jobs, and there is a whole heap of engineers in my family and my Dad and grandparents have always told me I have a engineering brain, but I’m just not sure if I would like it, I don’t know much about what they do so I’m going to look into it a bit more.
Peter, 57 yRS, Southland
Having invested in private school education for our daughter and son, we wanted them to make the best of their education and where interested in finding out what their skills where. We found the Sort My Career results to be accurate and they formed the basis for some constructive debate around the table regarding tertiary education. I think it really helped our daughter to make the best, most informed decision she could. It confirmed that my sons choices where well suited to his natural abilities.
MC McGrath PhD, otago
The prolonged and robust development of this evaluating instrument is underscored by the 'user-friendliness' of the process that projects the requirements of the evaluation to the end-user through a smooth and beautifully designed interactive web-based interface.
Seven key aptitudes are identified and explored through the evaluation process. These include working personality and style, thinking types, reasoning, idea abilities, visual processing speed and general vocabulary. Out of the evaluation a picture emerges that localises and weighs the strength of the various inherent aptitudes of an individual, comparing them in a relative and non-judgmental manner with a matched peer group. Subsequently, a substantial variety of potential careers are listed. A helpful explication of aptitudes and interests is made, and the findings of the evaluation together with current, somewhat more fluid interests are projected in a manner that is congruent with a given career choice.
As a mature individual with possibly half of my career path traversed, I lived in a futile middle-aged hope that some new and surprising career insight might eventuate from undertaking this evaluation, which in turn would lead to a novel career renaissance. It was not to be. The evaluation tool unerringly identified my aptitudes and interests, becoming instead a source of affirmation. Highlighting the same choices I faced as an adolescent, it confirmed the career choice that I had embarked upon and curiously revealed once again, the difficulty of selecting a particular career choice over another of equal potential merit, as determined by the evaluation. In my view, this is one of the cruxes of such evaluations and may represent a natural limitation.
Encouragement is made that the evaluation process is undertaken in the context of a supporting, informed environment. This is another clear asset of the process, emphasizing the attention given in the initial design to the importance that all interested parties, whether parents, teachers or counselors are well briefed before the career aspirant undertakes the evaluation, and that they continue to remain a part of the process afterwards.
In what is often a murky and haphazard process, the choice of a career should never be left to opportunistic accident or worse, a lack of insight and imagination. 'Sort My Career' offers a way toward 'knowing thy self', an essential weapon in today's hectic, fast changing arena of career choice. It cultivates imagination and insight.
I am grateful to have been presented with the opportunity to undertake the evaluation process and in addition, to have been offered this further opportunity to offer testimonial. The process has been interesting, enriching and insightful.
Ryan, 24 YRS, Wellington
SortMyCareer helped me confirm in my mind the type of work I should immerse myself in. Being someone that is easily bored and distracted, the test helped match up my interests and skills to the industries and positions I would be best suited to. The test gave me the additional motivation to go out there and try something new. I have done so, and it has turned out to be a constructive and rewarding change.
Marie, 50yrs, Dunedin
After many years out of the workforce raising a family, I found SortMyCareer very useful confirming my strengths and interests as I look to return to employment. It has helped me identify the types of jobs that will best use my skill set. My teenage sons also took the test and I was amazed at how accurately their personalities and abilities were reflected in their results. It confirmed for them that their choices for study programmes at university would suit their strengths.
Josie, 18yrs, Dunedin
I found the aptitude test and summary very helpful, especially as it explores several aspects of a career, as in reality jobs are more complex than one would expect. To really be able to prosper and be passionate in your line of work you really do need to have the right attributes for the job. At this age, fresh out of high school it is intimidating to say the least, entering the real world and deciding what on earth to do. And even more frightening is the prospect of missing out on other potential opportunities once you've made a decision. The aptitude test was great as it gave suggestions as to what line of work to aim for which match my skills, and more importantly the careers to avoid (as let’s face it, it’s much easier to cross off options than commit yourself to one). It seemed very accurate, everything in the report I identified with. It was definitely a good push in the right direction, inspiring me to strive for a career which is creative and offers variety. I think it's perfect for anyone who is stuck in a rut as to where to go next, or even just to discover whether your attributes really match the career you're set on.
