Discover What You're Best at: The National Career Aptitude System and Career Directory

When I graduated from college, I had dreams of working in a particular field. After a couple of years, I realized that I couldn't stand my job. One day while visiting a local book store, a friend familiar with my career disillusionment, pointed out Discover What You're Best At. I took the tests, and was surprised to find out that I had a strong aptitude for fields I had never considered before. I did some research on the careers suggested in the book at the local library, and spoke to people who worked in those fields. After some careful consideration, I decided to take a course at a local university, in one of the areas I though I would enjoy working in. Not only did I end up loving the subject matter, I ended up taking more courses. That was close to 20 years ago. My career has progressed very well, and it's a joy going in to work everyday. Barry and Linda Gale changed the course of my life with this book.

This book has an excellent introduction about the tests and finding a career. Whether you are a college student or someone considering changing your job, this book gives you the information to help you make this life-changing decision. The tests are very well explained and answer sheets are included. The grading portion is split. One grade key is for college students. One grade key is for more experienced workers. After you determine your strength(s), the next section divides up the graded areas into 1, 2, and 3 strength combinations (for those who score high in more than one area.) You find your strength or strength combo and see what types of jobs may be of interest to you. I have tried 3 different books and was pleased with them all. This is the best of the 3.

Linda Gale has devised tests that do indeed measure what your skills are. Some aptitude tests are not real true measures of your skills, but it measures how confident you feel about your skills. One does not need to know how confident one feels about their skills, but you need to know if you are good or bad at making business decisions,doing clerical tasks, thinking through things logically, doing mechanical things, handling numbers and doing what is best in dealing with people. When I tested myself I did well on and scored the highest in 4 areas clerical,logical, numerical and social. I looked up my 3 top letter cluster codes representing my highest skills and found a interesting "CLS" job that of a career-information specialist. I have a bachelors degree in psychology. and I am looking for a good attractive job without having to go back to college and get a graduate degree. I don't want to be a guidance counselor now, but I have touched upon a good job lead possibility and one that is at my level of education. Linda provided the answer and even other possible answers on what I could do well. A good counselor can let you see your possibilities, and that is all you can really hope to get from career counseling. A career counselor can show you, but you have to be responsible for making your own vocational decisions.So Linda did an excellent job writing this book, and now it is my duty to search for those job possibilities.Linda didn't measure how I confidently felt about my skills, she actually zeroed in on my skills and how strong my skills are. One other thing, even if you don't take the tests, the list of jobs and how they are categorized or clustered allows you to do some serious thinking about what you want to do with your life. Do you want to sit at a desk and be a number cruncher or one who fixes that broken down automobile stuck in your yard? Do you want to work with data only, people only or things only or a combination of these things. Good Job . You measured my skills not my feelings. An A+++++++++++++++++ Linda!

Once in awhile a book comes along that impacts one's thinking and decisions long-term. Finishing my second year at a liberals arts university I was desperate for focus. I took a series of tests and read other books designed to help me gain clarity into the career I should choose. Of all the tests I completed this was the least time consuming and I believe most accurate. Some of the other evaluations concentrated on interests (I knew them already) others on aptitude, this book blended both remarkably. The career this book pointed me toward was so unique I had to research it. After eleven years of excelling in my field and enjoying my job everyday I'm often grateful to Linda Gale. I can highly recommend this book to individuals looking to identify and use their talents more efficiently. I give this book to potential employees before hiring and I bought copies for my entire church youth group.

This book is excellent not only for those who are changing careers but also for those beginning college and unsure of what area to study. For example, I took these tests as a senior in high school. The results reaffirmed my choice of major and provided a wide range of choices for career paths that I would be good at. My lowest score occurred in an area I did not like and did not feel I was good at. At the back of the book an excellent career directory provides detailed descriptions of all the career choices. The directory is very comprehensive and informative. This book is an excellent resource for guidance and career counselors. The only areas it cannot test are special skill areas such as music and art, but for everything else it is great. An emphasis on skills, and not changing interests, provides the books main strength.