Tech Writing Aptitudes (was Personality Types & TWriting)

[Tom Campbell <klook -at- EUDORAMAIL -dot- COM>]

The Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation tests people and isolates
_aptitudes_--not just interests or temperament. Based on comparing clients'
aptitudes to those of thousands of others, they suggest possible courses of
study and/or career paths.

The O'Connor Foundation has found that work dissatisfaction often results
from a) lacking aptitudes that the job requires, and/or b) having strong
aptitudes that that the job doesn't use.

I have taken these tests and found them very helpful. The fee for the full 2
1/2-day testing was $480 a couple of months ago when my son did it, and
worth every penny.

"An Aptitude for Technical Communication" by M.K. Guzda in the Aug./Sept.
1997 issue of STC's Intercom magazine reported on the results of the
O'Connor Foundation's testing of 53 experienced technical writers and
technical editors. That's well worth checking out.

As reported by Guzda, tests in which the TWs and TEs excelled were:
- both analytical and inductive reasoning
- graphoria (clerical speed and accuracy)
- memory for design
- number series (reasoning with number patterns) as well as number facility
and number memory
- observation (remembering an arrangement of objects and spotting changes)
- objective personality (preference for working in a group)
- silograms (ability to memorize words and definitions quickly)

The TWs and TEs scored similarly to "regular" examinees in the other areas,
which included English vocabulary (though the O'Connor Foundation says that
strong vocabulary equates to success in _any_ field), ideaphoria (rate &
flow of ideas; verbal fluency), musical aptitudes, and structural
visualization (perceiving the structure of 3-dimensional objects).

Here's some more background on Johnson O'Connor:

Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation home page:
http://members.aol.com/jocrf19/index.html

Ongoing Communication, handout from "Management: The Real Work We Do is the
Work We Do on Ourselves," a presentation by David C. Garrett (STC Region 7
1997 conference, Snake River, Idaho chapter):
http://www.stcsrc.boise.id.us/proceedings/garrett/gar_comm.htm (good info.
on both O'Connor and Myers-Briggs in a technical writing context)

"Choosing Your Way With Words" by Mike Padilla, Johnson O'Connor Research
Foundation:
http://members.aol.com/jocrf19/writing.html (brief overviews of different
writing jobs and the aptitudes used in them)

---
Tom Campbell
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"I try to leave out the parts that people skip."
--Elmore Leonard
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