Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation

Feeling curious about yourself and what you want to do with your life? Feeling stuck in a job or project that’s not making you happy? The Johnson O’conner Research Foundation can really help!
I found the aptitude tests are very interesting and challenging but the real benefit comes from the analysis and guidance you get from the people who work there.
I received focused and undivided attention and was able to ask tons of questions and receive thoughtful, very helpful answers back. There is no judgement about what your strengths and weaknesses may be. I received solid help with figuring out which types of careers or tracks of education might be most rewarding and successful for me.
I often refer back to my notes when I feel I’m getting stuck in my life and need a reminder about what I’m naturally inclined to do.
I highly recommend investing in and exploring yourself with help from these folks.
The pricing is very reasonable and the information and experience received is invaluable.

The idea is a great idea and certainly can be life changing, but this company is stuck in the 1970’s and haven’t entered into the computer age. A look at their website and it will give you an idea of just how stuck in the mud they are. Their testing maybe good but the take away is not up to today’s standards. They give you a printout of a chart and a book of careers that was written back in the 1970’s and updated in the 90’s which is not up to date. You have to sort things out for yourself, which you wouldn’t expect in today’s world of computers. Compared to others it is substandard. Also if you’re a student good luck getting an appointment, they have old fashion banker’s hours which don’t work very well. Aptitude testing is a great idea, but finding another company would give you better results.

Life changing. What can I really add to that?
Ok, you’re thinking to yourself, «I’ve taken a ton of these tests, from the Myers-​Briggs to goodness knows what … how is this any different? And $ 600? Give me a break!»
Here’s the difference: all the other tests ASK YOU questions, and then slice and dice and feed back your own responses to you. Whatever you BELIEVE, in some way, that’s what they report.
Johnson O’Connor doesn’t care what you think. They TEST how well you do stuff. For me, that showed up as only low to middling scores in my fields of study and work, and in other areas where I had 99%-ile SAT/​GRE … and 99%-ile scores in the areas where I was afraid I’d be embarrassingly low! Quite an eye opener, let me tell you.
And yes, I did (slowly) move in the direction of their recommendations, changed careers, and have never been happier.
Yes, $ 600 is a lot of money, compared to, oh, a new pair of jeans. But compared to the cost of a college education, or the value of your own career, not to mention happiness?
Good luck!

I went through Johnson O’Connor Research (JOCRF) aptitude testing nearly a decade ago. I had been in sales and wasn’t crazy about it and recently went back to get a Masters in Psychology, much different than my BA in Economics and Intl Relations. So I was searching and someone recommended JOCRF. Although I was a bit hesitant since I didn’t know what to expect and feared hearing something I didn’t want to hear, I did it.
The testing is not easy since there are many different ones to do and takes a few visits. Sometimes I wonder if I took it over whether I would have different results but although one can re-​do it, there is a margin of error in their findings. Aptitudes are innate skills, not learned behavior. What they are trying to find is whether a person is a Michael Jordan in their field, be it music, engineering, sales, etc. One can have low scores and actually be high in a skill. They give suggestions on where to look and what the findings show.
One might say that job requirements have changed since 1922 when this system was started but it may explain why salespeople and other professions jump around from job to job and may not be successful. All of my 10 years of sales work is not lost since I am able to market myself with my own business:
. Experience does play a big part of success at one’s job which they discuss, but aptitudes do too.
For me, much of the work started after the test results. The foundation is not a job placement. Once my testing completed, I read books written by people who have taken the exam, such as Your Natural Gifts by Margaret Broadley which map out different aptitudes with different jobs. I left the counseling field and returned to sales but have avoided doing full time sales. I have some of the skills of a counselor but low inductive reasoning leading to patience may not necessarily be helpful since it might be good to come to some type of diagnosis for treating the client. I still use my experience as a counselor intern and the training I received at one of my internships forms the basis of how I work with people when teaching and consulting.
I am not a huge believer in typecasting people which I think people are afraid will happen by going to aptitude testing. A person can be whoever they hope to be. It may take longer to do certain tasks. If someone is ok with that, including the employer, that is fine. However, people might be unhappy in their jobs and employers might be unhappy with employee performance. Furthermore, more an more, jobs requirements will be changing and knowledge within the baby boomer generation is quickly retiring. Maybe aptitude for these jobs will be even more important. I think it is more of a guide.
Due to my low scores, there are no jobs that jump out in today’s types of jobs as something I really enjoy. One of my mottos is «I do what I love and let go of the rest. Is that ok Mr./Mrs Employer? I hope so because there are other people out there who hope to work with me». I now utilize my Mandarin skills I learned back in college at UCLA since I have been living in China for 24 out of the past 30 months. In China, they hope to learn English so while I teach English, I hope to use my other skills, interests and experience such as teaching unique Sales techniques and perspectives as well as hoping to help western businesses in China.
I try to break up my time between teaching/​training (40%) consulting (40%) and running a business (20%). I am still looking for the ideal job and profession so I am taking an investigative and experimental approach to it: Do I like this? Does this fit my aptitudes? Can I make a living doing this? Am I good at this? Can I do this in a reasonable amount of time? These are questions you can ask about your current job or a job you are looking to do in the future. Aptitude testing is good for high school students looking to go to college, graduate looking to return for a MA or PhD and people making career changes. If you have questions about the testing or would like assistance after your testing to make it to the next place, contact me at
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Not sure what you want to be if you grow up? Time for a career change? Wondering if you could find happiness as, say, an astronomer, lawyer, fireman, translator, pilot, or neurologist? Just getting out of school or thinking of going back? Johnson O’Connor can be a tremendous help making the right choice.
Johnson O’Connor Researc Foundation, a nonprofit organization spun out of General Electric in 1922, does aptitude testing and counseling. If you want objective, rigorous insight into your strengths, weaknesses and how they match up with particular careers, Johnson O’Connor is the place to go.
You start with a seven hour battery of aptitude tests. A few examples are spatial memory and reasoning, idea flow, manual dexterity, rhythm, tone, drawing, observation, vocabulary, numbers, visual skill and foreign language learning. Your scores on both individual tests and groups of test drive the next phase, counseling.
During the counseling phase, Johnson O’Connor starts with a database of professions and score patterns correlated with success in them, and background about your own interests and goals. They will suggest directions you might go, or comment on the match between your interests and aptitudes. For example, successful physicians universally do well on tests that measure three dimensional reasoning. If you are in the bottom ten percent of the population for this aptitude and also not strong in other traits correlated with success in medicine you might hear something like «These scores suggest you’d have a very, very tough time getting through medical school, and are unlikely to be happy as a physician. But if you are interested in healing professions, your scores suggest you could become a great psychologist, grief councilor or clergyman.» Counseling is not, by the way, someone just reading a printout. Expect a pretty intense 60 – 90 minute discussion.
I went through Johnson O’Connor myself, and was invited by a friend who also did to sit in on his counseling. I found that my test results and life experiences meshed perfectly, and gained some good insight into my options as well as perspective on previous achievements. I believe my friend would say the same thing.
Johnson O’Connor charges $ 600, though I understand their cost is closer to $ 1300 (an endowment makes up the difference) and requires three trips to their offices. But if a new field is something you are serious about, the money and time are extremely low risk and high return investments.