Stephanie West Allen, JD

Helping lawyers identify individual aptitudes and trait profiles necessary to make career decisions. Ms. Allen practiced law for several years, is a former president of the Santa Clara County (CA) Barristers, and taught Negotiation and Settlement at Hastings College of the Law. She writes articles on professional development, and has taught the Psychology of Conflict, Psychology of Prejudice, and Law and Psychology at University of Colorado (Denver). Ms. Allen is a former training director for a large Denver law firm, where her position included outplacement, performance evaluation, and coaching. She is certified to administer and interpret the Highlands Ability Battery, one of a new wave of online aptitude testing companies for professionals. Contact – Stephanie@westallen.com.

Moving From One Stage of Life to Another
By Stephanie West Allen, JD

Lawyers at midlife have a pretty good sense of their skills, strengths, values, and goals. Or do they?

In fact, some of the most successful lawyers never fully capitalize on their greatest aptitudes and talents, and miss out on the opportunity to move more successfully from one stage of life to another. And often their decisions about how they wish to spend their days – certainly their 50’s and 60’s – are misguided.

More and more, though, Boomer attorneys and other professionals who refuse to be sidelined in their peak years, are turning to career advisers to help them identify their natural strengths, and to direct them in ways they can use these abilities. At the core of this work is a variety of precision “assessment instruments”, including the long-established Myers Briggs Type Indicator, the Strong Interest Inventory, and the Campbell Interest Skills Survey. The oldest aptitude testing group is the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation, which has been testing people for more than 80 years. They have testing labs in 11 US cities, and their aptitude assessment and analysis occurs in three sessions totaling approximately eight hours.

The new wave of aptitude testing companies – among them the Highlands Company – are taking advantage of the Internet. For example, the aptitudes measured by Highlands are nearly the same as those measured by the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation, but the format is different. Instead of going to a testing lab – or an adviser’s office – the Highland assessment is done online and at your own pace over a period of three hours. A certified Highlands affiliate then gives you a two-hour feedback session about your profile and 30-plus-page individual report. When you are tested by a Highlands affiliate, that affiliate also may become your career counselor.

Aptitude assessments are not just for career decisions. Knowledge of your aptitudes can inform your goal-setting process, your methods of organization, and your relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. In short, aptitude testing – along with a good working relationship with an experienced career adviser – will help you develop an in-depth understanding of your profile. Learning your innate gifts is like opening a hidden treasure chest. The midlife years are a good time to lift the lid.