If The Shoe Fits

If the Shoe Fits Proof that a new pair of sneakers can change your life. In the early 1990’s, I labored for a private nonprofit that administered a battery of aptitude assessments to individuals and then made profession suggestions based on the outcomes. The battery of assessments was developed over many years based mostly on research by Johnson O’Connor, who began as an engineer for General Electric in Lynn, Massachusetts in the 1920’s. Aptitudes are pure skills, special talents for doing, or learning to do, certain sorts of issues. Manual dexterity, musical capacity, spatial visualization, and memory for numbers are examples of the aptitudes that the group exams at present in eleven amenities positioned all over the nation. I really enjoyed the job and I discovered an amazing amount about aptitudes, careers, and job satisfaction, and the place inspired my interest in profession coaching. I had a terrific director at the Boston facility, and a part of the wisdom he imparted was about reading f olks’s sneakers. Seriously. Each morning, my director Robert would greet the shoppers within the waiting room of the Beacon Street brownstone where we worked. He’d sweep via the room, affirm names and appointments, and by no means fail to notice everyone’s footwear. Robert was a sharp dresser himself, however his curiosity went past style. He’d assign employees shoppers based on shoe “match” so to speak, and sneakers had been usually the deciding factor about how a person would receive the news we had been going to ship. It sounds wacky, nevertheless it worked. Now there may be knowledge to indicate that Robert was merely ahead of his time. According to a Yahoo! news article, researchers on the University of Kansas say that individuals can accurately decide 90 percent of a stranger’s character just by looking on the person’s sneakers. The article says that researched made judgments “based mostly on the type, price, colour and condition of somebody’s sneakers.” In the examine, college students examined photographs of 208 different pairs of footwear worn by research individuals. Volunteers in the examine were photographed in their mostly worn shoes, after which stuffed out a character questionnaire. My assumption is that the University of Kansas researchers were men; ladies have identified all their lives that you can tell something about people by their shoes and how well they’re stored up. Age and vainness have interaction in mortal combat as women age and try to feel sexy in comfy shoes. Geography matters, too; when I lived in Boston I carried my excessive heeled shoes in a tote and wore smart flats to navigate the treacherous cobblestone streets and winter snow. The determined run to safety in New York on September 11/2001 convinced hundreds of girls to change to affordable footwear in case one other disaster ever struck. I was reminded of that as I watched a woman battle across a Jacksonville road at lunchtime, tottering and perspiri ng in a pair of purple six-inch heels that were a sprained ankle simply ready to happen. I value my mobility more than style; my heels are moderate and provide extra help than stilettoes. I couldn’t imagine not being able to transfer quickly or confidently via the workplace or not with the ability to walk a block or two from a parking spot to an occasion. I am additionally unwilling to put on ugly shoes. Luckily, there are options which might be cute and practical. For those of you who are skeptical about the validity of footwear and personality hyperlinks, right here’s a closing anecdote from my days in Boston with Robert. At the top of a two and a half day evaluation and career teaching session with a shopper, Robert actually mentioned his shoe reading theory to her. She was intrigued, and she or he instantly challenged him to “learn her shoes” and tell her what her true profession selection should be. Robert took an extended look and at last turned to her and told her it was unimaginable to know her from the footwear she was sporting. “Those aren’t your sneakers,” he mentioned with finality. He meant to suggest that her sneakers didn't reflect her personality as he’d gotten to know her. But her delighted disbelief took him by surprise; she’d borrowed the shoes that morning from her sister. Published by candacemoody Candace’s background consists of Human Resources, recruiting, coaching and assessment. She spent several years with a national staffing company, serving employers on each coasts. Her writing on business, profession and employment issues has appeared in the Florida Times Union, the Jacksonville Business Journal, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and 904 Magazine, in addition to a number of national publications and websites. Candace is often quoted within the media on native labor market and employment points.