The Highlands Ability Battery (HAB) is the gold standard for measuring natural abilities. Consisting of a series of 19 timed worksamples, the HAB objectively measures a wide range of natural abilities. Upon completion of the HAB, clients receive an extensive, customized report that summarizes their results.
In addition to the report, clients meet with a Highlands Certified Consultant (HCC) for a two-hour debrief session, either in person, by phone, or by video conference. This in-depth and personalized review sets the HAB apart from all other assessments, ensuring consistent quality and applicable, real-world results.
In a world that demands faster and faster results, we have held firmly to the integrity of our process. A quick, ten-minute survey that you find online might be able to offer a glimpse into your abilities or personality, but quick and easy surveys yield easily forgotten results. The HAB is in-depth and highly personalized; anyone who invests in the process will reap a lifetime of practical and applicable self-knowledge.
Think of it this way: you can read a psychology book and learn something about yourself. If there is a quiz at the end, you may even find that there’s a label or category that helps to explain who you are. But imagine the difference between just reading the book and having the opportunity to talk to the author; imagine having an extensive conversation during which the author applies the principles in the book to your specific situation. Your understanding would improve exponentially.
In fact, a recent statewide study of aptitude testing for high school students recommended that at least a 20-minute feedback session to review test results be included for maximum impact. There’s no question that feedback adds tremendous value to an assessment. But what can you expect to find out after taking the HAB?
Content of the Debrief
Highlands Certified Consultants undergo intensive training on how to understand and interpret the results of the HAB. They are well-versed in all areas of the assessment, including Personal Style Measures, Driving Abilities, Specialized Abilities, and Vocabulary. They also understand how to interpret the results in light of the Highlands’ proprietary Ability Blends and Ability Patterns.
A personalized feedback session with a highly-trained consultant means that you will not only have the results from the HAB, but you’ll also be able to understand and apply them—to your life today and ahead in the future as well. During the feedback session, you will gain a clear understanding in each of the following areas.
Understanding Your Abilities
Your HCC will show you how the pieces of your various natural abilities fit together to provide meaning for occupational and academic application, with implications for your life and career.
No Right or Wrong Answers
If you’re the kind of person who loves to get good grades, you need to put those expectations aside for the HAB. There are no right or wrong answers. Each person’s individualized results help paint a picture of the types of careers and work settings that will allow him or her to thrive.
The results from the HAB are displayed on continuums, with your score marked in relation to other takers of the HAB. We are accustomed to looking at scores and assuming that a higher mark is “good” and a lower mark “bad.” Those typical ways of interpreting the results do not apply to the HAB, however, and your HCC will take you through each result and explain the implications of a low or a high score. For example, someone who scores high in Idea Productivity will be good at generating new ideas, while someone who scores low in this area will possess a greater capacity for focus and concentration.
Ability Blends and Patterns of Abilities
Your HCC will also walk you through the proprietary Ability Blends and Ability Patterns. Based on extensive research, these combinations of abilities are presented in terms of how they match up with careers, occupations, and jobs that provide an outlet for the use of those abilities.
Understand the Significance of Your Ability Profile
There are three categories that make up your ability profile: Personal Style, Driving Abilities, and Specialized Abilities. During the debrief, your HCC will explain the significance of each category and provide you with practical examples of how your abilities in each area are most likely to manifest.
It’s one thing to know that you scored low on the Generalist scale, which is part of the Personal Style category. The benefit of discussing this with a trained consultant is that you’ll understand the significance of that score. You will look back on previous jobs and say, “No wonder I enjoyed that role!” Looking ahead, you’ll have new insight into why, as a Specialist, you will do better in roles that allow you to go deep into a subject area, and why you value autonomy.
Guidance to Reach Your Objectives
The results of the HAB are not meant to pin you down and confine you to one or two different careers. Rather, the results will open your eyes to the many different facets of your natural abilities and how those can play out in a variety of situations. Unlike some career assessments that try to tell you exactly what career to pursue, the HAB provides you with a nuanced and in-depth toolkit that you can apply to your career decisions for the rest of your life.
The two-hour debrief session with an HCC serves to sharpen those tools, enriching your understanding of the results and empowering you to apply that knowledge for years ahead. You’ll understand how to evaluate different work roles and environments with confidence, knowing that you can discern what situations play to your strengths from those that will be more challenging.
Work from Your Strengths
Your ability patterns affect more than just your career. There are multiple ways to apply your strengths to different areas of your life, and your HCC will explain to you during the debrief how to leverage your strengths in:
Studying/Learning – Students benefit from understanding the channels through which they learn best, whether it’s by taking notes, listening to recordings of lectures, or moving around regularly while studying. And since learning doesn’t end with formal education, adults will also benefit from understanding how to take advantage of their strengths and learn more efficiently.
Problem Solving/Decision Making – Every ability continuum presents different strengths and approaches to problem solving. Your HCC will make it clear how and why you are an effective problem solver, allowing you to seek out situations in which those strengths are allowed to be used to their fullest potential.
Communication Style – Communication is foundational to the success of any enterprise. Not surprisingly, people do not all share the same communication style, and many of the differences can be accounted for by a person’s HAB results. Whether it’s a low Spatial Relations Theory score that draws some people towards abstract conversations over the task at hand, or it’s a high degree of Introversion that makes some people prefer to process ideas internally before sharing their thoughts, there are many insights to be gained from learning your own unique communication style.
Create Your Personal Strengths Profile
One of the most challenging aspects of a job search is knowing how to clearly and succinctly pitch your strengths, skills, and experience to potential employers. The same is true for students who are applying to colleges or trying to land an internship. Your HCC will help you process your results in such a way that gives you the language you need to represent yourself on paper and in interviews. Plus, you have the added confidence of knowing that the strengths you’re presenting aren’t a result of self-diagnosis or based on the opinion of a friend or relative! The HAB results are unbiased, objective, and accurate.
The Whole Person Method
The HAB produces a gold mine of information about what makes you tick and how you naturally approach your life and work. The two-hour debrief session that follows the test takes you even deeper into understanding and interpreting your results and applying them to your career, both now and in the future.
Even with such a wealth of information, there is more for you to take into account as you consider your options for school and work. The Highlands Whole Person Method includes eight different areas of focus to account for your skills, values, family, goals, and more.
