Teachers and school administrators take delight in high IQ test scores, but employers outside of the academic environment typically don’t want to know about IQ scores. Even worse, supervisors may resent employees – especially young employees – who appear smarter and faster at their jobs than they are, which in turn make the supervisor seem inadequate.
IQ Scores and the Workplace
It doesn’t take a gifted child to flip a hamburger or tear a movie ticket. Yet it seems that internships, volunteer work (often needed for college scholarships), and other work/study programs would benefit from knowing individual students’ IQ test scores and aptitudes. Whether or not IQ tests should be used in the workplace continues to engage heated debates on both sides of the issue.
Ideally, IQ testing could allow young people to be placed in jobs that, while challenging, don’t over-challenge them to the point of frustration or failure. This early job placement would guide them to a more productive future career by outlining their specific strengths and how they can best be applied. But American laws now exist that restrict job selection and assignment on the basis of IQ tests that can accurately predict performance within the specific job category being filled.
Even colleges and graduate schools don’t take IQ test scores into account when deciding whether or not to admit students, nor are they considered for job applicants for professors or administrators at colleges. In fact, employers in various industries admit to being intimidated or repelled by applicants boasting of high IQ test scores.
U.S. Armed Services Use IQ Test Scores
While private companies in America are restricted in their use of IQ exams, those determined to test applicants have discovered a new option: psychological profile tests that predict how honest, reliable, and skilled an applicant will be on the job. In most cases, these are used in conjunction with personal interviews to determine an applicant's suitability. These psychological profile tests, personal interviews, and academic transcripts can be used as alternative means of properly placing students and recent graduates into entry-level positions.
An exception to the law about IQ test scores is the U.S. Armed Services, which administers a group of vocational-aptitude tests, collectively identified as the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). By law, the lowest 10 percent of the population (roughly those with IQs below 80) are not allowed to enlist. The Army also can use these scores to direct and promote soldiers with unusually high potential based on their intellect. According to the Daniel Seligma book, A Question of Intelligence: The IQ Debate in America [Birch Lane Press, 1992], General Norman Schwarzkopf, who successfully served as Operation Desert Storm General, has an exceptionally high IQ of 170 (based on a score of 100 indicating average intelligence for the American population).
High Intellect and Opportunities
The “smartest” woman in the world continues to prosper from her high IQ. Parade Magazine advice columnist Marilyn vos Savant, whose IQ is reportedly 228 and is listed in the Guinness Hall of Fame for having the highest IQ ever recorded, will always be able to parlay her amazing IQ score into opportunity.
Although a high intellect is a priceless commodity, the score itself may not open many doors for young people. Unless a gifted child threatens to take away Ms. vos Savant’s title with his or her high IQ, the best course of action may be to take advantage of the academic and career opportunities during the school years when high IQ test scores can reap the most benefits.
To learn more about IQ tests, read Exploring Origin of High IQ.
