I had heard many good things about AIMS testing from coworkers, so my wife and I decided to take the test as well. Maybe my expectations were set too high, but I have to say I feel rather disappointed.
Most of the testing consists of pen-and-paper questionnaires. In some cases, we got to listen to tape recordings, in some rare cases, there was something displayed on a computer screen. However, there was no actual interaction with a computer, aside from the very first questionnaire which we were able to fill out at home. Many of the tests (especially the hearing tests!) had bad audio quality, and some of the tests even required the test takers to grade themselves! There was even a test to measure handwriting speed, but no test to measure typing speed.
Surely 90% of the testing could easily be administered through a computer and taken from the comfort of your own home, and test evaluation could be much more thorough with a computerized test. The test administrators claim to be available for questions for a certain time after the test, but they can't even be contacted by email! Overall, the level of technology in the office makes you wonder whether any of the testing has been revised since the early 90s.
Regarding the quality of the test results, I can't help but think that some of the conclusions drawn from certain tests seem very far fetched. In particular, the determination of whether you're a generalist of specialist (which is one of the very fundamental things you should find out about yourself) is derived from a test where you're asked to decide which of several very similar patterns of boxes, circles, triangles, and other shapes, you "like" best. While this seems completely bogus to me, some of the results we got were interesting, and who knows, maybe there's something to it. Whether they will prove to be useful remains to be seen.
Overall, I won't deny that the testing was an interesting experience, and I'm still hopeful that we can derive some value from the results. However, I think the price tag of $825 is outrageous for what we got. Most of the testing itself should be computerized, be administered at home, and essentially be free. The value is derived from having one of the administrators evaluate your test results and explain them to you in person, and I'd say $100 or $150 would probably be a fair price for that. read more