Career Vision

The Ball Foundation was founded in 1975 by Carl Ball, president of Geo. G. Ball Inc (now Ball Horticultural Company), and his wife Vivian Elledge Ball. Their interest in aptitudes began in the 1960s when they became close friends with Johnson O’Connor, a psychometrician who had designed aptitude tests for use in business and industry. Carl and Vivian quickly recognized the importance of aptitudes and engaged in the testing themselves.

The Ball Aptitude Battery® (BAB™) was first published in 1981 with 16 ability tests. Inclusion in Tests in Print and Mental Measurements Yearbook quickly established the Ball Aptitude Battery as one of the premier multi-aptitude batteries in existence. Subsequent aptitude validation research resulted in dozens of technical reports supporting the validity and usefulness of the battery in career planning.

Since its inception the Foundation has continued its work on aptitudes and has published research in professional journal publications, presented at national conferences, and received professional awards based on validation research. The BAB has migrated successfully from paper-pencil assessments to a computerized version of the Ball Aptitude Battery.

In 1985, the Ball Foundation established Career Vision℠ to provide personalized aptitude-based career planning services. Career Vision’s focus on aptitude-based career planning has helped thousands of individuals and families make informed career choices.

Career Vision℠ is a personalized service dedicated to helping students and career managers find direction, make the very best decisions, and achieve success and satisfaction in their careers.

Our mission is to help individuals make great career decisions based on each person’s unique potential. We accomplish this by partnering with our clients — applying our expertise in studying individual differences (abilities, interests, personality & values) and how these traits translate into different career possibilities. Years of research demonstrate that self-knowledge, particularly understanding one’s own aptitudes (Ball Aptitude Battery®), provides an objective foundation for people beginning their career plans, or making educational and life decisions.

There are many opportunities to achieve satisfaction and success. Young adults who begin their career planning early have greater direction, confidence and motivation. Career Vision’s highly personalized career consulting services and career literacy programs give families the valuable information and guidance they need to take a critical first step that will work for them for a lifetime.

Our service programs are therefore based on the time investment you are able to make. While the push today is to create automated, self-directed career reports, we believe that when facing important decisions, the opportunity to learn, ask questions, and gain insights from an expert can lead to confidence, motivation and great outcomes.

Career Vision provides highly personalized program options that use excellent assessment tools, an experienced team of professionals, and a commitment to helping our clients achieve success. Each program option features a customized “career portfolio” containing career assessment results and an array of handpicked resources designed to maximize your career exploration and decision-making.

That is because they are a composite of individually-constructed and timed tests designed to objectively measure potential in specific abilities (such as reasoning styles, creativity, memory, and spatial strengths). We are not very accurate in estimating our own aptitudes. The time invested in an objective picture saves time and money and improves confidence in career planning.

Career Vision uses The Ball Aptitude Battery® (BAB™) developed by The Ball Foundation. As the service and consulting arm of the Foundation, Career Vision staff are experts in helping clients and families understand and make the most of their natural abilities. Our goal is for our clientele to be successful and happy.