The survey of over 1,000 workers, commissioned to launch the new Memory Matrix tool, found that those that are self-employed and teachers are the professionals that rate the importance of memory most highly for their job.
Distance learning provider Oxford Open Learning Trust created the Memory Matrix tool to put adults to the test to determine which type of memory is their biggest strength and the potential careers that would be best suited to an individual's certain type of memory.
Top five professions that rate memory as important for their job:
- Self-employed (100%)
- Teacher (100%)
- IT (99%)
- Accounts (97%)
- Operational (97%)
The Trust partnered with Ruth Sparkes, managing editor of education and careers magazine Future Mag, to create the tool and suggest the different types of career paths to consider to make the most of memory skills. The tool includes three types of different memory tests; spatial, short term and long term.
Spatial memory refers to how well you can retain information that’s presented to you in a very short space of time. For this particular memory type, the information is presented through sensory means, such as sight, smell, sound, touch and taste. Ruth Sparkes explains that the following career choices lend themselves well to good spatial memory skills; architect, builder, sculptor, fashion designer, film director, makeup artist, chef, surveyor, pilot, driver, mechanic or carpenter.
Short term memory jobs need individuals to be able to absorb information quickly and have rapid recall. Police officers, barristers, doctors, pilots, waiters, bartenders, journalists and MPs all typically possess these traits.
Those that have a strong long term memory are much better at recalling and remembering information from the past. Often people working in these careers will have to refer to previous cases, earlier studies and remember rules and laws. Those with these traits should considering entering professions such as a solicitor, doctor, engineer, scientist, architect, lawyer, data scientist or civil servant.
Dr Nick Smith, courses director and founder of Oxford Open Learning Trust, said: “The results suggest an overwhelming majority of UK workers view memory ability as being important to their professional lives. It’s a known fact that people are happier when doing something they are good at and our Memory Matrix tool focuses on matching the strengths of memory types with different professions.
“It’s never too late to learn new skills or consider a career change and our memory tool gives people an idea of what they might be suited to if they’re thinking about a new challenge.”