At Kuder, we often hear from individuals whose first experience with career assessments became the foundation for a lifetime of purpose and discovery. Few stories illustrate that legacy as vividly as that of G.B. Lee Barker, whose connection to Kuder began more than sixty years ago.
Barker recently reached out after finding that his mother had kept his original Kuder Preference Record. Along with the discovery, he shared a message that deeply moved our team:
“I am pleased you are still in business and need you to know your company’s work had a positive influence on the high-school junior me and, in addition to being predictive, reflects successfully on a life I would not trade for anything.”
That record, completed in 1960 as Barker sat at a small school desk in the balcony of an overcrowded Idaho high school gymnasium, proved to be more than just a student exercise. It became a glimpse into the way he would approach work, creativity, and learning throughout his life and career.
That day, he joined students across the country in taking the assessment created by Dr. G. Frederic Kuder, designed to help individuals understand themselves and identify the types of work that would bring them satisfaction.
More than six decades later, Barker still remembers one of his standout results: “stable situations.” That preference perfectly captured his lifelong appreciation for dependability and predictability.
“At first, I thought that sounded like a bit of an insult,” he said with a laugh. “I wasn’t a pioneer or an adventurer. But it turned out to be true. I’m most comfortable with the knowns rather than the unknowns.”
That early insight became the first clue in a lifelong pattern of career development guided by self-awareness, curiosity, and craftsmanship, principles that remain at the heart of Kuder’s mission today.
Hear directly from Lee on his experience.
More than sixty years after taking his assessment, Barker, now 81, unearthed his original Kuder Preference Record Vocational and Personal from his junior year of high school. The report included percentile scores across categories like Mechanical, Persuasive, Literary, and Stable Situations.
He was struck by how the patterns identified in high school echoed across his long and varied career:
Each score revealed a facet of a life spent in motion balancing creativity and stability, craftsmanship and communication.
Reflecting on the experience, Barker shared
“I have to believe that [the assessment] had a part in my feeling untrapped in a career. If there were one of these columns that went all the way to the ceiling and the rest were average, I’m not sure I would’ve felt so free to try other things. But looking at this, there are four things that are strengths. Just that message that I had options to pursue contributed to my willingness to say, ‘I don’t know how to do that, but I bet I can figure it out.’ I’m grateful for this. I think it encouraged me.”
That sense of freedom and confidence continues to embody what Kuder career assessments are designed to inspire today.
While Barker’s score for Stable Situations predicted a preference for predictability, his professional life was anything but static. Over the years, he worked as a radio announcer, teacher, columnist, contractor, and inventor.
He admitted that while he took “significant risks in changing career paths,” he always preferred a sense of order and control. To achieve that, Barker became self-employed, managing his own schedule, finances, and creative projects. In doing so, he created the very stability his assessment suggested he valued most.
This decision reflects one of the most powerful lessons modern career development continues to reinforce: understanding your core work values helps you build a fulfilling and sustainable career, on your own terms.
Today’s Kuder assessments continue to help individuals around the world discover those same insights, providing the clarity to balance necessities such as career adaptability along with the desire for security, satisfaction, and purpose.
Barker’s longest career as a cabinetmaker and contractor brought his mechanical and clerical strengths to life.
“I kept tidy records and an organized inventory of parts and materials,” he said. “Sussing out material lists from a rough sketch was always a delicious task.”
His success reflected the harmony between interests and skills confidence, a balance Kuder helps individuals identify through two of its core assessments:
Together, these assessments help users make well-informed decisions about their careers by connecting what they like to do with what they believe they can do well. Barker’s story exemplifies that intersection of how self-awareness builds the foundation for a lifetime of capable, confident craftsmanship.
In his later years, Barker combined his mechanical and musical talents to invent a new instrument, the Barker Bass, an upright electric bass that merged engineering with artistry.
Handcrafted in his own workshop, the instrument symbolized the culmination of decades of learning, experimentation, and persistence. It also reflected the modern principle of lifelong career development: applying one’s strengths in new, meaningful ways throughout life.
His 2023 memoir, Plausible Gumption: The Road from a Christmas Toolbox to the Barker Bass, traces that evolution, weaving together his early interests in mechanics, persuasion, and music, all themes first uncovered in his Kuder Preference Record.
Even in retirement, Barker continues to share his knowledge. He mentors a 12-year-old homeschool student in woodworking, teaching the techniques, and the discipline that guided his own career.
This spirit of mentorship embodies one of Kuder’s core values: career development as a lifelong process of contribution and growth. Helping others explore their potential continues the cycle of discovery that began with his own assessment more than six decades ago.
Barker’s original 1960 assessment, hand-plotted on a paper grid, represents the roots of a system that has evolved into a comprehensive digital platform serving millions worldwide.
Today, students, job seekers, and adults engage in the same process of self-discovery through our foundational platforms.
These online systems integrate the Kuder Career Interests Assessment® and Kuder Skills Confidence Assessment® with education and career planning tools, exploration resources, and real-time labor market data.
The foundation remains unchanged: scientifically validated, evidence-based assessments designed to empower confident career choices.
Kuder’s ongoing psychometric research ensures these instruments remain reliable, relevant, and globally applicable.
The continuity between Barker’s 1960 results and his lifelong achievements demonstrates the enduring accuracy of well-constructed career assessments. His experience supports what decades of research affirm:
Barker’s story isn’t just a reflection on one man’s success, it’s living evidence of how Kuder’s approach to career guidance can empower individuals to create meaningful, self-directed lives.
From a paper-pencil survey in 1960 to today’s data-driven online career guidance systems, Kuder remains committed to helping people of all ages see what they can be.
Barker’s story exemplifies that commitment in action, proof that the insights gained from a teenage assessment can echo across decades, guiding a life defined by craftsmanship, curiosity, and confidence.
Contact our team to learn how we can partner to help individuals see what they can be.
Table of Contents
