What is the Career Inventory?

The development of the Career Inventory was influenced by the concept of Metaprogrammes from NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and provides a way of describing an individual's unique way of thinking and processing, without labelling a person or putting them in a box as many psychometric profiles do. Four years ago we assisted the senior partner of a business in the professional services industry to reduce their level of staff turnover. We suggested that a profile of the ideal candidate for a post was designed and matched with questions, which could be used informally in the interview to elicit the actual profile of the candidate and so give the match between candidate and role.

How can you use the Career Inventory?

We developed this idea into a profiling tool that could be used independently by employers for a variety of purposes. This empowers businesses to find better matches between people and jobs and enables managers to match employees with customers. Since then it has grown into a tried and tested Inventory that can be used by managers to develop teams and streamline their working together.

One of the ways it assists managers is in developing and appraising individuals as it deals with the subjective qualities people display in the workplace and gives a constructive framework to help managers address what can be thought of as difficult areas.

For businesses of all sizes this is an empowering tool, which is practical and simple to use. It avoids expensive consultancy fees and can streamline the people issues within the business, delivering efficiency, success and results that can be measured.

How does it work?

The Inventory is made up of ten sections designed to elicit working and motivation patterns. Each section has five statements and a candidate is asked to decide whether the statement is like or unlike them in the context of work. The Inventory can be completed online or provided in hard copy format. When the results are entered online an immediate printout of a person’s patterns is produced. Access to the online version is via a provided password.

The results of the Inventory are what set this apart from other psychometric tools. Clients have described the interpretation as more personalised and individual and the intention is to avoid labelling and fitting people into descriptive boxes, which can then become fixed at identity level. The Inventory describes our behavioural patterns and the things which motivate us in our careers. This is only part of who we are and we all have the potential to develop, grow and change our patterning through experience and learning as our careers progress.

Background Information

The sources that have inspired the development of the Career Inventory are Shelle Rose Charvet’s LAB Profile and the work on Metaprogrammes of Tad James and Wyatt Woodsmall. The philosophy behind it is to provide a profile which is accurate and avoids labelling or boxing an individual, because we are all capable of developing flexibility in our behaviour.