Employees will be able to find out whether they are working in the right career thanks to a psychometric testing service launched by The James Partnership.

The company, which specialises in recruitment and executive search and selection, will offer the new service to employers who are interested in assessing people's personality, skills, abilities, interests and other aspects of the way they behave in job-related situations.

Marie-Pier Belanger, a recruitment consultant with The James Partnership, said psychometric testing can work to the benefit of both employers and employees.

"Employers may find themselves in the position of having more than one candidate that could fill a position," she said.

"A psychometric test can help them identify which candidate would be best suited for the particular job.

"This type of testing delves into how people are likely to behave in an office setting and which candidate will best fit the office culture-the result being a higher chance of success for the employer and employee."

Psychometric tests may also be used to help employers to identify training or development needs for existing staff or to assess potential for promotion within the organisation. There are three types of test, including career, personality and skills and ability, which can be used by businesses and individuals alike.

Ms Belanger said the psychometric testing service is a particularly useful tool to have in the current economic crisis.

"We have seen an increase in requests by clients for our outplacement / redundancy counselling services," she said.

"We can include psychometric testing as part of our redundancy counselling package in order to help employees use their redundancy as an opportunity to explore a career change.

"The testing may help them to consider options that they had not previously considered. For some, it may turn a negative situation into a positive new beginning."

Ms Belanger, who joined The James Partnership in early 2008 and holds a masters degree in counselling and orientation from the Université Laval in Quebec, Canada, draws on numerous testing methods that look at personality, including a work personality index and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

The James Partnership can also test cognitive abilities and assess skills relevant to certain occupations and once the test results have been compiled, The James Partnership will analyse them and work through the results with the client.

For more information, contact The James Partnership on 292-9987 or visit www.thejamespartnership.bm