When it comes to psychometric assessments, whether you are an employer or a potential employee there are a lot of misconceptions around the process and its outcomes. There is no shortage of opinions when it comes to the merits and flaws of using psychometrics, whether it is for recruitment or personal development. Most of these myths are perpetuated by Management’s scepticism about the value of assessments.

I love the construct Locus of Control. Firstly, because it has that cool Latin launching pad that makes it sound so much more important, and secondly because it is so fundamental to human behaviour yet we are hardly aware that it exists. Just think about it for a second, what is my Locus of control? That I even have a Locus of control is a surprising idea. My control is located differently to someone else’s. Not physically located, but psychologically. Let me try that again slowly. The psychological control, that I believe I have over my life, is different to the people around me. In more bald terms, for some people the control that they believe they have over their life is located Externally. Outside of themselves. In other words, they believe that their control is limited, the world happens to them. Instead of being the architects of their lives, they are relentlessly pushed around by forces outside of their control. The opposite is where the locus is located Internally. Here I have power. I make things happen. If I do badly, I messed up, if I do well, it’s because of me. My prospects in the world and the decisions I make emerge from one place only. Me.