Handwriting and Your Job Search

Be careful how you cross your T's and dot your I's. Your penmanship can be a factor in your hireability. Graphology, the study of handwriting to determine personality traits, is becoming increasingly popular among hiring managers looking to screen prospective employees.

Sound crazy? Advocates for this seemingly creepy psychological profiling argue that your handwriting reveals aspects of your personality (i.e., your integrity) that are otherwise very tough to discern from interviews. So as US companies become more concerned with security issues and corporate scandal, for instance, they may find it imperative to find out if someone is trustworthy enough to hire. What’s more is that this hiring tool is nondiscriminatory, as it does not depend on the collection of racial, social, gender-related or age-related information.

According to the Star Telegram (registration required), your handwriting can show your thought process, communication skills and emotional state. Even the pen you choose to use and the pressure you apply to it can be just as revealing.

This seeming trend is making its way to the mainstream. Pen manufacturer Pilot Pen Corporation of America recently established the position of chief graphology officer for promotional purposes.

This hiring practice’s long-term repercussions are yet to be discovered. Many argue that graphology is an untested approach, and thus has no scientific credibility. We’ll just have to wait and see. Who knows? Maybe taking handwriting courses will one day become as imperative to getting a job as honing your resume.

Share this post: Digg, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us, Facebook, Twitter, etc.