The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently highlighted a growing trend among organisations that are turning to alternative recruitment methods like graphology, astrology, and numerology. Over the past decade, businesses have undergone significant transformations—working from home, the pandemic, increased use of social media, online interviews, the digital boom, and, more recently, the rise of AI. With these shifts, companies have found that social connections among team members have become increasingly limited. As a result, even employees with the right qualifications often struggle to collaborate effectively. Understanding oneself and navigating work parameters at home is fundamentally different from doing so in a traditional office environment.

While these practices may seem unscientific, or even whimsical nonsense to some, these tools are being adopted for various reasons, especially in environments where cultural fit and personality are crucial to business success.  For instance, Myers Briggs, one of the top personality assessment organisations, was interviewed for the WSJ article and claim that recruitment “usage” is on the increase again.

1. The Search for a Holistic Approach to Recruitment

Many organisations are realising that traditional hiring methods—skills tests, interviews, and psychometric evaluations—while effective, only scratch the surface when it comes to understanding a candidate’s potential. Skills and qualifications can tell you if someone is capable of performing a task, but they don’t provide much insight into a person’s deeper motivations, emotional intelligence, or compatibility with team culture. This is where graphology, astrology, and numerology come in.

Graphology (the psychological analysis of handwriting) shows that the way someone writes—reveals aspects of behaviour, the ability to make decisions and how they deal with stress among other traits as well as map out an individual’s strengths, tendencies, ability to work remotely and sociability. When combined with traditional assessments, these methods promise a more holistic understanding of candidates.

2. Cultural Fit and Soft Skills Are Gaining Prominence

Cultural fit and the ability to work well within a team have become just as important, if not more so, than technical abilities. Companies are looking for candidates who align with their values, vision, and work ethic, not just someone who can get the job done. Graphology is a tool used for decades by recruiters who understand that it can assess these qualities, particularly in terms of how a candidate may behave or approach tasks under pressure.

3. A Trend Toward Personalisation in Recruitment

Recruitment is becoming more personalised, with a growing emphasis on finding candidates who truly resonate with a company’s mission and goals. Many hiring managers are looking beyond the surface-level qualities that can be easily measured (education, experience, etc.) and instead are seeking out deeper, more nuanced insights about an individual’s character, motivations, and long-term potential to work within the teams.  People who can thrive on challenges or how adaptable, focused or proactive they are in a working environment.

4. The Influence of Alternative and Wellness Movements

As we see a rise in wellness-focused workplaces, there has been an increased interest in non-traditional methods for understanding personality and behaviour. Mindfulness, meditation, and alternative therapies have become buzzwords in many corporate cultures, alongside holistic management techniques that aim to foster well-being. These movements are encouraging employers to tap into different practices like graphology, which align with the broader trend of looking at employees as whole beings rather than simply a collection of skills and experiences.

5. Retention in a Competitive Job Market

In an era where the job market is increasingly competitive, companies are seeking new ways to stand out and attract the best talent. Using age old alternative recruitment methods can also be a way for companies to position themselves as innovative and progressive in this age.

The idea of using something as distinctive as graphology or astrology in recruitment also offers a fresh angle in the hiring process, making it more exciting and, for some, more engaging.  Candidates who are open to these practices may see them as a method of self-development to ensure a more profound connection with the company and a greater understanding of themselves within the professional landscape leading to a better job match and hopefully higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates.  From a company’s perspective this could lead to staff staying longer, reducing hiring costs and increasing overall productivity.

7. Filling Gaps Where Traditional Methods Fall Short

While data-driven techniques dominate the recruitment landscape, they still have limitations. Online interviews and online applications often fall short when it comes to predicting how someone will fit in with a team or handle the stresses of a particular workplace culture.  A tool like graphology, though unproven in traditional scientific circles despite the huge amount of research in and around clinical graphology can be used to explore elements of human behaviour that go beyond the conventional CVs and interview questions or subjective personality assessment questionnaires.

Conclusion

I can only speak for graphology but incorporating it into the recruitment process may seem unorthodox in today’s age, but it speaks to a broader trend of needing to seek more human-centred approach to hiring.  Although it is recommended that it does not replace traditional recruitment methods totally it can provide a complementary objective assessment into candidates’ personalities, motivations and behaviour patterns.

As an afterthought – In May 2013, the Harvard Review carried the results of a research study whereby it was shown that companies led by CEOs who have large signatures—an indicator of narcissism—perform worse than ones led by CEOs with small signatures.  How could a small thing such as a signature show competence as a leader……..  The team measured the signatures of over 500 CEO’s on a decade’s worth of annual reports from S&P 500 companies.

How Flunking a Personality Test Can Cost You Your Dream Job – WSJ

Size does Matter (in signatures); Harvard Business Review,; May 2013.