Employers who need to verify the suitability and integrity of a candidate are finding graphology – the study of handwriting – to be the most reliable, says leading graphologist Margaret White.

‘Getting to know you, getting to know all abut you….’ So goes the song – but there is a way of having insight into the character of people, their abilities and potential to grow and develop that is most accurate and objective, and eliminates the façade we all don to cover our emotions and vulnerabilities when we meet people face to face.

The façade, as we all have learned at one time or another, can do more harm than good when meeting someone for the very first time – and does not really demonstrate the real person standing before us. We are all actors at times and learn our lines well – none more so than when in the workplace where our persona is developed to portray us in what we believe is to our advantage, not only to our immediate colleagues, but to everyone around us. However well we act the part, it is rarely the real us. So how do we know who will prove a loyal and dedicated colleague and member of an organisation – seeking only to improve its profitability, not only for themselves, but for everyone they work with and their clients?

The secret is handwriting. ‘But no-one writes today,’ I hear you cry. ‘We all use our computers, texts and mobiles to communicate.’

So how do you understand the messages you send and receive if you did not learn to read and write? To read, you have to recognise letters, understand how they translate into sound, and then know how they are formed and put together to make a word, a line, a sentence – and the only way to do this is to know how to draw them and the sound they make – yourself.

So therefore you know how to read and write – and hopefully you find both a pleasurable experience. Handwriting is, in fact, the most disciplined art any human being is compulsorily taught in early childhood. This enables them to read and communicate freely in any medium provided.

Who knows when the phones and computers will go down and the lights will go out for a lengthy period of time as we overload their systems and deplete our resources (as we will one day); then the only way to communicate at a distance will be by the handwritten word or the hand-drawn picture.

The science of Graphology allows the Graphologist to be able to accurately and objectively understand, in great detail, the character of an individual from their handwriting. It is a proven tool for people to understand themselves and their partners, friends and colleagues better.

The Personality Profile that it enables the Graphologist to prepare is written totally without prejudice, as they have not been influenced by the physical presence of the writer, or their behaviour. It is purely an honest self-portrait produced by the writer’s subconscious mind, and rather like the human body, its looks do not necessarily portray the beauty or ugliness of the writer’s character – the handwriting tells it as it is!

Naturally allowances have to be made for any physical disability or injury – but Nelson’s handwriting did not display a change in character when he had to learn to write with his left hand following the loss of his right arm during a battle. Although the handwriting after the event was not so tidy or elegant to look at, its overall rhythm and form stayed the same – as did his character.

So what can we learn from the handwriting of any one person? Firstly and most importantly, their temperament – whether they are at one with themselves and their relationships with everyone around them, or whether they are unhappy with how their lives are panning out. Secondly, their ability to communicate and listen to others – which again indicates how secure they feel within themselves and how they control their emotions.

Thirdly, their integrity – whether they are both trusting and trustworthy, or if they manipulate people and events to their own advantage. It also identifies where their intellectual abilities and knowledge lie and their ability to grow and develop new skills and relationships, both personal and professional.

If you are an employer seeking an accurate, comprehensive and profitable method of verifying the suitability and integrity of a prospective employee – which is not time consuming and totally objective – then Graphology is the most reliable and least fallible course to take.

Many organisations and people throughout the world have used the services of a Graphologist and found them most beneficial.

It is important when choosing a Graphologist that you ensure that they have a recognised qualification.

There are only two organisations within the UK who have an accredited examination and diploma in this subject, the Academy of Graphology and the British Institute of Graphology (of which the author is a Founding Member).

These two organisations teach Graphology to a high standard and their tutors are all qualified Graphologists who have studied both Graphology and Psychology. These organisations have websites which give details of their members and services.

Graphology has a long and revered pedigree. It is as old as medicine, but naturally when practiced, it is only as the good as the practitioner. Certainly, it has a much longer and respected history of research and development than psychology and psychometric testing which are still, in comparison, in their infancy.

However we have learned from the great philosophers of the past including Goethe and Lavater – and adopted some of the criteria from the Masters of Psychology, including Jung, Freud, Einsynk and many others, and we include some of their philosophies in the syllabus that both the organisations mentioned teach.