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Finding the personality behind the penBy Sylvia Smith for CNN LONDON, England (CNN) -- While neat, legible handwriting was once a skill highly prized in a secretary, in today's digital age a flowing script might seem to be a thing of the past. But the way you put pen to paper is not quite irrelevant, as increasing numbers of employers are turning to handwriting analysis as a way of screening job applicants. Whatever type of job is on offer, whether in a large corporation or small firm, there is a chance that a prospective employer will ask a job applicant to pick up a pen and write. It is a means of getting a sample of writing which is then passed on to a graphologist, or professional handwriting analyst. Recruiters who use this method of sorting the wheat from the chaff swear by it as a quick means of determining who best fits a job, when there are a number of candidates who all seem equally suitable. And one major international company, which prefers not to be named, routinely uses handwriting analysis because it has found it to be a more reliable method of selecting the right candidate than depending on a CV, interview and testimonial letters. "Handwriting is the essence of what the brain is thinking," explains Elaine Quigley, former chairman of the British Graphology Institute. Quigley is frequently employed to use graphology for recruitment. "It can be used to predict potential, compatibility, whether a person is a supportive team member, or if they are entrepreneurial and work better alone," she says. Some graphological services analyze at least 100 separate script characteristics, while one US-based company claims to use over 400 features of handwriting. The size of the individual letter, the slant of the script, whether the letters are ornamental, angular or if they curve -- all these aspects are taken into account when assessing dominant traits and their interaction. The composite whole is said to reveal the personality behind the pen. The word graphology comes from the Greek meaning the theory of writing. The Roman historian Suetonius analyzed the script of the Emperor Augustus and wrote: "He does not separate his words, not carry over to the next line any excess letters -- this is the writing of a man whose mind is ruled by his heart." In the 11th century, the Chinese painter and philosopher Kuo Jo Hsu commented: "Handwriting can infallibly show whether it comes from a person who is noble-minded or one who is vulgar." Bad science?Graphology is not without its critics. Those who feel that it is no more than mumbo-jumbo point out that more than 200 objective scientific studies into graphology have failed to establish associations between personality and handwriting of any practical value. They bracket graphology along with fortune-telling and say that any weak ability of graphology to predict personality could be based on gender and social status information naturally implicit in most handwriting. Yet, in countries such as France, Germany and Holland, between 38 percent and 93 percent of companies use graphology as part of the job application process. In the UK and the U.S. the figure is probably closer to between 5 percent and 10 percent, but those figures are on the increase. As one handwriting analyst pointed out, graphology is part science, part art and its success depends on the analyst's own personal ability and training. But it is not just navigating the job market that some believe can be made easier. Because handwriting is said to be one area of individual expression that cannot be controlled and manipulated at will, it is popular with those seeking long-lasting romantic liaisons. From likes and dislikes to outlook and temperament, studying samples from couples can tell if they are made for one another. Handwriting experts say that even a couple's signatures can tell if they are likely to end up heading for the divorce courts -- or a lifetime of wedded bliss. 
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