I’ve seen this in a couple of job ads that I considered applying for, but my handwriting is, shall we say, less than calligraphy. I’m embarassed enough about it that it’s actually kept me from applying to such ads. Can anyone in the HR field tell me if you automatically reject any cover letter that looks like it was written by an eight year-old, even if the CV looks good?
Thanks,
capn
It may be that some companies asking for hand-written applications want them so that they can do ‘personality analysis’ on your writing. Personally, I would be a little wary of working for companies where the HR department had credulously subscribed to such nonsense.
Of course, if the job involves writing by hand (I dunno, maybe a mobile sales position, expected to leave written quotes with the customer), then it is more understandable they’d want to see how legibly you can write.
I would be quite happy to write some letters for you, with my beautiful handwriting for a small consideration 
. I am sure it must be quite common
I’ve never seen this. Around here, it seems like more and more companies want you to e-mail your resume or apply electronically.
I’ve heard of companies using lie detectors on applicants, so I guess I can buy they there might be some where the HR guy use handwriting analysis.
I would walk out of any job interview that asked me to take part in either test.
HR departments think up yet another way to sort applications without actually having to do the demeaning task of reading them…
Possibly the requirement to hand-write your application is imposed to winnow out those applicants who are blindly sending out CVs in all directions. Forcing candidates to spend some time developing a job application reduces the number of applicants who don’t really want the specific job on offer, but apply since it’s just a simply matter of copying-and-pasting.
A test of bona fides, if you will.
They make you do a similar thing when you go to take the GRE. I had to write out a paragraph in cursive writing (even though I hadn’t done that since ohh, about 6th grade), apparently as an identity double-check. Ended up being nearly as difficult as the test itself 
I had that too!!! It took twice as long for me then for anyone else. What a pain in the buttocks!
I’d always wondered if I has misread the instructions and they just wanted it handwritten, in whatever style you happen to use. I’m glad to see that it truly WAS a bullshit requirement!
Interesting that they would specify “cursive,” a word that can be ambiguous. In American elementary schools, “cursive” refers to the Palmer Method script, a particularly ugly, loopy script based on Copperplate script. To experts on handwriting and typefaces, “cursive” refers to handwriting in which the letters don’t link up, as opposed to “script,” which is handwriting in which the letters do link up.
Handwriting analysis for applicants comes up sometimes on an HR board I belong to. In every case it’s come up, HR is extremely skeptical, but the company owners are flaky and insist on doing this handwriting analysis. It is more common in Europe, FWIW.
I would take it as a clue that the company may operate at the whims of the owner. Decide if that’s the environment for you.
We require that apps be filled out on site and we usually do a little 5 minute say hi and let them see the place unless we are really swamped. It allows us A: to see if the person can read and write enough to fill out an application and to see if they can follow a few simple written instructions. Even something as trivial as picking book orders becomes a world class nightmare for people who cant read well. On many occasions prior to this policy, we have had apps that were beautifully filled out without a single stray penmark, only to find out later that the guys wife filled out apps for him because he couldn’t read.
I doubt the concept of personality analysis from handwriting. I have known some particularly smart and talented people with terrible handwriting. Perhaps the test is more about assesing simple grammer skills than the beauty of your writing.
Not so long ago I applied for a job in the real estate industry. After forwarding my resume, I was contacted and asked to come in to provide a handwriting sample that they would have analyzed. I was baffled at the request, but figured I’d do it just for the hell of it. I asked if I would be meeting with the President at the same time and his assistant told me “yes” because she didn’t want to waste my time coming down twice. We scheduled a time that fit into the Pres’ schedule.
I arrived and was told that something had come up with an important client and that the Pres wouldn’t be able to meet with me, but they’d like the handwriting sample. I was instructed to write about fifteen lines, it didnt matter what I wrote. I copied the cover letter that accompanied my resume.
After returning it to the Pres’ assistant, I asked what was next. She told me that they’d have their expert analyze my handwriting and would be in touch. I was contacted a few days later by e-mail and advised that the expert informed them that I would not be a good fit for the company and that they would not be scheduling an interview for me.
Which is probably a good thing, because I don’t think I would actually want to undergo the hypnotist, palm-reader, tarot reader, or success-dowser that may have come next.
Some people are just freakin’ nuts!
But I’d still like to know what the interpretation said!
Hand-writing analysis is the first logical suggestion I have heard to this phenomenon.
My own experience is that employers do this to see how patient you are with them. If you are willing to sit still long enough to fill out an application, that either means you are right for them, or you are dumb enough to think that filling out an application is going to make a difference (after submitting your resume) and they are not going to hire you.
My last bout with this phenomenon is with an engineering company, and I think they just wanted to see if thier candidates could write. I scanned the form into a PDF file and filled it out. I then dated it and signed it manually. No I did not get the job. But, if they are being foolish, I kinda don’t want to work for them in the first place.
Ficer67
this is why my company did it.
I can relate to the idea behind this, but if a company puts an ad in the paper…
It’s a self-defeating phenomenon