35 - Sunday, July 29, 1990 - North Shore Ramona Beauchamp profile PAGE 40 Local graphologist claims writing reveals character A RESUME and an interview are the only things an employer has to work with when assessing job applicants. But in many instances, resumes and interviews paint only a partial picture of of the applicant and his personality. And this can be a problem for the employer because it can be ex- tremely costly if he hires the wrong person for the job. Enter graphologist Renate Grif- fiths. She maintains that she can tell an employer if a certain applicant is wrong for the job simply by looking at the applicant’s hand- writing, which says Griffiths, reveals a lot about person. Griffiths, who works out of her West Vancouver home, teaches, lectures and counsels on the sub- ject of handwriting. She is also retained by several major corporations who use Grif- fiths and her handwriting analysis when deciding to hire people. They have the applicant write out two pages of what their earli- est memories of their childhood are like. Then they hand the copy over to Griffths whc, with an eagle eye, examines the handwrit- ing and the writer’s personality. ‘%v’s (handwriting analysis) ex- tremely valuable in business. For employers it could be an _ in- valuable tool,’’ says Griffiths. ‘‘It shows the boss how this person is going to fit into the group. It JRA 's Reporter avoids the pitfalls of having someone disrupt the group.*’ Griffiths says that handwriting is actually ‘‘brain writing’? and helps people to understand themselves better. It also reveals the early developmental tendencies a@ person has had and whether that person will go back to those tendencies during a crisis. While Griffiths primarily deals with business, she has also been called upon to testify as an expert witness in court cases 10 prove whether signatures are authentic. One of the more high-profile cases she worked on was the Knight Street Pub affair, where she examined and testified on people's signatures. Griffiths also offers individual counselling and works for a graphology company in Stockholm, Sweden. The company employs five handwriting experts around the world. Handwriting samples and per- sonality profiles are faxed back and forth between the company and its graphologists. While Griffiths says she usually needs at least two pages of a handwriting sample to make a personality profile, she mentions one case in which she described a person’s personality perfectly from five lines of writing. “They (Stockhoim company) faxed me a man’s handwriting and it was only five lines. | looked at it and wrote back that there could be a possibility of minimal brain damage, that this man could possibly stutter, that he could possibly be a recluse and that he’s prone to violent outbursts and must have had a very disruptive childhood.** “They wrote me back and said T hit the nail right on the head. It turns out this man’s father used to beat him as a child and that he was a recluse who always kept to himself and had no friends and when they listened closely they found out he did stutter,"" says Griffiths, ‘tAll of this was just over the fax and I thought it was just amazing. They (company) were so fascinated by this that they want me to come to Stockholm to give a lecture.”’ On Tuesday, Griffiths, who along with her husband, runs Griffiths and Associates, will give a lecture on handwriting in Detroit. And from Oct. 9 to Nov. 27 she will be offering a class on hand- writing. Anyone wishing to enrol should call Griffiths at 926-6068. ® car and truck rental FIRST DAY FREE! SUB COMPACT THROUGH FULL SIZE CARS 3 Day minimum, regular car rate. Drop by for free doughnuts and coffee, Monday July 30/90 and meet our new manager Mr Don Frantz Budget == SEARS: 1507 MAIN ST. Offer expires August 3/90 & is available at this location only. NEWS photo ‘Stuart Davis RENATE GRIFFITHS examines a client’s handwriting. The West Van- couver graphologist says a person's handwriting can reveal a wide range of characteristics about 2 person. Car & Truck Rental 980-6114