Jarir Mallah was floored when a candidate recently turned down a job offer – because they learned their direct supervisor was an Aries.
‘Apparently Aries are abrupt, rude and overbearing,’ Jarir, a human resources manager at the language app Ling, tells Metro.co.uk.
Jarir found it ‘odd’ when the candidate asked for the birthdays of the recruiting panel and things only went downhill from there.
‘Her face dropped at hearing her potential manager’s birthday and from there it was pretty much a flat ‘no’ on taking the position,’ he says. ‘I followed up afterwards; she’d had horrible experiences with Aries supervisors in the past and would never work under one again.’
Jarir thinks it was a lucky escape on their part: ‘How could someone let the zodiac dictate their life like that?’ he says.
‘This actually gave me more insights into the Virgo candidate and how they would (or really wouldn’t) fit into our open company culture!’
The anecdote isn’t as unusual as you may think. In research for my book, The Psychic Tests, I was looking for UK workplaces which had been infiltrated by the woo woo. Little did I know it’d happened, secretly, in my very own backyard.
My former boss, who managed me in the media office of a major UK children’s charity, admitted there was every chance I’d never have been hired if I wasn’t ‘such a well-balanced Libra’.
She confessed to me that when she has two candidates of equal ability and experience, she recruits based on star sign compatibility with other team members. And of course, all the information is freely available on my CV, where I’d put my date of birth.
Successful, sometimes secular, smart people are letting these beliefs inform their professional practices.
Coralie Rose owns her own London based casting company, Road Casting, and if Mercury is in retrograde, she’ll adopt her working day accordingly.
‘That’s when I triple check everything, or if it’s a contract, I might even put off signing it till another day,’ she tells Metro. ‘It’s the time when there could be errors or tech issues.’
This is because, according to the zodiac, Mercury is the sign of communication and when it goes backwards, things can go wrong.
It could also be a positive time for old clients to return. ‘It’s all about revisiting – so that could be revisiting something many times to check for errors, or an old lover or client returning to you,’ Coralie says.
Numerology also has an influence over her work. She uses it for planning, forecasting – and even changing when she celebrates her company anniversary.
‘My company’s tenth birthday was in 2023, but I consulted my numerologist who said it was better to postpone celebrating the anniversary till 2024 because it’s an eight year (the numbers add to eight) – and eight is a better number for business success.’
She uses similar mystic beliefs when deciding whether to take on new business clients. ‘If I haven’t worked with them before, I might total up the letters to discover what number it is, and see if we align,’ she says.
If it’s the start of a new moon cycle, she’ll write down her company goals to manifest them whilst simultaneously ‘letting go of any disappointment or noise that’s built up, such as no longer being jealous of a competitor.’
Alongside her numerologist, Michael, she employs the services of a US-based astrologer, Gina, who she consults monthly.
And for those casting assistants and directors who work for her who don’t get it? ‘If that’s the case, they tend to ignore it or not ask questions,’ she says. ‘I don’t force anyone to do it. It’s just an invitation. It gives me a little more information, more data.’
Being guided by the zodiac in business is nothing new. Madonna famously invited DJ David Guetta to lunch because she wanted him to produce her next album after the success of her 2009 single Revolver.
Lunch was going well – until Guetta revealed his star sign: Scorpio. At this, Madonna made a face. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘We’re not going to be able to work together. It was a pleasure to meet you. Goodbye.’
And in 2009, The Salzburg insurance company posted an advert in major newspapers which read: ‘We’re looking for people over 20 for part-time jobs in sales and management with the following star signs: Capricorn, Taurus, Aquarius, Aries and Leo.’
The company said that this decision was based on ‘statistical research,’ not superstition. It proved that the company’s best employees across the country belonged to these star signs.
The Austrian authorities finally ruled in favour of the company and termed it as lawful according to existing workplace discrimination laws.
But the concept does seem to be gaining a wider, younger audience as Gen Z continues to challenge the way we work.
British communications professional Nicola Britton was working at a PR agency and managing a young team when she first noticed the astrology irruption.
‘I started noticing many of these young team members I was managing heavily relied on star signs, and specifically, star sign apps, to guide the way they lived their daily lives,’ she tells Metro.
One ‘very intelligent, ambitious’ account manager Nicola managed was coming up to her annual review. It was slated for around mid week.
‘She asked to nudge it back to the end of the week because there was something significant about her star sign and the alignment of the stars meaning Wednesday was a very bad day for her appraisal,’ Nicola says.
Nicola declined the request. ‘She became very upset and suggested I wasn’t taking seriously her cultural preferences,’ Nicola says. ‘But you have to draw the line somewhere.’
Recruiting by star sign is completely legal
Victoria Brockley, partner at law firm Laytons ETL, says such practices in the UK are completely lawful. ‘Using a star sign to match job applicants isn’t technically unlawful because star signs and astrology are not protected characteristics under the Equality Act,’ she says. ‘There could, therefore, be no discrimination arising from choosing candidates in this way.’
Jim Moore, HR consultant at Hamilton Nash, says the practice may be legal, but it comes with heavy reputational damage risk. ‘If you’re hiring team members based on the movements of Mars and Jupiter, you’re clearly talking out of Uranus.’
Another very senior new business manager chased new business on certain days according to star sign alignment, Nicola says. It baffled and bemused her and despite the rising popularity, she remains unconverted.
‘Honestly, I think it’s batshit!’ Nicola admits. ‘It fascinates me the weight people put behind it.’
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