New Leicester manager Claude Puel

Jamie Vardy opened the scoring with his first goal in five games

New Leicester manager Claude Puel said that victory over managerless Everton was the "perfect" way to begin his spell in charge.

The former Southampton boss, appointed on Wednesday to replace the sacked Craig Shakespeare, saw Jamie Vardy finish a sweeping counter-attack and Demarai Gray benefit from a Jonjoe Kenny slice into his own net.

"I saw a team in Leicester with a good attitude, a good structure and a lot of solidarity," said the Frenchman, whose team climbed to 11th in the Premier League.

"I was impressed with my players. I hope it's just the beginning of something."

Everton, under caretaker David Unsworth after Ronald Koeman's sacking on Monday, remain in the bottom three.

• Analysis: Why Unsworth should get the Everton job - Phil Neville

They were largely restricted to long-range efforts, but probably should have had a penalty when Christian Fuchs brought down Aaron Lennon soon after Leicester's second goal.

Though Everton dominated the second half, a lack of incision was indicative of a team that has scored only seven league goals this season and are winless in seven games in all competitions.

Leicester, meanwhile, have staged a turnaround since a run of six league games without a win cost Shakespeare his job.

The 2015-16 Premier League champions have now won three in a row in the top flight and Carabao Cup - two under caretaker boss Michael Appleton and this maiden success for Puel.

New top dog, old tricks

The average positions of Everton (on the right) show how they pushed Leicester back, but still could not find a way through

Though Puel guided Southampton to the EFL Cup final last season, his appointment was greeted by derision in some quarters, especially after the Saints managed just 41 league goals last season.

In claiming victory on his bow at the King Power Stadium, Puel saw his Leicester side employ the method that brought them a shock title success little more than a year ago.

Everton had more of the ball, spent more time in the Leicester half and had more players in advanced positions - and yet the home side had the greater threat going forward, especially through their trademark counter-attacks.

Gray, in his his first league start for a month, was excellent, and it was his electrifying pace that created Leicester's first goal.

An Everton free-kick was headed clear, with Gray collecting the ball deep in his own half. He evaded three challenges and fed Riyad Mahrez, whose cross was finished at the back post by Vardy.

Puel pleased with 'perfect' Foxes start

The second goal was tinged with fortune as Gray's cross-shot from the left was sliced past Everton keeper Jordan Pickford by the unlucky Kenny.

The home side were under pressure for most of the rest of the contest, but a back four led by Wes Morgan rarely looked like being breached.

"I was impressed because we played very well first half with good relationships between the players and it was a fantastic first goal," added Puel.

"It was a little more difficult in the second half because Everton are a very good team and they tried to come back into the game.

"It's a very good result and I also wanted to thank the fantastic fans for their warm welcome and superb atmosphere."

A big job for someone

Everton had 16 efforts on goal, but only two on target

Unsworth has stated his desire to be given the reins at Goodison Park full-time and he stamped his mark on the Toffees by relegating £45m summer signing Gylfi Sigurdsson to the bench and giving first league starts of the season to wingers Lennon and Kevin Mirallas.

The early problems, though, were at the back, as the central defensive partnership of Phil Jagielka and Ashley Williams, with a combined age of 68, were exposed by Leicester's pace.

At the other end, Lennon twice found space down the right - he probably should have taken a shot at goal instead of passing to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who missed his kick, and was unfortunate not to win a penalty when Fuchs' challenge failed to make any contact with the ball.

Mirallas also had two efforts on goal, so it was surprising when both wide men were hauled off at half-time, with Oumar Niasse joining Calvert-Lewin in attack.

In Argentina, it’s common for job candidates to see a psychologist as part of the hiring process

When I walked into the psychologist’s office early on a Monday morning in September last year, I was so nervous I could feel the sweat on my palms. I had just passed an interview and writing test for a copywriter role at an advertising company in Buenos Aires, but there was just one final exam: the HR department had sent me for a full physical and psychological evaluation.

In my case, the medical procedure included blood tests (to check blood sugar and haemoglobin), a urine sample, an electrocardiogram (to test for signs of heart disease), a chest X-ray and a vision test. A physical examination is a legal requirement for candidates in Argentina, designed to protect employees from workplace accidents and illnesses.

The psicotécnico included a Rorschach inkblot test and a test which involves drawing a person standing in the rain

Then it was off to the psychologist’s office, which turned out to be the living room of his small apartment, to begin the “psicotécnico” – an evaluation specifically for work purposes, usually for hiring or promotions.

With roots in psychoanalysis, the psicotécnico included a Rorschach inkblot test and what is called the “persona bajo la lluvia,” a test which involves drawing a person standing in the rain. Every aspect of the drawing is examined to create a psychological profile: size, placement on the page, pen pressure, the way the lines are drawn, even the time it takes to finish.

After passing the interviews and acing the written tests, job candidates in Argentina are often expected to undergo full physical and psychological evaluations (Credit: Alamy)

A drawing that’s too small is supposed to indicate shyness and introversion; a large drawing might indicate that someone is a show-off; an oversized drawing, sometimes creeping onto a second piece of paper, could indicate megalomania and delusions of grandeur. If the rain is shaped like teardrops, it’s meant to indicate anxiety.

Friends had warned me that it was important to draw an umbrella, to make sure my character’s face was visible, and most of all to draw the ground. With my stick-figure talents I tried my best to make my character as compelling as possible, but the end result still looked like a smiling piece of spaghetti.

I wasn’t sure how discussing my parents’ divorce and interpreting a few ink blots could predict my future success as a copywriter

The tests continued for 45 minutes. I was asked to complete short sentences about myself, to draw abstract shapes and describe what they represented, and complete a simple maths test. The psychologist asked some very personal questions about my life and my family. I tried not to let my scepticism show, but I wasn’t sure how discussing my parents’ divorce and interpreting a few ink blots could predict my future success as a copywriter.

I left the building with a burning curiosity to know what my doodles said about my personality. But by law my company can’t tell me my results, so my neuroses will remain a mystery to me.

Right as rain?

As an expat, this was a completely foreign process. But comprehensive physical and psychological tests are standard practice during the hiring process in Argentina and in much of Latin America, even for jobs that aren’t physically demanding or for upper management positions.

Comprehensive physical and psychological tests are standard practice during the hiring process in Argentina and in much of Latin America

While there are few statistics on exactly how many companies use it, a 2011 study into the most common selection tests in Argentina found the ‘person under the rain’ test was used 24.6% of the time, and the Rorschach test 13.8%.

How a candidate draws the 'person in the rain' is meant to provide insight into their personality – but no studies prove it works (Credit: Getty Images)

This process assesses whether you will be good at your future job and a good fit for the company, says Argentine psychologist and human resources consultant Carla Bafico.

“The ‘person in the rain’ test measures how a person deals with something unexpected,” says Bafico. “Or how they deal with the pressures in their surroundings.” The rain is meant to represent external pressure, and the way the character is drawn gives the psychologist clues on how the candidate will react when facing adversity.

Bafico says such psychological evaluationsdo provide companies with useful insights into candidates’ personalities, but not all experts agree.

There have never been studies that prove that the person who will draw ground will really be a grounded person – Sophia Stockinger

“The problem is there have never been studies that prove that the person who will draw ground will really be a grounded person,” says Sophia Stockinger, a German occupational psychologist who has worked in recruitment across Europe and Latin America.

Stockinger also dismisses Rorschach tests and almost every other test my psychologist gave me. “The Rorschach test has not been designed to assess people in a work context,” she says. She says most of the tests Argentina uses have not been proven effective for hiring – a fact that hasn’t stopped many Argentine recruiters.

A psychologist discusses a patient's interpretation of an inkblot, a psychoanalytical method known as a Rorschach test (Credit: Getty Images)

“They’re useful,” says Regina Moirano, co-founder of recruitment firm COUL. Moirano says every client asks for psychological evaluations, and the psicotécnico is used as an additional tool at the end of the hiring process to complete the candidate’s profile. “It’s a tool that our clients value.”

The popularity stems from a heavy emphasis Argentinians place on psychoanalysis, which is not used as much anymore in Europe or the US.

Stockinger says different countries put greater emphasis on different types of testing for their employees. Germany, the US and some Northern European countries, among others, tend to favour aptitude tests and conduct studies on whether their tests are effective, whereas many companies in Latin America, Spain, Italy, Greece and France still rely on personality tests and “soft science” assessments.

Argentina is far from the only country with unusual recruitment tests, however.

The writing’s on the wall

In France, handwriting experts called graphologists sometimes analyse a candidate’s handwriting.

Sylvie Chermet-Carroy, a graphologist for more than 35 years, says “a graphological study will determine different aspects of the personality, whether it be their sociability, the type of communication they use [or] what kind of intelligence they have”. To determine this, they look at everything from handwriting pressure and writing speed to inclination and regularity.

The most recent independent study was in 1991, and found 91% of public and private organisations in France had used handwriting analysis

It’s hard to determine exactly how many companies use graphology today – the most recent independent study was in 1991, and found 91% of public and private organisations in France had used handwriting analysis. Today, graphologists claim that 50 to 60% of French companies have used graphological testing to evaluate candidates.

While there's no evidence that graphology accurately evaluates a person's character, it's still used in France (Credit: Getty Images)

It seems a lot, but Bertram Durand, director of recruitment firm CNPG Conseil, says the proportion could be higher – he estimates 70% to 80% of companies still use graphology to evaluate candidates.

He says graphology is less common now because people are more likely to apply for jobs with email rather than handwritten letters, so there are fewer writing samples available.

"But it remains an important tool in the decision-making process." 

Chermet-Carroy is adamant that graphology works, but admits that to her knowledge there are no studies that prove its effectiveness. In fact, multiple studies from the 1990s onwards have found that graphology is not a reliable tool to predict job success or intuit a candidate’s personality. The French Ministry of Labour even likens graphology to astrology, and states on its website that while neither of these hiring practices is illegal, “their scientific validity is largely debated.”

One among thousands

While not leaning as much on psychoanalysis, the recruitment market in China relies heavily on unique aptitude and intelligence tests, according to Vincent Van de Belt, Hong Kong-based head of third party channels at Cubiks, a global human resources company.

China stands out for its high-volume recruitment. Thousands of people can apply for a single job, so these tests – designed to sift out all but the strongest candidates – also need to be much more difficult than in other countries, Van de Belt says.

Firms can test thousands of applicants in the first hiring round, often online, allowing them to weed out unsuitable applicants without taking too much time or effort.

As technology gets more sophisticated, it will begin to play a bigger role in this weeding-out process. Some companies are already exploring alternative options to select candidates: in 2015 L’Oreal China chose to forgo CVs in the first round of hiring, and instead asked candidates to answer three questions by video on their website. They used a computer program to analyse the results and select the top 500 candidates for a Skype interview.

Are there common features in the faces of a country’s leaders?

Turkish-born artist Guney Soykan grew up in a home where politics and news were always present. His project Face of a Nation is a visual reflection on the volatile political situation of his native country and on the global representations of power.

Soykan creates portraits of diferent nations based on images of their leaders of the last 50 years. He used Google to find the most iconic portraits, he then splices them up and puts them together to create a composite portrait of countries like Turkey, US or North Korea.

The result are striking images that raise questions on gender, race and representations in power.

United States (Credit: Guney Soykan)

What’s the process behind your project?

The starting point for every image was curiosity: is there a story hidden in the face of that nation?

With this project I was trying to explore how different nations approach their leaders and democracy. So I’m interested in seeing different stories, unusual rhythms in the leadership timeline of the countries. That’s why I tried not only to pick the nations on the spotlight, but also the nations that are very different when it comes to view of leadership.

I tried to use the official portraits in most cases but that wasn’t always possible. The internet was my main data source for this project so when I didn’t have access to the official photo, I tried to pick the most common photo of the leader. I believe this gives a new perspective to the project, namely the way that leaders of the nations are represented in today’s world.

Cuba (Credit: Guney Soykan)

What was the motivation to create this project?

My father is a local politician, so I grew up in an apartment in which the news programs were always on. This made me build an interest towards politics. Seeing the strategy and communication levels in it grew my awareness even more over the years.

So when I came up with this idea, I was curious to see how the faces are going to look like. I wondered if the portraits will tell stories of the nations.

Have the changes in Turkey’s democracy been part of that preoccupation about the topic? If so, how?

The starting point of the idea was the November 1, 2015 elections in Turkey. The results were a shocking surprise for the opposition. Besides all of the controversy surrounding government actions, Erdogan and his AK Party won the election again, and by a major landslide. I believe that even the winners were not expecting such a victory.

I was trying to understand the reasons behind the results. One of the things I realised was that voting behaviour is very emotional; the elected leaders are a reflection of their society.And to me, that reflection is not only about the ideas, but also about the personality of the leader. I believe that people tend to vote for leaders with whom they can identify.

So I thought, if I bring together all the elected political leader portraits in a timeline, that face will be a historical reflection of that country. This visual data might be helpful to perceive how the society has evolved over the decades. This is how the Face of a Nation project was born.

North Korea (Credit: Guney Soykan)

What have been the most surprising findings in this process?

It was interesting to see big political shifts or major instabilities that shed light on the current political landscape, and I was surprised to see how the physical attributes of the leaders give away hints about the politics of the countries.

For example, you see a portrait of a man who is half-white, half-black in the face of South Africa, signaling a major turn in the political tide. After all those years of being governed by white people, the majority of the country got power and changed the face of their country dramatically.

Turkey is a good example of seeing how the past affects the present. The politically instable history of my country strikes you as soon as you see the image. Because of constant political volatility, many past leaders didn’t get the chance to create an iconic image of themselves. That’s why finding some of the portraits for this image was a difficult task.

Italy (Credit: Guney Soykan)

How have the people of their respective countries reacted?

I had the chance to talk some people. Italy’s face is made of 19 leaders and they are aware of the unstable flow in their political scene. But when they see the difference side by side with other nations, it becomes very surprising for them.

My Turkish friends don’t like the face they see in Turkey. But these are all very liberal, left wing people and Turkey is always ruled by the right wing so I can’t blame them.

And a few friends told me that they find the face of France very attractive.

Germany (Credit: Guney Soykan)

From your experience in design and publicity agencies, how do you feel the face affect the way we perceive leaders?

If you look at politics through the eyes of an advertising professional, I think it’s fair to say that every politician is a product. Every single thing he or she says and does shapes this product. The face is the packaging of the product. It’s makes you decide if you want to see more or not. The face is the start of political communication.

When I was working on Face of a Nation, it was very surprising to find so many signs of political communication in the portraits of leaders. For example, the official presidential photos released by the White House are always the same — facing to the right and smiling at camera. These are friendly, politically correct photos. Meanwhile, Russian leaders have always been portrayed in a very serious and powerful pose; their main aim is to create the image of a strong leader. I think these two examples reflect a lot about the way politics is done publicly in those countries.

Another interesting example was North Korea. It was almost too easy to put together the faces of the North Korean leaders. Not only because there are only three and they are all part of the same family lineage, but also their most popular portraits are almost identical. They are all portrayed from the same angle, wearing the same glasses and with a very similar haircut. North Korean propaganda leaves no room for doubt that the ideology of their first leader Kim Il-sung continues throughout his successors.

Turkey (Credit: Guney Soykan)

Unlike North Korea, Italy has had the most leaders and changes in power of all the images so far. You can actually see the political instability. However, the really fascinating thing is that the image is still strangely homogenous when you look at it. It’s interesting to try to work out why that is. Are Italian voters drawn to a certain political “look?” Or are the physical commonalities of the Italian leaders merely coincidence? 

Also, almost all the Italian leaders are wearing eyeglasses, which helps the image look uniform. It makes you wonder why so many Italian leaders are photographed with eyeglasses. Is it a communication strategy? Perhaps the idea is that a person who wears eyeglasses may have more authority and look more intelligent. 

France (Credit: Guney Soykan)

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Argentinian artist Alejandro Almaraz uses the overlay image technique to create haunting composite portraits that show a consistency in the official representation of power through the times. This is specially present in the All Presidents of the Democratic Republic of North Korea 1972-2008. On the other hand, Ms Thatcher’s pearl collar in All the Prime Ministers Appointed by Elizabeth II (1952-2008) is an exception.

He uses as few as four or as many as 40 official portraits to create the composite. The result are ghostly portrait that show the history of nations and the way their leaders chose to be represented, following the pictorial tradition also used by previous leaders.

All the Prime Ministers appointed under Elizabeth II (1952 to 2008) (Credit: Alejandro Almaraz)

What’s the process behind your project?

My project Portraits of Power takes inspiration and uses the principles of the process of overlapping images was a development in late 1800s by a British scientist. His name was Sir. Francis Galton, known as the father of eugenics. In 1880 and at the request of a collaborator, Galton began to make a series of portraits composed by a large number of overlapping negatives. These portraits tried to register differences and similarities between different social groups.

For my project I use the same principles, but I’m more interested in analysing the way each country, in a precise period of time, use images to present to their people.

All the Prime Ministers of the Empire of Japan, Shōwa period (1926 to 1947) (Credit: Alejandro Almaraz)

What was the motivation to create this project?

I believe we are living in an era where the images are the main tool to produce meaning. My work tries to create a place to think about the relationships between images and things, images and reality. I chose to work with portraits of country leaders because they depict the moment where power depicts itself. My intention is to try to think about how each country in each period of time use images to present itself.

All the Presidents of the United States of America from 1960 to 2008 (Credit: Alejandro Almaraz)

Your project uses painted and photographed portraits. How does your work sit in the portraiture tradition?

This question is really interesting. In my series I don’t make a difference between painted portraits or photography. If you look at All American Presidents from 1789 to 1889, 2008 a big portion of the images that compose are painted portraits. In my opinion images are not just photographs. Since ancient times both painting and monuments erected around a political figure, a king, emperor or pharaoh in most cases aim to perpetuate in the collective imagination, endure and sustain a particular political social system. But I think the most interesting point is to think that images are not synonymous with truth. They are a construction. And I think this is where we have to generate a critical conscience.

All the Presidents of the United States of America from 1789 to 1889 (Credit: Alejandro Almaraz)

In the process of producing the work, have you noticed any kind of trend in the faces of power from the older portraits you work with to today?

Yes, I found that World War Two meant a big change in the way each country depicts their leaders. Colour photography appears, smiles, eyes looking to the camera. It’s a moment the main aesthetic currents of the classical portrait are abandoned in favor of a simpler, less heroic way to present. 

All the leaders of the Soviet Union (1917 to 1991) (Credit: Alejandro Almaraz)

Are there any other surprising findings in the process of creating the project?

I’ve come across many interesting things. For example, how communist countries present their leaders compared to Western democracies. They are were amongst the first to start using colour. Also, most subjects are looking straight to the camera. Something that you don't find in other contemporary non-communist countries.

All the Presidents of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 1972 to 2008 (Credit: Alejandro Almaraz)

How do you think the faces affect people when choosing their political leader?

I think nowaday people prefer a more natural pose. I think people find it easier to empathise with portraits that looks closer to the everyday life and regular person, someone they can relate to.

All the Presidents of Argentina from 1826 to 1892 (Credit: Alejandro Almaraz)

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To find out what the average American politician looks like, BBC Future commissioned a composite face, which is a blend of all US Senators and House representatives. Click here to discover what it looks like, and what it says about US political representation in 2017.

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