Their arrival will spell misery for those who hire, work alongside or in any way depend upon them.
These are the job candidates with the gift of the gab, who appear to network superbly and demonstrate the right connections, but lack any real ability. (It would be amazing to see what one of these charmers could accomplish if they ever decided to go straight, but they seldom seem to).
These are the guys and girls who possess what I call "the Charles factor" - my allusion to 17th Century English King Charles II, who though handsome and witty, "never said a foolish thing, nor ever did a wise one".
Okay, I'm a little cautious in bracketing charisma with narcissism, for as with the likes of Sir Winston Churchill, this quality can accompany greatness.
But with so many slick and plausible ning-nongs out there the interviewing panel better be on its guard.
Those who hire should regard charisma as a bonus rather than a qualification.
Look, having a charismatic sea captain at the wheel - tall, tan, popular and wearing a well pressed uniform - is all well and fine, but not if they steer your ship on to the rocks. And I wonder how often - all else being equal - those who get to take the wheel of a company, organisation or political party, are merely those who scrubbed up best on interview day.
Prime example: that dynamic US Republican Party presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina.
Ms Fiorina can debate her rivals into the ground, looks and sounds presidential and always appears to have done her homework.
But critics point out that her main claim to fame, which is having been a CEO at Hewlett-Packard, is controversial.
Her single great "achievement" there, the acquisition of Compaq, collapsed the stock value and left HP in a more difficult position.
Ms Fiorina's real agenda at HP seems to have been to build up her personal brand. While the stock value of the company was falling, she was organising appearances on breakfast TV shows worldwide. And why not, charismatic ning-nongs succeed primarily on appearance value and rhetorical skill. They'll tell you exactly what you want to hear - but given the reigns of power success will inevitably be short-lived.
We could blame them for savaging Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers . . .
But let's come closer to home, for New Zealand had one of worst offenders: I mean that infamous whale oil guy.
No, not blogger Cameron Slater - the whale oil guy I refer to is merchant adventurer Charles Enderby (1798-1876).
In one way, Enderby's achievement in leading so many people astray seems impressive.
He led about 300 souls out into the wilderness, wasted about $30 million in today's money and almost singlehandedly destroyed what was then left of the once-thriving British whaling industry.
Enderby was well-connected and persuasive. Insisting there were great riches for the taking, he persuaded the British Government to add a new colony to its Empire.
"Hardwicke" would be built 700km south of Invercargill, on dreary Auckland Island. But there was so much whale oil to be harvested that the place would soon boom, Enderby assured.
It was even to have become the head quarters for a global whaling operation - but stocks of southern whales had already been decimated.
In nearly three years only a handful of whales were caught and the disgruntled folk of Hardwicke quit in disgust, taking off to try their luck on the Australian goldfields.
Hardwicke was dismantled - including Enderby's flash governor's house - and shipped back to Sydney. Today there's just a lonely graveyard, where some met an early end due to hardships of the venture.
A few eco-tourists trudge to the cemetery to gaze at it in wonder.
For aside from some deserts or active volcanoes, there couldn't be a worse place to establish a colony.
The Hardwicke fiasco wasn't entirely wasted though. It demonstrated the destruction that can ensue when a deluded but dominant personality is allowed to work their will upon others.
The story should be assigned to all who study recruitment - a reminder of what can happen when a charismatic ning-nong gets the job.
