I once presented an incredibly gifted analytical candidate to one of my marketing clients for their data opening. From a skills perspective, this candidate was perfect. So I was surprised when the group let me know they decided to pass. Of course, I immediately called my contact and asked for feedback.
“Well,” my contact was clearly trying to think of the best way to describe why she closed my candidate, “When we were walking back to my office to start the interview, I could hear crickets.”
My client then proceeded to explain that this candidate was so quiet there was no small talk to start or banter in-between questions. She was all business, and while my client thought that was great from a skills perspective, she knew that this type of personality wouldn’t fit in well with the group. “She’d get mowed over,” my client explained.
Personality fit is important because you want to get hired somewhere where you’ll succeed (I did end up placing this candidate at the same company, just in another, clearly quieter department).
Personality fit is something that typically comes up right at the start of the interview – in this case, in the small talk (or lack thereof) on the way into the interview. The way you make eye contact, shake hands (pre-Covid, of course), talk about how your week is going…all of these seemingly small details loom large. They help you build rapport, and rapport matters. After all, people hire people, and people want to hire people they like. Before you even speak a word, the interview has already started.
I know that rapport and likeability are important to employers because I have evaluated thousands of candidates in my 20+ years of recruiting, and I know what gets people hired. I share what works and doesn’t work in Behind The Scenes In The Hiring Process, my online course with 48 video lessons on all aspects of the job search – from identifying what you want to negotiating and closing the offer.
