Hiring Introverted Candidates

Hands up. I'm a bit of an introvert. Yes, you'll see me doing the odd video here and there, but I REALLY HATE DOING IT.

The modern world forces us to become extroverts. Or at the very least, to imitate the behaviour of extroverts.

We judge people on their presentation skills, their hustle, their schmoozing ability - and while we don't always intend to do this, we value it more than the substance that you can get from an introvert.

Compare, for instance, Boris Johnson with, well, with literally anyone.

Last year, we interviewed a clutch of very bright graduates. But when we asked them to record a video as part of the application process, we lost 9 in 10 candidates. They simply disappeared. Ghosted us.

In hindsight, it's obvious - we were interviewing introverts with an extrovert methodology.

The ones who were happy to record the videos were extroverted. Those who were happy to be on camera, who were comfortable talking to their computer screen, they were the ones who excelled in the process.

But did that make them better marketers?

Interviewing candidates is a minefield of biases. We've spoken before about pretty privilege, or the perils associated with being pretty - but the introvert/extrovert topic is an absolute minefield because if you're like me, you'll display extrovert tendencies to a degree, but the reality is that you're an introvert.

It's hard for an interviewer to uncover if you're pretending.

Extrovert behaviours dominate the workplace. You see it with the proliferation of zoom meetings (other conference call facilities are available) and the blocking out of calendars. Imagine the delight of an extravert at seeing the calendar blocked out.

Now imagine the horror of an introvert at seeing a meeting sitting right in the middle of the afternoon. Quiet time. Work time.

Introverts work differently, and they interview differently.

This, potentially, is where character assessments have a serious role to play. Even before carrying out an interview.

We have a PR client who swears by them, largely because they want extroverts who can rub shoulders at red carpet events and schmooze people. An introvert might interview well, but put them on an actual red carpet, and they freeze. No wallflowers.

But there are other roles that require some introspection. They don't require spending your Monday evenings at Leicester Square in your finest.

Knowing in advance that you're interviewing an introvert can help you better understand the person in front of you. And it can make you think twice when an extrovert comes across as extremely confident.

As always, it's about who is best for the role, not who performs best at the interview, and the role of interviewer is to dig beneath the facade and assess whether this person is going to be a high performer or not. If you don't need to be a confident presenter, why should you be judged on how you come across?

Equally, putting an introvert into a team full of extroverts is likely going to be a recipe for disaster. Do you know enough about your current team to have the confidence to say this person or that person is going to work well with them?

That's where the behavioural recruitment kicks in and you have to make considered decisions based not just on vibes and feel, but what lies beneath. The substance.

B

T