Personality Hire: Identify the Right Talent Like a Pro

It costs the average company over $4700 and more than a month to fill a single empty job position. [1] Over 76% of recruiters admit that attracting the right talent is one of their greatest struggles. The solution may lie in switching up your strategy to favor personality hires. This is a hiring strategy that focuses on the candidates’ personality traits, attitudes, and behaviors rather than their skills, qualifications, and credentials. But how should you work around it? Let’s dive in…

Why Personality Hires Are Important

Focusing on personality hires helps you build a strong and cohesive culture that prioritizes engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction among your employees. Plus, by bringing diverse personalities, perspectives, and ideas to your team, personality hire also fosters innovation and creativity in your organization. That’s not all, with a solid personality hire, you’ll be able to avoid mistakes along the recruitment process and attract dedicated candidates who resonate with your values and are ready to give it all to your company.

Getting to Know Candidates’ Personalities

Personality hiring can be tricky because a personality is not something that can be easily observed or verified. Candidates may try to present themselves in a favorable light or hide some aspects of their personalities that they think may hurt their chances of getting hired. So, you need to use some strategies and techniques to get the candidates to reveal their true personalities during the hiring process.

Here are some ways you can get the candidates to show their personalities:

• Use personality assessments: Personality assessments are tools that measure and evaluate the candidates’ personality traits, preferences, and styles. They can help you gain some insights into the candidates’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges. You can use various types of personality assessments such as self-report questionnaires, behavioral tests, situational judgment tests, or gamified assessments. However, you should be careful not to rely solely on these assessments as they may not be fully accurate or reliable. You should also use them in conjunction with other methods and sources of information.
• To achieve this, starting off with a pool of candidates who match the right skillset required is a must. You can do this by shortlisting candidates based on their skills and their match with your job opening by utilizing Manatal’s AI Recommendations and Candidate Enrichment features to get the best matching applicants for your personality assessments.

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• Use simulations: Simulations are exercises that mimic the real-life scenarios and tasks that the candidates will face in the role. They can help you observe how the candidates behave and perform in a realistic and relevant context. You can use various types of simulations such as role plays, case studies, presentations, or group discussions. However, you should be careful not to make the simulations too stressful or unrealistic as they may not reflect the candidates’ true potential or personality. You should also use them in conjunction with other methods and sources of information.
• Use interactions: Interactions are opportunities that allow you to communicate and connect with the candidates on a personal level. They can help you get to know the candidates beyond their resumes and assessments. You can use various types of interactions such as interviews, informal chats, social events, or feedback sessions. However, you should be careful not to judge candidates based on superficial or biased impressions or opinions. You should also use them in conjunction with other methods and sources of information.

6 Interview Questions for Personality Hire

Aside from solid strategies, it’s also important to know exactly what to ask candidates when comes to personality hire. Here are 6 interview questions that can help reveal candidates’ personalities.

1. Do you prefer to work independently or as part of a team?

Depending on the nature of the role and your culture, you may look for candidates who are self-motivated and autonomous, or who are cooperative and team-oriented or the ones who can adapt to both situations. You can gauge a candidate's preference for collaboration and teamwork with this question.

2. How do you define success?

You want to hire candidates who share your company’s vision and mission, and who are driven by the same or similar metrics and outcomes. You definitely don’t want to bring in candidates who have unrealistic or misaligned definitions of success. So, use this question to determine candidates’ values, motivation, and what they consider important in their professional lives.

3. How do you handle negative feedback?

Handling negative feedback is a crucial skill in any professional setting. Assess a candidate's ability to receive and respond to criticism constructively with this question. Their response will give insight into their openness to growth and improvement, as well as their emotional intelligence.

4. What drives you in your professional life?

Understanding a candidate's motivation and what drives them professionally is important for assessing their suitability for the position. Use this question to uncover their passion and desire for growth and success. It helps determine if they have a genuine interest in the role and if their aspirations align with your company’s values and goals or not.

5. What is your process of tackling problems?

Problem-solving skills are essential in any work setting. This question allows you to evaluate candidates' critical thinking abilities and problem-solving strategies. Their response will give you insights into their analytical skills, creativity, and ability to handle challenging situations.

6. Are you big-picture-oriented or detail-oriented?

Being big-picture-oriented is crucial for setting strategic goals and developing long-term plans while being detail-oriented is important for ensuring accuracy and precision in tasks. Depending on the nature of the role, one trait may be more valuable than the other. This question helps you determine candidates’ perspectives, focus, and attention to detail.

Skills vs. Personality Hire

Hiring for skills and hiring for personality are not mutually exclusive. You still need to assess the candidates’ abilities and competencies to perform the tasks and responsibilities of the role. However, skills are not the only thing that matters. Personality can also play a significant role in determining how well someone will perform in a given situation.

Here is a comparison table between hiring for skills and hiring for personality:

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As you can see, hiring for skills and hiring for personality have different advantages and disadvantages. Hiring for skills can help you ensure that the candidates have the necessary knowledge and expertise to do the job. However, it can also limit your talent pool and overlook some hidden gems who may not have the exact skills you are looking for, but have the potential to learn and grow.

Hiring for personality can help you expand your talent pool and discover some amazing candidates who may not have the most impressive resumes, but have the right mindset and attitude to succeed in your organization.

Conclusion

In today's competitive job market, it has never been more important to make wise hiring choices. By assessing personality traits and compatibility with company culture, personality hire can help you make informed decisions about potential hires, ensuring a higher likelihood of successful and long-term employment.

Citations:

1. LinkedIn

2. LinkedIn