Hire Top Talent

This article triggered my thinking again of why introverts have so much trouble "winning" a job interview. I wrote an article a number of years ago titled "Why Introverts Are Doomed to Fail in the Interview".

Most hiring managers have a preconceived notion that the best candidates exhibit traits of extroversion in the interview - outgoing, warm, talkative, able to answer silly questions on the spot, or get deeply introspective and personal very quickly.

My experience with over 30 years of executive search and hiring coaching/consulting is that introversion or extroversion is not indicative of performance and success. I think many executives make wrong biased assumptions about introverts. So, now the question is how do introverts overcome this natural bias of most hiring managers - particularly in an interview format.

Recognize, acknowledge, and understand the implications of making a first impression during interviewing. Most hiring managers make mistakes on 2/3 of the candidates they meet due to wrong first impressions.

Winning interviews is basically telling great stories that share key traits of success and answer quantifiable questions like dates, KPIs, metrics, outcomes, budgets, people, etc.

One of the greatest frustrations in hiring is having candidates lie convincingly, or exaggerating-embellishing what they've done. Most CEOs and Executives believe that at least 100 percent of candidates fake it in the interview. How do you overcome this tendency to misrepresent and get to the TRUTH?

The vast majority of CEOs and senior executives have told me over the last 20 years that they think 100 percent of candidates they interview tend to lie, embellish, and exaggerate. The big question is HOW DO YOU GET TO THE TRUTH?