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Should Personal Preference Affect Hiring Job Applicants?

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Should Personal Preference Affect Hiring Job Applicants?

Inevitably in the course of every manager and employer’s career, there will come a time when personal preference and business needs are juxtaposed. In many cases, this comes about when deciding whether or not to hire someone. When a person is simply unskilled or lacking qualifications, the decision is easy.

However, when the person seems to be ideal for the position but rubs you the wrong way, things can get cloudy. This is not a cut and dry situation-sometimes you should hire the applicant and sometimes you shouldn’t. By answering the following questions, it may help you to gain perspective on the best course of action for the situation.

Why Don’t You Get Along?

It can be difficult to pinpoint what annoys you about someone that you have only had a few meetings and a little correspondence with, but try to make a list of what gets on your nerves about the applicant. Are they just overly chatty, brash, or maybe introverted? In some cases, the thing that annoys you may not interfere with the job, so they may end up being a valuable asset in spite of your personal concerns.

Can The Applicants’ Quirks Benefit the Company?

Sometimes it is the very things that bug us that turn out to be the applicant’s greatest contributions to the company. If an applicant is perpetually cheerful, chatty, and social, they may be a wonderful addition to the customer service team or help to draw and retain customers. If an applicant is completely focused on work and is detail oriented, they may help to boost productivity.

Is the Applicant Really Skilled?

If an applicant is highly skilled, but has some unfavorable character traits, it may be worth bringing them onto the team in spite of those issues. Again, this is not cut and dry. Sometimes even the most brilliant applicants can turn out to be a liability because their personality gets in the way of the job or shifts the company culture dramatically.

Do They Have A Toxic Attitude That May Spread?

If a job applicant has a toxic (negative or condescending) attitude, it can work to bring down all of the other employees, possibly harming productivity and tainting the fragile company culture that everyone has worked so hard to create. Whether this is worth the risk or not depends on the logistics of the workplace and many other factors. If employees are largely separated and work independently, one person’s attitude may not impact the workplace much and their skills may be a valuable addition.

Conclusion

Every single situation varies, so it is really up to the employers or hiring manager to make the ultimate decision about whether to hire someone that may be “annoying.” Asking these types of questions may be helpful, but gut instincts should not be ignored. When in doubt, it may also help to discuss the situation with other hiring managers or top-level managers that will be able to provide educated insights.

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