How to Create an Introvert-Friendly Hiring Process

​Traditional hiring practices often favor extroverted candidates, who can be more adept at interviews than their more introverted peers. This bias can cause employers to overlook talented candidates who have the skills and experience to get the job done but who may lack interviewing sophistication.

Consider Jack, whose last name is being withheld to preserve anonymity. He’s a microbiologist in Chicago who enjoys spending time in the lab poring over experiments and analyzing results—a job that requires plenty of “alone time,” which suits his introverted nature. Although he should be considered an excellent candidate for a research position, he said that throughout his career he has been sidelined for new opportunities by interviewers who he believes have had trouble warming to his personality.

“Many candidates don’t make it through the hiring process to get the jobs they’re qualified for because they don’t interview in a bubbly, enthusiastic manner,” said Cynthia Trivella, managing partner at TalentCulture, a virtual human resources marketing and marketing company Communications company firm in Cincinnati. “Unless introverted candidates are able to confidently share their accomplishments, they are likely to be overlooked for positions in which they would be successful.

Although many people associate introversion with shyness, this fundamentally misunderstands the true nature of introversion, which is more about energy than social skills. Introverts gain energy from solitude, while extroverts gain energy from spending time with other people, according to Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist who first coined the term.

Dick Bolles captured this misunderstanding in his book What color is your parachute? (originally published in 1970; the 2022 issue is by Ten Speed ​​Press), noting that people often think of introverts as “party dolls” when they really “just get pooped from the party.”

Avoid affinity bias

According to a study by Lauren Rivera, professor of management and organizational behavior at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, many hiring professionals base their hiring decisions primarily on “liking.” Put simply, managers and recruiters prefer to hire people they like, regardless of the candidates’ other (or lack of) qualifications.

Jean Hsu recalls working with a CHRO who used the “airport test” to evaluate candidates. Interviewers using this approach ask the hypothetical question, “Would I want to be stuck in an airport with this person?” This approach favors extroverts, who are often more comfortable in social situations, and reframes the hiring process as a popularity contest rather than an assessment of the candidate’s actual qualifications for the job.

“You have to be clear about what you’re evaluating them for. The airport test doesn’t tell you anything about what the person can do at work,” said Hsu, vice president of engineering at Range Labs, a Denver-based software company.

“Many recruiters start with a shortage [social] Energy with lack of interest, when really it just means the candidate is quieter and more reserved in interviews,” said Lauren Van Duyn, recruitment manager at Workhuman in Framingham, Massachusetts. She and her colleagues train recruiters and hiring managers to recognize their own biases and turn their attention back to the professional qualifications rather than the personality of the candidates.

Ask questions that help you get to know candidates, but don’t go too far. Van Duyn warned against asking candidates personal questions that have nothing to do with the position. “Make sure you’re really evaluating the candidate’s qualifications for the job,” rather than their personal circumstances, she said.

Trivella said a better way is “whenever you can, ask a candidate a question that encourages them to talk about something that’s interesting and meaningful to them.”

Jack, for example, became quite animated during an interview with a research director who asked him about his decision to pursue a career in science and his long-term career goals, but fell silent when asked non-career-related questions.

Creating an evidence-based approach

An objective, evidence-based hiring process can be a powerful way to minimize bias and limit impulsive decisions. Scot Sessions, CEO and co-founder of TalVista, a San Diego-based HR tech company, recommended tweaking job descriptions to focus on the best indicators of job success, and then developing questions to capture knowledge and the Assess the competency of the candidate.

“Don’t trust your gut,” Sessions said. “Weigh the value of each competency, then select questions that identify competencies that match the job description.”

Another approach is to create an interview scorecard, which identifies and assesses how each candidate matches the job’s requirements, and then structure the interview questions around those qualifications, suggested Caitlyn Metteer, Lever’s director of recruiting, one Talent Relationship Management Platform, pre San Francisco. “When interviewers focus on the qualifications for the job, it helps break down personal bias.”

“Many companies don’t realize that their job descriptions are aimed at select groups, or don’t really understand what the role requires,” Trivella said. She recommended identifying individuals in your organization who have been successful in that specific role and listing the qualities they possess that make them good at their jobs, and then incorporating that information into the job description.

“Adapt the questions to the needs of the job,” Trivella said. “Don’t judge candidates on whether they’re good conversationalists.”

Van Duyn warned recruitment professionals about the tendency to categorize candidates into specific roles based on stereotypes. As an example, she gave a colleague who, despite his introversion, is a highly effective trainer.

“She has acquired the social skills she needs to be effective at her job. But after that, she needs some time off to reflect on her experiences and regain her energy,” said Van Duyn.

Behavioral or situational questions tailored to the job description can be good indicators of how the candidate would perform in a role. For Jack, a behavioral question about his experiences working on a team provided the interviewer with real insights into his work ethic that were not readily apparent from his reserved demeanor.

While it is important to ask the same questions to each candidate, each interviewer should be assigned questions based on their own knowledge and experience. “This prevents the candidates from having to repeat themselves over and over again,” Sessions said. “Extraverts do better with interviewers who don’t know how to evaluate the answer to their own questions.”

Van Duyn agreed: “If each interviewer uses their 30 minute interview to ask the same questions, you get 30 minutes of insight. But if you align the questions with the interviewers’ experience and expertise, you can tell a lot more about putting pieces of the puzzle together.”

This division of labor also levels the playing field for candidates who are uncomfortable with the performative component of interviews and may lose energy (and interest) answering the same questions over and over again.

“When interviewees have to answer the same questions over and over again, it creates a terrible candidate experience,” Sessions said.

Establish a flexible and integrative process

Hsu has developed an inclusive interview approach that allows more introverted candidates to shine. While she doesn’t explicitly ask candidates if they’re introverted or extroverted, she offers them a number of ways they can structure the interview to suit their needs and preferences.

Aware that introverts often feel low on energy after interacting with others, she gives them time to rest between interviews. For example, if they meet with four different team members as part of the process, she offers them the opportunity to spread the interviews over several days.

Van Duyn similarly emphasizes the importance of building breaks into the process so candidates aren’t forced to interview back-to-back with no downtime. She also uses asynchronous assessment tools that candidates can take home and work through at their own pace, rather than live testing, which tends to favor people who can think quickly.

Metteer added that it’s important to prepare candidates for the process by providing them with information and resources, including details about who they will be meeting with, how much time is allotted for each interview, and what the company is looking for .

“A disorganized process mitigates against an objective assessment,” Metteer said. “Give candidates the information and resources they need to shine.”

The sessions recommended that interviewers conduct an independent assessment of candidates at the end of each interview to assess how their skills and experience match the job requirements, before seeking feedback from the other interviewers.

“Don’t compare notes until you’ve formed your own independent evaluation to avoid groupthink,” he said. “Then you can get together to discuss what you’ve learned and make a good hiring decision.”

Arlene Hirsch is a careers consultant and author based in Chicago.