Tie breakers in hiring.

Harris Interactive recently posted some of their findings after they asked 2076 hiring managers and human resources professionals on what influences a hire.

They were asked, what are the determining factors in hiring between two candidates that had the exact same credentials.

The following breakdown is the results from those questions.

The percentage is the added likelihood of a hire given to break the tie between the two candidates.

1.

If the candidate had a good sense of humour - 27%

2.

If the candidate was involved in their community – 26%

3.

If the candidate was best dressed - 22%

4.

If the candidate was able to strike a personal connection with the interviewer – 21%

5.

If the candidate was physically fit - 13%

6.

If the candidate could discuss current affairs or business or culture trends - 8%

7.

If the candidate was well connected to social media – 7%

8.

If the candidate knew about sports - 4%

I absolutely agree with the first point.

I find that someone who has a self-deprecating sense of humour usually works best as it shows confidence as well as displays personality.

I personally would have ranked best dressed into the second slot of importance from my experience.

Image is still very powerful.

Involvement in the community is a nice asset as can show an appetite for assisting as well as suggesting a higher workload but it can also be easily overstated.

From my experience, it does not have this large of an impact and I do not agree with this high of a ranking.

Being physically fit also important as it shows the ability to balance different aspects and displays well roundedness.

See above comments on image.

I certainly believe that social media is the fastest growing point on this list.

People like to see who you are connected to and like to see which flocks the candidates tend to fly with most.

Referrals on social media are nice but you can tell a lot about someone by who they are connected to as well as where they play.

I think being able to discuss sports and current affairs is less important as it was in the past.

I understated it being a tie breaker in some circles but I think the other points should require more focus going forward.

Farewell,

Mike