Fun Kristi Fact… I LOVE Tik Tok. Before you tell me all the reasons that I shouldn’t, know that I watch the Tik Tok for dog videos, people falling videos, and recipes. And I’m going to keep watching until I can’t or until something better comes along.

Why am I giving you pointless Kristi Facts? Because there is a new Tik Tok trend that applies to my world (and yours if you hire) called “Personality Hires”. Have you heard of it? I hadn’t until about a month ago. A Forbes article caught my attention and I have fallen down some rabbit holes researching. Here’s what I have learned.

The trend of “Personality Hires” is a trend where, largely Gen Z, workers are saying that they should be hired for their personality and positive energy. According to these trend setters, a personality hire sets a “positive vibe” for the workplace with healthy banter and jokes. And these vibe setters are hoping that, sometimes, this might outweigh their lack of skills or lackadaisical approach to work.

And here is what I think about it…

While I strongly believe that there is so much more to hiring than what you see on a resume, I’m not sure I can swing my pendulum all the way over to hiring for purely personality or vibe setting.

Hiring based solely on experience, qualifications and skill is risky because you may be missing out on the rockstar that doesn’t check every box, but does check some that you can’t find on a resume, like drive, initiative and cultural fit. When you rule out candidates based solely on a resume, you could be limiting yourself on high quality applicants.

And speaking of cultural fit, cultural fit is only a thing if you have your culture well defined and ask interview questions based on that culture. Otherwise, you are falling into the trap of dismissing candidates because they are not a fit, which opens you up to risk.

And while I do think there is merit to hiring based on likeability, I don’t think that should be a main reason to hire someone, and definitely not when there is a hope that their likeability will outweigh what kind of worker they are. Which brings us full circle back to not dismissing candidates based solely on a resume. There are so many important considerations that can only be assessed in person. And, another risk disclaimer, when you hire based on likeability, there is a chance that you could be hiring people who are like you, which impacts diversity in so many different ways.

I could go on and on. About hiring best practices, as well as “Personality Hires”. But I’m out of space and out of time. I would love to hear your thoughts on all of this. Reach out and let me know.