‘I’m annoyed’: Controversial trend helping young workers get jobs
Young people are jumping on a new trend they claim is getting them hired – but not everyone is impressed by the “annoying” way they’re getting ahead.
At Work
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Is it more important to work hard or to be liked? The answer might offend you.
The term “personality hire” has been used in offices for years. It was coined to describe someone who, while still good at their job, is even better at bringing the vibes.
It’s a controversial label. Some people see personality hires as vital to the workforce and others think they’re just hindering everyone around them.
Young people have now discovered the term and it is going viral online as they create parodies of what it means to be a personality hire. Rocking up late with coffee and being keen to chat is the main theme.
Jokes aside though, should you be aiming to be a personality hire? Especially considering how so many bosses are desperate to get their staff back into offices and are keen for work to be a place their employees want to be.
Recruitment expert Roxanne Calder said that hiring someone because of their personality is definitely a thing, but it is called something else in the corporate world.
“In recruitment, we call it ‘cultural fit’. In my opinion that is one of the most important things,” she told news.com.au.
Ms Calder said that if she had two candidates sitting in front of her, one slightly more qualified but not a great cultural fit and one less qualified but keen to upskill and she thought would be great for the company’s office morale, she’d choose the second option.
“I’d always hire the second candidate,” she said.
Ms Calder explained that finding the right person for a team is crucial because it isn’t easy to “repair” the damage after a bad hire or a false start.
The recruitment expert explained that the right cultural fit can improve the vibe and dynamic of a workplace.
“We have clients specifically looking for a cultural fit,” she said.
Millennial Daniel Bennett, 28, who creates content online, has amassed over 250,000 likes on TikTok by sharing his thoughts on personality hires, although he did warn that his opinion might “piss” people off.
“Personality hires are arguably more important than people who do actual work. Let me explain: Anyone can do work, anyone can be a good employee, but it takes a specific type of person to keep company culture fun and funny and keep the office in good spirits,” he said.
Mr Bennett then revealed he had secured his first corporate job without experience because he made the bosses laugh during the interview.
“I solely got my corporate job from having a good personality,” he claimed.
Dion Ramsey, who offers up career advice on TikTok, replied to Mr Bennett’s video and explained why his assertions were correct.
“It is because developed interpersonal skills are far rarer than technical skills, and as long as a personality hire has a reasonable level of competency, they’ll make a better manager too,” he explained.
The viral clip sparked a big reaction online, with plenty of people agreeing with Mr Bennett’s point.
“Hiring manager here! And you are 100 per cent right,” one wrote.
“Same. I had zero experience or education in lab, but got hired as a full-time compound lab tech because I’m cheerful and positive,” one person revealed.
“I’m personality hire,” another claimed.
Not everyone was sold on the concept, though, and plenty pointed out that they don’t want someone at work trying to make it fun — they just want someone who can do their job.
“I’d rather do my work and go home; I couldn’t care less if the office is fun. I’m only there for a check,” one person said.
“Personality hire isn’t so fun when they’re constantly making mistakes and you have to work twice as hard to repair their mistakes,” another argued.
One added: “I think the disconnect is that many of us don’t actually find you to be fun. I want to get the work done and go home.”
Another person claimed the personality hires were often why they were behind on their work, which made them “annoyed”.
“No, because I need to do my work and the work of the personality hire too,” someone else said.
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