The 10 personality types employers avoid

THERE are certain personality traits all employers steer away from. Make sure you’re not one of these 10 toxic personality types.

Pete Campbell, Mad Men character brags and lies to colleagues to get ahead. 24_benmathislily_lg.jpg

IS YOUR company hiring? Don’t make the mistake of taking on a toxic employee.

Business News Daily asked business owners and career and hiring experts which personality types and traits they should avoid in the hiring process.

From complaining too much to pointing the finger every time something goes wrong, there are a lot of red flags to look out for when hiring.

According to the experts, you may want to avoid hiring candidates if they’re guilty of the following:

They brag too much.

“You want to be careful about hiring the braggart or aggressive self-promoter. Someone who is too full of him, or herself, is also toxic to a team. It’s one thing to be quietly confident in what you bring to the table, and to express the results of your work naturally and in context. It’s entirely another to be aggressively pushy about those qualities and results.” – John West Hadley, principal and career search counsellor, John Hadley Associates

Ricky Gervais as David Brent in ‘The Office’. His character probably possesses most traits described in this article. Picture: Supplied

They complain constantly.

“Complainers are very difficult to deal with. I tell my clients to stay away from them. The best way to spot these individuals is that these are job seekers who will negotiate the smallest, most trivial aspects of their offer. Even if they are good [candidates], hard negotiation prior to coming on to a job — except from a top level executive — shows that they are your typical complainer and fail to have empathy for the plight of a leader or manager.” – Kenneth Sundheim, CEO, KAS Placement

They’re self-absorbed.

“People who think it’s all about them tend to end up being toxic players. You need people that want to make the vision work and that requires team play.” – Richard Rossignol, CEO, RTR Consulting

They just coast by.

“This is an individual that has made it their life’s practice to put forth minimal effort — with the expectation of maximum return. In school, they were the ones who did no work on the group book report, but still got the ‘A’ because of the effort of others. These people will appear busy — shuffling papers, scrolling page after page online — but nothing is really happening. These personality types are toxic to a team environment and often breed resentment from those who are working hard. You can coach a lot of things, but laziness and lack of pride in the quality of work that is produced are inherent in someone’s makeup.” – Sean Koppelman, president, The Talent Magnet

They’re overly negative.

“There are personalities who can see the glass half-full, and those that see the glass half-empty, but it is very difficult to work with people who are always shooting holes in the glass. These people are not ever satisfied and complain about any and everything. They are negative, narcissistic, selfish and want to have total control. These personalities wreak havoc on companies and employees. They drive negative behaviour and can create a lack of production and a lack of worthiness.” – Pat Goodwin, executive coach and career transition counsellor, Pat Goodwin Associates

Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler. In being hired as a news stringer, he's overdemanding and lies to his boss. Picture: Supplied

They show false modesty.

“Avoid the falsely modest type. These are people who, when asked to identify a flaw, answer, ‘I guess if I had to pick one, it would be my tendency to work 24/7 and put my personal life on hold.’ By framing what they think is virtuous behaviour as a flaw, they are not only being disingenuous but aren’t answering the question. The interviewer wants to hear an example of something that didn’t turn out well but that the candidate learned from, not coy self-praise. Hiring this type is sure to result in a bad culture fit because they see work in terms of themselves, not the team.” – Lynda Spiegel, founder, Rising Star Resumes

They can’t take the blame.

“One key personality to avoid is the ‘It’s never my fault’ type. When this personality type is asked about conflicts or problems they experienced at previous employers, they will continually point the guilty finger at others. ‘It wasn’t my fault.’ The problem always lies with others. Poor performance, substandard results — all because of someone else’s actions or influence. As an employer, you or your employees will probably be in the crosshairs of blame when things go awry with this personality type.” – Leigh Davis, partner, Davis+Delany

They have low self-regard.

“Someone with the personality trait of low self-regard won’t handle objections well. They will most likely be the one who takes a day to get over being upset for not doing as well as they would have liked on a deadline. Therefore, in an environment that is fast-paced and cutthroat, they won’t feel like they can handle it.” – Sonia Varkey, marketing director, Plum

Actor John Krasinski from TV program "The Office" Picture: Supplied

They’re closed-minded.

“The personality type that one should avoid when hiring is closed-mindedness. One of the biggest predictors of job success is an open mind and capacity to incorporate new ideas into one’s work. … People who are set in their ways … may not adapt to work conditions as they change.” – Todd Horton, founder and CEO, KangoGift

They resist change.

“Avoid candidates that find ambiguity or change difficult. Always seek candidates that demonstrate their ability and enthusiasm to evolve with processes, priorities and the shifting focus of a growing and changing organisation. An employee that is resistant to change, has no desire to innovate and is frustrated, as opposed to energised by an evolving company, will hold a team back from being successful. Look for grit in the candidates you are interviewing.” – Jacqueline Breslin, director of human capital services, TriNet

This article originally appeared on BusinessNewsDaily.

Originally published as The 10 personality types employers avoid