New research finds the most likable candidate gets the job—even if they’re not the most qualified

New research released today from Textio has found that hiring decisions are influenced more by candidate likability rather than by relevant skills. In a first-of-its-kind study analyzing written interview assessments and candidate experiences across more than 10,000 interviews, Textio found that candidates who receive offers are 12x more likely to be described as having a “great personality” than those who don’t.

Candidate assessments based on skills and performance evaluations are the strongest predictors of hiring success. When interviewers explicitly document their assessment of candidate performance against job-related capabilities, studies have shown that the eventual hire performs better on the job. In fact, candidates who are hired based on clear, skills-based interview assessments are also more likely to be in the organization three years later.

Unfortunately, most hiring teams don’t know how to assess candidates effectively, so they go off gut feelings to make hiring decisions. But poor assessments lead to hires that typically fail, costing businesses a fortune to replace in addition to creating legal risk for talent acquisition leaders.

“For years we’ve seen how vague, personality-based feedback limits people’s growth once they’re hired. Now we know the same thing happens before they even get the job,” said Kieran Snyder, Chief Scientist Emeritus and Co-Founder at Textio. “Too many hiring teams rely on memory, gut instinct, or informal messages to capture what happened in an interview. Unfortunately, memory fades, gut instincts are often unreliable, and informal messages aren’t a hiring system. Structured, skills-based interview assessments are a non-negotiable for any effective hiring process. Anything less puts your hiring outcomes, your team’s performance, and your business at risk.”

Key findings from the report include: 

• Textio’s analysis of 10,377 interview assessments across more than 3,900 candidates, found hiring managers are more likely to say yes to candidates they like 

• Candidates who receive offers are far more likely to be described using personality feedback

  • 12x more likely to be described as having a great personality

  • 5x more likely to be described as friendly

  • 4x more likely to be described as having great energy

• Men and women are described with clear and distinct personality language

  • Women are described as bubbly 25x more and pleasant 11x more than men in interviews

  • Men are described as level-headed 5x more and confident 7x more than women in interviews

• We document more feedback when we’re saying no

  • Interviewers write 39% more feedback when the candidate is not getting an offer

  • Interviewers write 17% more feedback about women than men—even though women are also more likely to have no documented feedback at all

• Candidates rarely get feedback about their interview performance, but those who do perform better

  • Candidates with offers are more likely to get feedback than those who are rejected

  • 84% of candidates who were rejected never got any feedback on their interviews

• Most people know when they’re going to get the job

  • 81% of people say they can predict whether they’ll get a job offer—even without feedback

  • Men are more confident in predicting potential job offers than women

  • Candidates over 40 are more confident in predicting potential job offers than younger workers

  • People who’ve received interview feedback before are more confident predicting future outcomes

To learn more about this report, visit www.textio.com/report