Transcripts

"Last Word"-Congeniality vs. Credentials

SUZANNE PRATT: It's common to get questions about your work experience during a job interview, but what about your sandbox skills? It's a new trend, hiring for congeniality, or the "plays well with others" factor. Some employers are getting so picky about who they hire, they want to weed out people with the right credentials but the wrong personalities. Here's the rationale: if employees are going to work together for up to 50 hours a week, it's important they get along. And Paul, group interviews, cameras in the waiting room and team exercises are all ways that employers are looking to measure likeability.

KANGAS: You know, Suzanne, I've been told that my likeability increases when the stock market goes up.

PRATT: What happened to hiring the smartest person for the job?

KANGAS: I don't know.