4 Very Unusual Ways to Assess a Candidate’s Personality
But, life would be boring if we just focused on these heavy weight assessment techniques and didn’t given the occasional nod to, shall I say, some more alternative approaches to assessing candidates situated more at the lightweight, but still interesting end of the spectrum for assessment techniques.
Take for example coffee.Did you know that an interviewee’s coffee choice can reveal aspects of their personality. Next time you arrange pre-interview coffee refreshments take note of the candidate’s choice of coffee as research has shown it can indicate the following about their personality. Yes, Doctor Durvasula’s book entitled You Are WHY You Eat: Change Your Food Attitude, Change Your Life, found correlations between coffee preferences and behavioral tendencies when surveying 1,000 coffee drinkers. So, what did they find? I have summarized the personalities below, but you can see the full table at psychcentral.
- Black coffee drinkers tended to be more purist, old school, and like to keep things simple, but can be set in their ways and resistant to change in hard times.
- Latte drinkers tended to be people pleasers, comfort seekers who are generous with their time but can over extend themselves.
- Frozen/blended coffee drinkers tended to be socially bold, trendsetters with imagination but have more of a tendency to be reckless.
- Decaf drinkers tended to like being in control and could be more obsessive and perfectionist but can be over sensitive worriers.
- Instant coffee drinkers tended to be more laid back, and take life as it comes but can be too laid back and tended to be poor planners.
I bet you thought you couldn’t tell quite so much from a candidate’s coffee choice? Well, it doesn’t stop there, as wine choices reveal a lot about a personality too. Take the findings of a study by French Wines with Style, which found that red wine drinkers tended to be more ambitious and driven and preferring face-to-face contact over social networks. White wine lovers on the other hand seemed to be more practical and relaxed and happier than red wine drinkers and saw themselves as quiet and reserved. Rose drinkers tended to be warm, charming and committed social networkers. So keep your eye’s open when next doing an informal evening dinner interview.
Another behavior that you might ordinarily overlook in a candidate is their gait speed, or their walking speed, but a candidate’s walk can tell you a lot about their personality according to research by Patti Wood, author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions. In her research she found that different walks fit into the DISC personality profile. Drivers (People who display dominance) walk quickly with intent and don’t tend to stop once they know where they are going. Influencers act more emotionally and change direction more often as a result and Supporters who tend to be more steady have a more polite walk, which entails having their arms close to their bodies. Cautious people have a precise walking pattern and follow any pedestrian rules.
And the final area of inquiry that can give an indication of personality is musical tastes. In the study, The Do Re Mi’s of Everyday Life: The Structure and Personality Correlates of Music Preferences. They found that people who like Reflective and Complex music had an openness to experience, emotional stability and political liberalism. Those enjoying intense and rebellious music tended to be open to experience, extrovert and socially dominant. Individuals who liked upbeat and conventional music and energetic and rhythmic were extrovert, agreeable, conservative politically and conscientious.
I’d be keen to hear any more unusual ways to assess personality, which have at least some semblance of a scientific basis.