Textio has released new research highlighting how likability, rather than relevant skills, often plays a dominant role in hiring decisions. In a first-of-its-kind analysis of more than 10,000 interviews, the study found that candidates who received job offers were 12 times more likely to be described as having a “great personality” than those who were rejected.
While skills and job-related performance evaluations are proven to be the strongest predictors of hiring success, many hiring teams continue to rely on gut instincts and vague impressions. This subjective approach not only compromises hiring outcomes but also poses financial and legal risks to organizations. According to prior studies, candidates hired through structured, skills-based interviews are more likely to stay in the organization for at least three years and deliver stronger job performance.
“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,” said Kieran Snyder, Chief Scientist Emeritus and Co-Founder at Textio. “Structured, skills-based interview assessments are a non-negotiable for any effective hiring process.”
Key Insights from the Study
- Hiring managers are more likely to extend offers to candidates they personally like, rather than those who objectively demonstrate the most relevant skills.
- Candidates who receive offers are:
- 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”
- Gender bias in personality descriptors:
- Women are described as “bubbly” 25x more and “pleasant” 11x more than men
- Men are described as “level-headed” 7.5x more and “confident” 7x more than women
- Interviewers document 39% more feedback when rejecting candidates.
- Women receive 17% more written feedback than men, yet are also more likely to have no documented feedback at all.
- Feedback improves performance:
- Candidates who receive offers are more likely to get post-interview feedback.
- 84% of rejected candidates never receive any feedback at all.
- 81% of candidates say they can predict whether they’ll get a job offer—often correctly, even without feedback.
- Confidence in predicting outcomes varies:
- Men are more confident than women.
- Workers over 40 are more confident than younger candidates.
- Those who have previously received feedback are more confident in future predictions.
The study underscores a growing need for companies to replace informal assessments with structured, skill-based evaluations. Doing so not only improves fairness and performance outcomes but also ensures hiring processes align more closely with long-term business success.