The harsh truth: Recruiters will always choose the individual they like, regardless of qualifications, experience and skills

You probably won't like this, but it's the truth. Recruiters, interviewers, and potential employers will always hire the candidate that they like, even if they don't have qualifications or skills or experience. In fact, interviewers will often pass over a qualified applicant just to hire someone who isn't as good of a fit for the job but is more likable. It's not fair; I know. But it's how it works. Unfortunately, there isn't any way to prove this either because employers can always find some reason that you weren't qualified for the job when really they just didn't like you and thought someone else was better suited for the position. So what should you do about this? Well we'll talk about that next time.

It's not about you, it's about them.

You may be wondering why you didn’t get that job. If your resume was perfect and your interview skills were top-notch, then what happened?

The harsh truth is that it’s not about you; it’s about them. The interviewer wants to like you and have a good first impression of you, because if they don’t like you, they will find ways to not hire you—even if this means lying or faking some sort of connection with another candidate.

Interviews are about likability, not qualifications.

Interviews are not about finding the right person for the job. Interviewers want to hire someone they like and who will fit in with their team, so they can spend more time with them and less time training new hires. That's it!

People often believe that interviews are about finding out how qualified someone is for a particular role, but it is simply not true. Qualifications don't matter at all because there's always someone more qualified than you (even if you're already working there). What matters most is whether or not your interviewer likes you as an individual.

The harsh truth: Recruiters will always choose the individual they like, regardless of qualifications, experience and skills

There is no way this can be proven though.

The harsh truth is, there's nothing you can do to make it more likely that a recruiter will choose you over another candidate. Sure, you could try to get into shape and look your best. But if they don't like the way your hair looks or how big your nose is (and let's face it: they probably don't), they won't hire you either way! It's just not possible for this to be proven though.

You might think: "Well then let me just prove that I'm qualified for this job." You could take up training courses and get some certificates proving that yes indeed I have all these skills needed by my prospective employer! But once again——it doesn't work like that! If the recruiter doesn't think we're cute enough or interesting enough then nothing else matters because we're not getting hired anyway. There's nothing any of us can do about it except accept our fate—and try finding another job where people actually care about qualifications rather than who looks better than whom (I'm looking at YOU Tinder).

It's a huge gamble...

You’re at the interview, and it’s as if you were playing Russian roulette. You have no control over your odds of success; they are completely dependent on how much the person interviewing you likes or dislikes you.

If they like you, they will hire you. If they don't, there's nothing that can be done to change their mind. You won't get the job because of any qualifications or experience; you won't get it because of skills or education—you'll just simply not be liked enough by whomever is conducting the interview process for them to choose to keep someone who's less likable than a candidate who doesn't have those same qualifications and experiences but also happens to be more likable than another candidate with similar qualifications and experiences but is less likable than them (and so forth).

Your best bet is to just be likable in an interview, despite the unfairness of that.

If you want to be the most likely candidate for a position, your best bet is to just be likable in an interview. This may seem unfair and arbitrary, but that's the way it is. No matter how qualified or experienced or skilled you are, if the interviewer doesn't like you, they're not going to hire you.

You can't control whether or not someone will like you when meeting for the first time—but there are some things that can increase your likability factor during interviews:

1. Be confident
2. Be yourself (because otherwise, who would want to work with someone who isn't genuine?)
3. Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses (it's okay if they aren't perfect; everyone has flaws)

Conclusion

So, what is the solution? Should we just give up on interviewing people altogether and just make all of our hiring decisions based on chance meetings at bars? No! There is a better way forward. We have to realize that we are not perfect and that sometimes we can't trust ourselves. This is why it's important for me to keep myself honest by bringing in others who I trust to help with hiring decisions. They can provide an objective perspective, which helps me overcome my own biases and makes sure that I'm making fair hiring decisions.