The term introversion does not seem to be welcomed in the professional world. It seems that being an extrovert is a synonym of success and that if you are an introvert you are a geek and you will not know how to hold conversations with co-workers and clients.
Moreover, the way in which candidates are interviewed is not designed for introverts. As Barry Deutsch mentions, introverts are generally bad at making a good first impression. We need to “warm up” and deepen the conversation to really feel comfortable. It is therefore difficult to compete with another candidate who from the beginning has an answer for everything and interacts spontaneously.
“HR staff are looking for candidates who are articulate and who get an answer before they even ask the question. But the nature of the introvert is different, he likes to digest information, process it and reflect before speaking. This can cause a silence between question and answer, which the interviewer may consider negative”
Barry Deutsch on “Introverts are Set-up for Failure in Job Interviews”
I think this is due in part to all the myths of introversion. Introversion is not social anxiety. It’s not shy. It is a related but independent concept.
In this post I will guide you on how to define yourself in a job interview, if you should pretend to be extroverted and how to be successful in the professional field.
First things first: What kind of job are you looking for?
This blog is about how to take pride in our introversion, how to get the most out of it, and at the same time stop automatically putting people with extroverted personalities on a pedestal. Still, no matter how proud you are of being an introvert, it’s likely that if you say that in an interview for a social role, you’ll automatically cross yourself off the list of possible candidates.
It is essential to start here. In a large number of jobs, it will not matter if you are introverted and/or shy, because your results will not depend on how well people like you or if you exhibit communicative qualities. That is why I always emphasize the importance of finding jobs more in tune with our personality. Not because we can’t handle a job where we deal with people, but because we shouldn’t ignore what is natural to our personality.
When and how to hide your introversion?
In interviews to be a journalist, human resources manager, among others, I do recommend that you do not say that you are an introvert. Not because it’s bad, but because you have to assume that most people don’t understand the difference between introverted and shy. Immediately the image of a blushing person in the middle of a presentation before people will come to them.
My advice is that if it’s a public-facing job, don’t use the word introvert. However, use adjectives that describe what it means to be an introvert. Assume that human resources is not aware of the benefits of having an introverted person on their staff. Here is an example of how you could highlight the benefits of being an introvert without expressly using the word introversion:
I’m the type of person who’s interested in solving clients’ problems, I like to empathize with them and put myself in each one’s situation. I think that one of my strengths is that I know how to listen and understand exactly what a person is looking for and thus, it is easier for me to sell them a product.
At no time have you said that you are an extrovert or that you like to speak in public, but you have brought to light one of the great advantages of being an introvert, without even using that term.
Consequences of pretending to be extroverted
I think that almost all of us introverts do it in order to fit in and like our co-workers better, but honestly I consider it a strategy to use in the very short term.
If you pretend to have a different personality than the real one, in the long run, the damaged one will be yourself. First, because you will feel hypocritical by having to put on a “mask” in order to be successful, and second, this will affect your self-esteem. This is what happened to me when I went drunk to an Ikea interview with the aim of appearing more extroverted, they ended up giving me a sales job when they saw how open I was speaking. In reality it was that alcohol that was making me so social, but I wasn’t going to depend on it every time I went to work. Although in the short term the result was positive (I got the job) in the long term, I hated my job.
In the long run, it’s important to find a job where you don’t have to be out of your comfort zone all the time. Otherwise, you will feel exhausted when you get home and without energy to carry out other types of social activities, since your work in itself will have already exhausted your desire to be surrounded by people.
Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever lied about your introversion. Did you get the job?
