6 Tips to Help Make Your Company — and Its Hiring Practices — More Introvert-Friendly

Typically, the hiring process — even when done virtually — has favored more attention-grabbing extroverts. Extroverts, often quick to answer questions and share their accomplishments, can be charming in video interviews. But if handled strategically, remote hiring and work environments can also create opportunities for introverts to shine alongside their extroverted colleagues.

That’s good for introverts and good for companies. Introverts make up one-third to one-half of the talent pool, and are often excellent employees and leaders (see Barack Obama, Warren Buffett, and Marissa Mayer). A Harvard Business Review study of roughly 2,000 CEOS found that even though corporate boards tended to gravitate toward charismatic extroverts, introverts were more likely to surpass the expectations of their boards and investors. And as Susan Cain writes in Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,”There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.” 

Here are five tactics to give introverted candidates a fair shot in mostly remote workplaces.  

1. Share interview questions in advance 

Introverts often need time to process their thoughts before responding to a question, which can make them appear less quick-witted in videoconferencing interviews than their extroverted peers. This thoughtfulness, though, can be an advantage once they’re hired: They tend to be good listeners and are able to offer perspectives that others may have overlooked. 

One way to give introverts the opportunity to put their best foot forward is to provide questions in advance, so they have time to compose their answers. If you provide every candidate with the same questions, you’ll also level the playing field. For instance, research shows that men and women get asked different questions in job interviews. You can make the interview process easier for introverts and avoid this bias by providing the same set of questions to every candidate beforehand — and then sticking to the script. 

2. Allow for pauses and silence in videoconferencing interviews

When interviewing candidates, particularly if you haven’t given them questions in advance, you may experience uncomfortable moments of silence after asking a question. Don’t mistake this for a lack of confidence or experience. Candidates — extroverts as well as introverts — may simply need time to formulate an answer. And it’s a job interview, not a round of rapid-fire questions.

Be patient. Encourage them to take the time they need. The thoroughly considered reply you receive may well be worth the wait.

3. Let candidates answer questions in written or video form

Many introverts are better at expressing their thoughts and personality through the written word than they are when speaking. That means that you may learn the most about them by sending questions in advance and allowing them to formulate answers using text-based platforms such as email, instant messaging, or web-based collaborative software. 

In a recent Psychology Today article, Heidi K. Brown, author of The Introverted Lawyer, suggested that employers could ask applicants to craft and submit “five questions to ask, and five questions to be asked, that showcase what you would like us to know about you as a person and as a worker.” 

Brown also said that some employers are experimenting with having applicants submit 10-minute video self-interviews. Companies that have LinkedIn’s New Recruiter & Jobs can give the most qualified candidates the option to use the Video Intro feature to answer one or two questions from a list of options such as “Describe your most challenging project.” One advantage of this: If candidates don’t like their responses, they can re-record them as many times as they want before submitting.

When you screen introverts in these less traditional ways, you’ll have a much better shot at uncovering their abilities and strengths.  

4. Be prepared for introverts to downplay their accomplishments

Introverts generally won’t wear you out tooting their own horns. And while that’s charming in a friend, it can be less than advantageous for a job candidate. 

To learn more about an introvert’s technological wizardry or unique gift for motivating teams, ask candidates for names of connections and colleagues up front. Then conduct your reference checks early in the process. By letting colleagues brag on behalf of an introvert, it’s easier for quiet candidates to compete fairly against more self-promoting candidates — and easier for you to understand how someone would perform once you hire them.

5. Create an introvert-friendly work environment

In many ways, introverts are ideally suited for remote work. They thrive when working independently and are usually most productive in a quiet place, writing, doing research, or solving problems. Office distractions often make it harder for them to work. 

Remote workplaces also offer introverts more opportunities to be heard. Damien Hooper-Campbell, Zoom’s chief diversity officer, says an overlooked upside to Zoom meetings is that introverts can use the chat function to make their views known. And they can employ the raise hand function to ask for a chance to speak. 

Because introverts like to reduce distractions whenever possible, they could play a key role in making video discussions proceed more smoothly, suggesting ways to streamline meeting and stick to agendas.

6. Many introverts will prefer a return to the office over work-from-home

Don’t assume that because someone is an introvert, they will thrive in a remote work environment. A report by Greater Divide, a Virginia-based marketing research consultancy, found that introverts were more likely to experience mental health issues during the quarantine than extroverts — the result, experts believe, of introverts having smaller social networks and less resiliency. Introverts were also 13% more likely to say they’d prefer to go back to the office full-time after the pandemic. 

That may be because some introverts live in places where they’re surrounded by family members, barking dogs, or noisy neighbors — the exact opposite of what they need to thrive. They may also need social connections to be happiest, even if those interactions are one-on-one. 

To ensure success when hiring an introvert, ask them: Do you have a quiet place to work? What kind of support do you need to create a distraction-free workspace where you can recharge and be productive? What would help you most to stay connected with colleagues so that you don’t feel isolated?  

The answers can help ensure that the introverted part of your workforce can have what they need to succeed during the remainder of the pandemic, and beyond. 

Final thoughts

Companies need a wide range of perspectives to thrive, and introverts can help drive solutions when they are given the time and solitude they need. So make room — whether it’s remote or at the office — for quieter candidates. As Susan Cain writes in Quiet, “Everyone shines, given the right lighting.”

*Photo by Elena Koycheva on Unsplash

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