If you spend 2 or 3 hours with someone in a one on one situation you can usually disarm them enough to get them to relax and give you an idea of their dominant personality type. In most cases it’s difficult for some one who is an “expressive” personality type to fake being cool and reserve for very long. Just as not easy for person that’s an introvert to put on a gregarious façade for an extended time. If you’re interviewing some one for fifteen minutes and they haven’t looked you in the eye once, you can pretty much assume that this person probably won’t find a lot of success in business development, unless they’re related to a big developer or something.
With that said, knowing some ones personality type doesn’t tell the whole story. I agree that it takes time to get to know how someone fits into an office. I’ve worked with people that appeared to have it all, they had creativity, charm, gift of gab, good looks etc., but they couldn’t put it all together to make it work for themselves.
I guess it’s always a gamble; you just have to go with your gut feelings when hiring people. Actually I don’t care so much about a candidates resume or how polished their interviewing skills are. I pay more attention to the vibe a person gives off. And over the years I’ve developed a pretty good B.S. meter.
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