STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Kari · Dooney & Bourke

Personality?

luckylily · Gucci

Hmmm...I've never heard of anyone actually being told that, but I think it is pretty common for personality to be a reason that an individual doesn't get a given job. I was just reading a CNN article yesterday that said that personality was around 30% of the consideration when looking for new employees. I've been on many interview teams at my company and we always discuss the interviewee's personality after the interview. We want someone who suits are culture.

It doesn't necessarily mean that your friend has a bad personality, just that they thought he wasn't a good personality fit for that particular company.

At this point, I'd leave the cocky thing alone. It may be true, but it sounds like your friend just needs to be comforted now.

Jahni · Dooney & Bourke

I dare you to tell him he's cocky.....DARE YOU!!!

And I think you owe me a couple of dare's from Sherlocks....

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

It sounds like he said something that offended the interviewer. I don't think they were saying he has a bad personality. I think they were trying to tell him that either he broke some sort of unwritten rule of conduct, or, more likely, he just said something that personally the interviewer strongly disagreec with. And he or she disliked him enough to be fairly direct about the fact that the comment cost him the job. Or maybe they were trying to do him a favor and let him know not to say it again. But I think it's more like they were trying to say he's not a good fit with what they're trying to do - like maybe he's abrasive, and they're really looking for someone to mediate disputes between service providers and clients... Is he new in this field? Is it possible he did the equivalent of telling a newspaper editor that the media often is ill-informed, and he's a big fan of Fox News? Because that's kind of what it sounds like...

Anyway, that's just how I read it. I wouldn't share this theory with your friend, though... Maybe just sort of ask him what comment the interviewer was referring to, and ask if that's a common opinion in the field, or if the interviewer had any sort of bias? Either way, it sounds like he wasn't a good fit with this company.