People tend to grossly misunderstand the terms “introvert” and “extrovert.”
All they mean, at their core, is how a person derives their “energy.”
An introverted person can be outgoing and personable, and an extroverted person can be heart-wrenchingly shy.
I am an introvert. I spend the majority of my day in and among people.
I am not only an executive of a company, but I’m also an executive coach – I’m with people all the time.
And yet, before I go to sleep each night, I read for roughly three hours to recharge.
Every night.
The interview process is a known quantity. Anyone going through it should prepare for it, and if they do they can succeed at it.
It is not biased against anyone, except perhaps agoraphobes, pathological liars and psychopaths. (Sociopaths, on the other hand, do rather well, as they will often approach the interview process as a social experiment, and their disorder can be misconstrued as confidence.)
If you are a germophobe and can’t bear to shake hands with people, be honest.
If you are claustrophobic and can’t bear to be in a closed room, be honest.
Basically, the interview is your chance for an interviewer to see what you will be like at their company. Show them the best bits of you.
Be honest.
Be yourself.
Be unabashedly you.
Lack of confidence isn’t an introvert problem. If it were, no introverts would have jobs.
Originally Posted: https://www.quora.com/Are-interview-processes-generally-biased-against-introverts
Originally Posted On: 2016-02-20