CareerBuilder Study Reveals Surprising Factors That Play a Part in Determining Who Gets Hired

Employers Share Red Flags Keeping Employees From Being Promoted

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Aug 28, 2013, 04:00 ET

CHICAGO, Aug. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- While strong skills and experience are essential to getting a job, many employers take other factors into account as well. A new CareerBuilder study finds that a sense of humor, an eye for fashion, or even knowledge of current affairs and pop culture could also play some part in influencing a hiring manager's decision.

The nationwide study, conducted online by Harris Interactive^© from May 14 to June 5, 2013, included 2,076 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries. Employers were asked, if they had two equally qualified candidates, which factors would make them more likely to consider one candidate over another. Their responses included:

The candidate with the better sense of humor - 27 percent
The candidate who is involved in his or her community - 26 percent
The candidate who is better dressed - 22 percent
The candidate whom I have more in common with - 21 percent
The candidate who is more physically fit - 13 percent
The candidate who is more on top of current affairs and pop culture - 8 percent
The candidate who is more involved in social media - 7 percent
The candidate who is knowledgeable about sports - 4 percent

"When you're looking for a job, the key is selling your personal brand. Employers are not only looking for people who are professionally qualified for the position, but also someone who is going to fit in at the office," said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder. "Once you get the job, however, the process doesn't simply stop. Employers will continuously assess personality, performance and behavior when considering prospects for promotions. You want to treat your current job like an extended interview for the next job you want in the company."

Behaviors That Can Take You Out of the Running for a Promotion

One third (33 percent) of employers said they are more likely to promote an employee who has been vocal about asking for a promotion in the past. However, there are also several behaviors other than subpar or average performance that employers identified as red flags, keeping employees from promotions, including:

Someone who says, "that's not my job" - 71 percent
Someone who is often late - 69 percent
Someone who has lied at work - 68 percent
Someone who takes credit for other people's work - 64 percent
Someone who often leaves work early - 55 percent
Someone who takes liberties with expenses charged back to the company - 55 percent
Someone who gossips - 46 percent
Someone who doesn't dress professionally - 35 percent
Someone who swears - 30 percent
Someone who doesn't say anything in meetings - 22 percent
Someone who cried at work - 9 percent
Someone who has dated a co-worker - 8 percent

The survey also found that promotions aren't necessarily accompanied by higher compensation. Nearly two-thirds of employers (63 percent) said that a promotion at their firms doesn't always entail a pay increase.

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive^© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,076 U.S. hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between May 14 and June 5, 2013 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 2,076 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 2.15 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract great talent. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 50 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world's top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and talent and compensation intelligence to recruitment solutions. More than 10,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder's proprietary job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com

Media Contact
Jennifer Grasz
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SOURCE Career Builder, Inc.