Dec 9, 2009

How personality predicts success

ScienceDaily 12/3: Personality predicts success in medical school.

During the early, pre-clinical years, conscientious individuals do much better than those who display lower levels of this trait. However, as the curriculum changed over the years, interpersonal aspects (for example, performance during internships or patient interaction) became more important for success.

Interpersonal aspects, I think, are the bane of education. Education rewards conscientiousness, intelligence, and self-discipline -- all valuable traits in the workplace -- but a college degree says nothing about a person's interpersonal skills. Even in my profession which traditionally employs some of the most introverted people on the planet (I am one of them), I have seen 4.0 students from Ivy League schools applying for an entry-level position get turned down for being off-putting in the interview, and people with much more humble credentials get hired with glowing reviews for being personable. Truthfully, I have no idea how I got hired.

Oh wait, now I do ... good looks predict success, too. :-)

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Earlier: Hire ugly people