The secret of landing a job and keeping a job does not lay in the multiple reiterations of your resume, nor does it lay in a job well done which one would think should speak for itself. It lies in how much you are liked as a candidate and as an employee. Skills, education, experience, accomplishments aside, it all boils down to likability. Managers hire and keep the people they like. Many people think that likability is an innate quality, either you are likable or not. But the fact of the matter is there are specific things you can do to increase your likability and it is rooted in how you react, respond and engage with others. In a job interview it is the “chemistry” factor – how you click with that decision maker. In a job it is how you build and maintain relationships first by being aware of the things you may do to alienate others, second by learning some very specific communication skills and thirdly by honing certain behaviors that are conducive to engaging others.
Likability goes well beyond being “liked” in high school or on Facebook, it is a powerful part of managing your career and should be in any professional development plan.