Have an interview lined up? Then take notes from Omar Asali, the chairman and CEO of the $661 million eco-focused packaging company Ranpak in the US. Mr Asali in an interview with CNBC Make It shared the no.1 red flag he sees in a job candidate. Mr Asali revealed that he isn't keen on hiring smooth talkers.
Expanding on his perspective, Mr Asali explained that overly self-promotional candidates are a potential red flag, as they often prioritize personal gains over the organisation's interests. "You need to be cautious with individuals who are smooth talkers and overly promotional," said Mr Asali, who has been leading Ranpak since 2019, in an interview with CNBC Make It. "I'm not hiring someone because they excel at presentations; I'm hiring them to accomplish specific tasks and meet certain objectives."
This philosophy has led the 53-year-old New York-based CEO to develop an "insightful" approach during the recruitment process to distinguish between "talkers" and "doers." While he isn't directly involved in every hiring decision, he is hands-on when recruiting senior executives. One of his go-to interview techniques involves asking candidates to share 10 words that immediately come to mind to describe themselves. According to Mr Asali, these spontaneous responses provide deeper insights into their professional and social personalities, often revealing more than rehearsed answers ever could.
"The more honest they came across - the more sincere they came across - the more I enjoyed the conversation. You would be surprised with people I hired that were pretty open and vulnerable about things about themselves," Mr Asali said.
