Business Week recently published an article which discusses how you’re now being interviewed for much more than just competency and skill…

Job interviews are becoming more like first dates. […] …companies are making hiring decisions “in a manner more closely resembling the choice of friends or romantic partners.” […] …“employers don’t necessarily hire the most skilled candidates.” […] “I hired someone as a manager, and it created a lot of tension because he didn’t fit in. People tried to alienate him because they weren’t interested in him as a friend,” she says. And it also goes the other way. “I once hired a woman who really didn’t have the right background or experience for the job, but who I hit it off with during the interview,” says Rebecca Grossman-Cohen, a marketing executive at News Corp.

Human resources, the biggest impediment to American corporate progress, is now evaluating you like a potential sex partner. In this type of selection process, who suffers? Betas with no game.

Alphas with charm, sexy smirks, and the basic ability to make rapport with promiscuous HR women will get the job over shy guys in spite of having less technical skill. (I pity the game denialist who hopes that holding out will get him beautiful women and high-paying jobs!) The kicker is that HR has no shame about it. They are proudly announcing in media interviews how likability is a far more important trait than education or experience.

Loading...

In an employment market in which many first-time employees relocate for work, offices are becoming surrogate families and social communities. New hires, especially young workers, want the secret Santa gift exchanges, the karaoke nights, and, increasingly, like-minded colleagues who share their values. […] “A lot of times, cultural fit is used as an excuse” for feelings interviewers aren’t comfortable expressing, says Eric Peterson, manager of diversity and inclusion at the Society for Human Resources and Management. “Maybe a hiring manager can’t picture himself having a beer with someone who has an accent. Sometimes, diversity candidates are shown the door for no other reason than that they made the interviewer a little less at ease.”

What will happen to an economy where workers are hired based on their ability to give HR butterflies in their stomachs? We’ll end up rewarding networkers, charlatans, charming rogues, and social hanger-ons who don’t produce. There is only one result for a nation who takes this path:

Read Next: The Synergy Of Game And Money