The "prawn" problem in recruitment hiring (and why likeability is probably tripping you up)

If you’ve hired in recruitment, you’ll know this one. You walk out of an interview and think: “Yeah, that’s the one.” It felt easy, they said the right things, you got on, their CV stacks up, and there are no awkward moments. You can already picture them in the team.

However, a few weeks in… there’s no pipeline, the calls aren’t being made, the urgency just isn’t there.

That’s when it lands… you’ve hired a prawn.

What I mean by that

We all know the type. They look great on the surface, confident in the room, and know how to sell themselves. But when it comes to doing the job? There’s nothing underneath. A prawn has high market value on paper, but possesses no guts, no spine, and a head full of... well, you know the rest.

When things get uncomfortable, which is imperative in recruitment, they simply will not push.

Why we keep doing it

Truthfully, most of us aren’t making bad hiring decisions on purpose. We’re just buying into how someone makes us feel in the room. If someone matches your energy and builds rapport quickly, it’s hard not to back them.

But here’s the bit we don’t always say out loud: being good in an interview doesn’t mean you’ll be good at recruitment. Some of the most likeable people I’ve hired haven’t worked out. A likeable personality is an absolute liability if it isn't backed by a willingness to initiate contact. You are hiring a salesperson, not a friend.

The red flags we ignore

If you’re honest, you’ve probably seen this happen:

• Short stints on a CV → “They just haven’t found the right place yet”
• Not that prepared → “They were probably rushed”
• Slow getting back to you → “It’ll be different when they start”

We explain it away because we like them, but that’s usually where it goes wrong.

The real issue: we’re still guessing

This came up a lot on the recent REC Power Hour. Even now, most hiring decisions are based on a couple of conversations, a CV, and a gut feeling. Considering how much a bad hire costs, making a call based purely on who interviewed well is highly expensive guesswork.

Changing the way you look at it

 The shift is moving from: “Do I like them?” To: “Have they shown me they’ll actually do this job day in, day out?”

To answer that, you have to replace seduction with science. This is where the SPQ*GOLD sales assessment comes in. It doesn't measure if they can do the job; it measures the psychological architecture that dictates if they will do the job. It measures the exact energy and resilience a recruiter brings across 24 specific scales, using internal filters to flag candidates faking their answers.

Stop guessing. Start measuring

If you are interviewing right now and are silently terrified your next hire might be a prawn, do not guess.

As an REC Business Partner, I am currently running a "Break the Glass" trial for members. You can test this science on a live candidate by running one SPQ assessment completely free of charge.

Scan the data, measure the resilience, and hire recruiters who actually sell. Just visit Paul Waters Associates or email dominic.waters@paulwatersassociates.co.uk to set it up.

Missed the first session? New Power Hour dates are coming up on 7 July and 30 September you can find out more and book your place by clicking the link below.

Power hour: Elevating sales team performance through better hiring