4 Communications Styles to Help You Select a Career: Interview successfully, too!

This week, as part of a webinar, I read Dr. Tony Alessandra’s (et. al.) book, People Smart in Business, and immediately saw the value of his insights for jobseekers. The People Smart concept, also referred to as the DISC concept, or Platinum Rule, allows us to identify our communications style and the style of others we do business with. The concept is related to job search because, as a jobseeker, you may want to do two things—select or validate a job or career that matches your communications style, and then adjust, or “adapt” your style to the style your interviewer uses.

People Smart in Business discusses four communications styles, including the “Dominant Director, Interacting Socializer, Steady Relater, and the Conscious Thinker.” People with each style may gravitate to specific kinds of work. And, you will be more successful when you adjust your own style to the communications style of the person interviewing you.

Of course, we cannot pigeon-hoe people into four neat boxes. Most of us will communicate with others using a variety of styles. Research shows, though, that one style will be stronger than the others for you and the people you deal with during your job search.

Let’s start by discussing the “dominant director” style

Dominant directors want to win.

If someone on your team needs to win, their style is most likely that of a “dominant director.” According to Dr. Alessandra, people who exhibit this communications style are often CEOs, entrepreneurs, business owners, general contractors, general managers, politicians, military officers or in other executive or managerial positions. As a result, the Dominant Director you do business with is quite likely to be your boss or the senior leader who interviews you for your next job.

The communications style for the Director is “cut to the chase.” They want to know the bottom line. How will the idea, product, or service you are discussing make money for them? A director, according to this research, exudes confidence. They want to solve problems “because they’re there.” Don’t get in their way!

These are the people who have lots of trophies, diplomas, and awards on their desks, or perhaps on their Zoom backgrounds. So, when you interview with a senior leader that appears to focus on achieving goals and winning, cut the small-talk and quickly explain how you will help them achieve more.

Directors, in short, according to People Smart, prefer careers where they can take charge. So, in addition to preferring executive leadership roles, they may prefer law enforcement roles.

Interacting socializer are more people-oriented.

Fortunately, not everyone is a dominant director. Some of the people you will encounter during your job search, Dr. Alessandra says, like to talk with everyone and know everything about them. They tend to be in careers such as

• “Public relations
• Entertainment—acting, singing, reporting, public speaking —being on stage or in the public eye
• Professional host or hostesses (talk show, party, restaurant, airline, etc.) Recreation director
• Politician
• Personnel interviewer
• Salesperson.”

Since an interacting socializer may gravitate to careers such as hosts and job interviewers, there is a good chance you will encounter some of them during your job search campaign. Be more outgoing with them than the Dominant Director boss who ultimately presides at your final interview and makes the hiring decision.

Interacting socializers are the people that seem to be spending their time walking around and chatting in a traditional office space. They appear to be goofing off, but may, in fact, be tossing around ideas with coworkers as they walk through the cube farm. The socializers can be executive leaders, but as People Smart suggests, their style will be very different than that of the Dominant Director leader. So, if you are interviewing with an Interacting Socializer leader in, say, a PR firm be prepared to chat more and brainstorm rather than giving brief, results oriented, responses.

On the other hand, if you are the chatty, brainstorming Socializer while the leader interviewing you has a Director style, you may want to curb the chat and then get to the bottom line!

The Steady Relater is prepared and doesn’t “rock the boat.”

Another style Dr. Alessandra describes is the Steady Relater. Steady relaters, according to his book, get along best with co-workers that have other communication styles.

Steady relaters, according to People Smart are most likely to be found in “secure positions and careers where they can specialize in some areas and be part of a team. Their job categories, according to the book, include:

• “Financial services
• Social worker
• Family doctor/nurseResidential or community services
• Teacher
• Personal assistant/secretary
• Insurance agent
• Librarian
• Customer service representative.”

In fact, many of my coworkers in the government and social-service organizations were probably steady relaters. These were organizations where leadership tended to be promoted from within or from similar settings, so the leaders in our field were likely to be steady relaters, too.

Job interviews can be a challenge for anyone, even for those of us who, as steady relaters, tend to avoid conflict. It seems especially important, then, to remember the need to adapt when, for example, a dominant director-type senior leader who is interviewing us thrives on competition and conflict.

Cautious thinkers like accuracy and perfection.

The Cautious Thinker wants to do things right! They “aim, aim until they think they’ll get a perfect shot,” according to Dr. Alessandra’s book. He wrote that cautious thinkers gravitate to “careers in which they can strive for perfection, creativity, and completeness.” Specifically, he found their jobs are likely to be in include:

• “Forecasters (political, weather, etc.)
• Critics (film, history, literary, etc.)
• EngineersResearch scientists
• Data analysts
• Accountants/auditors
• Artists/sculptors/architects
• Inventors.”

Quite a few of the accountants, auditors, and data analysts I worked with in the public sector seemed to fit in this category. They were creative, yet strived to get it right and wanted everything to be perfect.

The problem is that calling oneself a perfectionist is a classic “wrong answer for the “what is your greatest strength?” job interview question. Employers, especially those results-driven Dominant Director senior leaders who may conduct your interview, probably want subordinates that will get the job done rather than those who will become bogged down in getting every detail correct.

Concluding comments

Many jobseekers know intuitively that they should adjust their style to that of their interviewers and then for their new coworkers. It’s good to know, though, that behavioral science research backs up this approach. Even better, surveys such as DISC are available from career management coaches, leadership coaches, resume writers, and others that can help you identify your style, suggest job targets that match your style, and ways to work with people who have different styles.