“Diplomat” techie persona
If you're looking to hire someone who can care for others in a team, you may need someone with a 'diplomat' temperament. Learn more about this tech persona.
How to identify “diplomats”
Techies who fit in the diplomat persona are likely to come across as naturally understanding and genuinely caring towards others. What may be less obvious from first meeting them is the way that this translates into a skill of influencing others, through their ability to put themselves in just about anyone’s shoes.
To identify a diplomat, ask questions about their strategies for influencing senior stakeholders. They will likely appear as very good listeners, and able to take on board different perspectives and respond accordingly.
Interested in:
- Roles where they can care for other in the team
- Influencing others
Industries of interest:
- Travel & transport
- Architecture
- Engineering & building
Preferred specialities:
- Cybersecurity
- AI
- Cloud
View our report on the different temperaments of a techie here
Hiring and retention for this group:
If a company is looking for a new tech hire who is especially empathetic and kind, or who is skilled at influencing others, then it would be advisable to hire a diplomat. In order to attract this persona, highlight to potential candidates how the role would challenge them and where it could lead in terms of progression, as well as an appealing salary and employee benefits. These factors are all also important for retention of these employees, as is maintaining a good work-life balance.
Diplomats are most likely to stay in a role for between 2 and 5 years. To keep them longer, don’t ignore their desire to progress within the company – otherwise they may lose interest.
Particularly high levels of empathy were found in those currently working in the Education industry. If looking for someone with this temperament, therefore, it may be beneficial to seek people from this background. The least empathetic techies were found in the Legal industry – although this doesn’t mean you won’t find an occasional Carer here, too.
In line with this, the diplomats are the least likely group to aim for a role in the Finance or Legal industries. The diplomats’ preferred industries are Travel & Transport and Architecture, Engineering & Building. Neither of these were favoured by any other group.
Diplomats seem to be drawn to Cybersecurity above all other specialities. This interest is also reflected in the personalities of those who fit the diplomat persona in Good&Co’s database, with a high proportion of these occupying roles in Security (e.g. Information Security Analyst). This suits their naturally protective nature, and also ties in with their more cautious disposition (not being very adventurous). They are also interested in working in AI, and there is currently a prevalence of this persona in testing roles.
Techie personas series
To delve deeper into the high-flyers and the other personas, view our report here.