I was a personality hire. We get away with doing less work, but you can't deny our value to the office.

• Daniel Bennett is a self-proclaimed "personality hire."
• When applying for his first job, he focused on making his interviewers like him rather than trying to impress them. 
• Personality hires are important for building company culture, he says. 

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Daniel Bennett, the 28-year-old founder of DX Creative, a social consulting agency, and a former advertising account manager. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I was a "personality hire."