“Giving your job talk but don’t seem “witty” in the Q&A session? Good luck getting the job. Not good at schmoozing over drinks after the job talk? Good luck getting the job.”

Tenured professors who will have to work, possibly for decades, with the person that they are hiring, apparently want to have someone in their department that they can get along with and enjoy having around. That’s a pretty human behavior and not too surprising, especially in the humanities. The only way to get around that is to be a recognized super genius. The vast majority of the people that apply for these positions are merely competent, so those other more nebulous qualifications will apply in the hiring process.