The job interview is one of the most nerve-racking experiences you have to face.
The reason you fear the job interview is down to the psychology of the interview process. In this series of ‘job interview psychology,‘ you will learn 5 psychological processes that are in play, that effect your job interview success, without you even knowing about it.
Job Interview Psychology 3 of 5 – Creating a Connection
“Listening is following the thoughts and feelings of another and understanding what the other is saying from his or her perspective” (1994 Neil Katz & Kevin McNulty)
Reflective listening, which came from Carl Rogers – client-centered therapy in counseling theory, has a powerful effect on the interview process.
The idea in a therapy setting is to listen to a client’s idea, then offer the idea back to the client, to confirm the idea has been correctly understood.
The skill of reflective listening is helping a client in a therapeutic setting to deal with something, or in our case, to help the interviewer understand that you are the right fit for the job.
Job Interview Psychology
Reflective listening is an easy skill to master and builds instant interviewer rapport.
Step 1 – listen to the specific words the interviewer is saying
Step 2 – repeat their statement (this reinforces to the interviewer that you have a comprehensive understanding of what they are discussing)
Step 3 – agree then add to their statement (this shows a higher level of thinking and creates authority)
An example of this is:
Interviewer (for a sales position): “communication is a key skill that shouldn’t be undervalued”
Interviewee: “I agree communication is a key skill that shouldn’t be undervalued. In fact, research shows how important the role of the ‘encoder’ and ‘decoder’ is. It is the interpretation of the communication that can make the difference between a sale or not. Are you familiar with Shannon-Weaver communication model? I found it highly useful in understanding how to talk to customers. “
Peak End Principle
The peak-end theory is a psychological rule in which an experience is evaluated and remembered based on the peak (most intense) point of the experience and/or the ending of the experience.
Interviewees often make a key error when being interviewed; they are too logical.
Often applicants will answer job interview questions in a process-driven way.
When asked “tell me about your experience” they will often list their experiences. This does get the relevant information over to the employer, but, it is….well…a bit boring.
To be successful in the job interview you need to create an emotional connection with the interview panel.
What many people don’t understand about the job interview process is that each applicant is asked the same interview question.
The interviewee’s reply, for each individual question, is scored on a scale of 1-10. As the interviewee answers the questions, the interview panel makes notes, often quoting your answers.
At the interview end, once you leave the building, the interview panel individually, at first, and then collectively, allocate a score based on what they recorded for each of your job interview questions.
Here’s the trick; when the interviewers reflect on your answers they remember how they felt about you in the job interview and this emotional reaction creates a perception filter that your answers are filtered through.
The filter is distorted by the emotional peak of the job interview (this could be positive or negative)
Creating a positive emotional peak is relatively easy;
First, you need to use storytelling when giving an answer to a job interview question. To use storytelling you need to follow a 3 step structure
Step 1 – set the scene. Here you describe a challenge, problem or situation you had to face. Keep this short, simple and relevant. The employer should be able to quickly understand the issue which is related to the position you are applying
Step 2 – become the hero. In all films and stories there is a hero who, after being in a tricky situation, takes action and saves the day. When explaining the solution to your stated problem you need to be clear in what YOU did, the action YOU took, that was part of the solution
Step 3 – create a eutopia. When being interviewed many people focus on past successes.
People are more future-focused than this; you are more likely to be offered a job by explaining what you can bring to the table rather than what you did in your previous role.
This last step requires you to make it relevant to this organization by explaining how you would use this experience to solve your new employer’s problems.
To do this use this special interview formula: XY = Z;
“if you struggle with X problem, I would use Y which will result in Z (positive outcome)
The second way to create an emotional connection in a job interview is through intrigue. Imagine beings asked “what is your biggest weakness?” and your reply with “In my last job I was nearly arrested for murder!”
OK I know this sounds extreme! but what happens here, is initially the interviewer will laugh at this ridiculous answer creating an emotional peak, but then in addition, especially if you leave a long pause before carrying on with your interview answer, you will create intrigue –“what does he mean, murder?”
These hooks generate curiosity – we all want to know what next. This is why TV series have a cliffhanger at the end of each episode, so we MUST tune in next week to find out what happened.
Back to the murder charge. Ok, the shock tactic hook has to be relevant or you will come across a bit strange. In this example, it could be an interview for a TV producer who was on an outdoor set secretly filing a prank when with unfortunate timing the police walked by. Or a worker who was helping a colleague who collapsed at work.
Yes, this example is a bit left field. Another more relevant example could be when asked “what is your greatest strength?” your intrigue reply could be “in the last 6 years I have built a reputation of turning around companies of the brink of bankruptcy and turned them into multimillion-pound organisations” Any employer requiring this skill will be shouting “how?”
Intrigue gets the employer feeling excited, creating anticipation. Anticipation releases dopamine in large quantities (the happy chemical) creating a strong emotional association with you the interviewee.
A final example is when asked, “why do you want to work for my organisation?” When asked this question most people answer by stating facts about the company; you have a great reputation, I like the fact that there is a focus on staff development, I have always wanted to work for a company like this.
Instead, use intrigue, get the interviewer asking you more questions to find out about the hook you have just fed them; “I was recently headhunted by one of your competitors but before I took the position I wanted to know more about this organisation”
This is very covert, the employer won’t be able to stop themselves by asking “which competitor was that?” They are also thinking, what is it about this person that a competitor of mine wants to hire them? Am I missing out?
Interview Psychology 2 of 5 – Unconcious Bias
Interview Pyschology 4 of 5 – Social Proof
Job Interview Advice
