Job Interview Psychology
This article is quick and simple. It will teach you one amazing psychology trick to give you, the interviewee, the upper hand in the job interview.
Every job interviewer is tasked with finding the most suitable applicant for the advertised position. The recruitment process is designed to get rid of any unsuitable applicants, leaving the interviewer a small group, on average 6-8 applicants, to choose from
Suitable Applicants
Each of the applicants will meet the essential criteria; They will have the required qualifications, experience and they would have demonstrated, through their application form, that they possess the required skills for the job they are applying for.
What I am saying is that everyone who is applying for the position will be similar to you in terms of suitability. So what will make the employer recruit one suitable person over another?
The answer is likeability and first impressions. This psychological technique will ensure the employer has high levels of rapport with you and sees you in a favorable light, right from the interview start.
Job Interview Psychology Applications
When you are invited into the interview room you have a small window of opportunity to initially influence the job interviewer. Most interviewers will offer small talk, at the interview start prior to asking you to set job interview questions, to put you at ease.
It is during this time that you can use the following psychology tactic to influence the job interview outcome. All you have to do is ask “what was it about my job application that made you want to interview me?”
This simple question is used as a priming effect. By asking “what was it about my job application that made you want to interview me?” You will focus the interviewer’s mindset on what they liked about? Your skills, your strengths and your unique selling point. If someone focuses on your positives, they have an automatic positive feeling about you. This positive association is powerful in a job interview environment.
Priming is the phenomenon that makes first impressions so valuable. The interviewer will rely on this first impressed as a filter to all your following job interview answers. People generally don’t change their mind, initially, on first impressions, which is why creating a positive priming effect will only add value to the interview process.
