The psychological impact of the halo or horns effect has a subconscious influence on the employers decision making process.
What is the job interview halo effect?
The now famed halo effect is a cognitive bias where the employers overall impression of a job candidate influences how the hiring manager receives the applicants interview answers.
At a basic level, an applicant can be seen as ‘suitable’ or ‘hirable’ when the halo effect is in play. The halo effect can be created when an employer finds the candidate attractive. We call this ‘the what is beautiful is good‘ bias.
People believe attractiveness to be linked to other positive traits; intelligence, reliability, and being skilled, without any evidence.
Prior to the job interview, the halo effect can take effect.
An employer reading a candidate’s application form can form a positive opinion, where the hiring managers believe this applicant is the most suitable person for the role, even without interviewing anyone.
An everyday example of the halo effect is a friend introducing you to one of their colleagues. Prior to meeting the colleague, the friend says “the (colleague) is a really nice person, I know you will really like them.” This seeding of a positive character creates the halo effect. As would reading their (positive) social media feed, or finding out that you both have a common interest.
How does the halo effect, effect the job interview?
Being attractive doesn’t guarantee a job offer.
Instead, the halo effect creates a positive filter. The employer, liking the applicant, will search for evidence of suitability.
The hiring manager will want the candidate to do well. In fact, research shows that the subtle changes in an employer’s behavior, influence how the interviewee acts, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What is the Horns Effect?
There is an opposite to the famed halo effect, the ‘horns effect’.
If an employer is predisposed to dislike the applicant, they will subconsciously search for reasons to reduce an interview score.
Several information sources can lead to a ‘horn effect’.
The employer hearing bad things from a colleague about the applicant prior to the job interview (this is most common in internal interviews) can create a pre-interview negative opinion.
This scenario worsens when the colleagues reference how the applicant may lie or be deceitful during the job interview. Being viewed as having a ‘dishonest‘ interview identity creates a barrier that is hard to remove.
Many employers now use social media as one way to ‘get to know the real applicant’ before they attend the recruitment process.
A social media page that creates a negative impression, such as photos of drinking and partying, can create a negative stereotype.
Even the candidate’s communication skills during the application process can create a halo or horns effect. A weak worded email, spelling errors, or even working for an organization with a poor reputation can create a negative association.
First Impression Horns Effect
The horns effect can take place prior to the job interview but also during the initial introduction.
As the employer meets the applicant in reception, a number of non-job-related criteria can influence the hiring manager’s decision-making process.
Being overweight, as an example, can have a negative association. Obese equals laziness.
An experiment shown how being obese reduces the number of jobs offers an applicant received. Employers were sent one application, which either had attached to it, a picture of an overweight job applicant or an average size person. The conclusion was that the image of an overweight individual had a negative horns effect on their application process.
But a number of other non-job-related criteria can create a positive or negative first impression:
- Gender
- Age
- Ethnicity
- Height
- Weight
- Hair colour
- Stance
- Tonality
The research is proving how a job interview is never a fair recruitment process, as opinions are made at the subconscious level.
These initial impressions act as the filter throughout the recruitment process, with an employer filtering each answer, and therefore searching for evidence to back up their belief, through the filter suitable or not suitable, liked or disliked.
Interviewees can help to shape the way they are viewed by creating a positive job interview identity during the answering of the initial interview questions.
The stating of key competencies, when communicated confidently, can override the initial impression. This is because the structured process of a job interview means the employer must mark the applicant’s answers against the job interview scorecard.
