Tag: job interview questions

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How the affinity bias affects your job interview

The structured interview process is the principal intervention to make a decision on which applicant to offer an advertised position to. It is the asking of standardised questions of job-relevant criteria and a numerical scoring mechanism of the interviewees answers that results in the assumption that the best candidate is offered the advertised role. 

The structured interviews ‘fair’ scoring system does not take into account bias. Evidence shows how perception disorders affect judgement. Two people seeing the same stimuli can attach different meanings to it.

A common ‘unconscious bias’ in the job interview is the ‘affinity’ bias – we gravitate towards people if we believe they are similar to us. When recruiting a new team member, interviewers will often have a natural stronger preference for an applicant who they feel is the ‘right fit’ for the organisation.

The ‘right fit,’ when the ‘affinity’ bias is in operation, is the interviewer having a stronger desire to recruit an applicant who they see as having a similar personality, attitude, value(s) and belief(s) as themselves. Not to be confused with an interviewee evidencing that they meet the organisational values, the ‘affinity bias’ perception disorder is an intuitive ‘feeling’ that influences the interviewers decision making process; they remind me of me.

The subconscious association here is; Interviewer has a strong understanding of self: Interviewer identifies similar attributes between themselves and the interviewee: Interviewer associates their character with the applicant: Interviewer increases likability of interviewee. 

This whole process happens instantaneously at the subconscious level. A second interviewer, who does not find any common ground with the same applicant, is likely to score the candidate lower then the first interviewer because the ‘affinity’ bias isn’t in effect. In fact, an interviewer may take a dislike to the applicant if they don’t bond due to a lack of similarities. This ‘liking’ or ‘disliking’ is emotional, not logical, and created so rapidly that the interviewer does not question the prejudice.

Similarities can be as basic as having attended the same university, sharing a forename or supporting the same sports team. It can also be something deeper; a belief or attitude. Many attributes can increase or decrease likability; an interviewees weight, ethnicity, sex, age or how a person communicates, dresses and even a candidates handshake all create an interview perception disorder. 

The interview perception, formed at the interview start, creates that all important ‘first impression’ which acts as a ‘selection filter.’ The  interviewer’s involuntary opinion is filled with errors, prejudices and stereotypes. This automatic thinking comes from assumptions based on the interviewers own experiences, values and beliefs.

The brain is designed to create short-cuts to reduce the time it takes to complete each task. It is this fast-thinking part of the mind that uses generalisations to make rapid decisions. If, for example, you believe that an interviewee who is late for an interview will be a terrible worker, you will act from this viewpoint rather than challenge the status quo. 

It is important to understand the mind’s cognitive processing system: Simplifying the complexity of the brain, humans use two operating systems; system 1 and system 2.

System 1 is the fast-thinking mind, creating opinions quickly and intuitively. The brain is always operating using system 1, making decisions that you are not consciously aware of – an interviewer judging an applicant as they arrive for a job interview.

System 2 is a slower analytical mind that requires mental effort to solve complex computations. It requires concentration to make a conscious choice – an interviewer referencing a stated answer against the scoring criteria.

Each of us use both (conceptual) systems but due to system 2 requiring effort (the brain prefers to use less effort)  it will use system 1s shortcuts as a starting point, such as having a bias based on an unconscious opinion or belief. 

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The purpose of a job interview

The structured interview process is the principal intervention to make a decision on which applicant to offer an advertised position to. It is the asking of standardised questions of job-relevant criteria and a numerical scoring mechanism of the interviewees answers that results in the assumption that the best candidate is offered the advertised role. 

The structured interview is seen as ‘fair’ as candidates are individually scored on each interview question, which is asked by the same interviewer(s) in the same order. The scores allocated for each answer is rated, as an example, between 1-4; 1 = negative, 2 = good, 3 = effective, 4 = expert, with each employer having their own numerical scoring system. 

The rationale for the structured job interview is that interviewees will answer questions by giving information relevant to the advertised job role. This relies on the applicant being able to identify the job criteria. Being able to identify criteria and embedding the stated criteria into the job interview answer should, in most cases, result in either a 3 = effective or 4 = expert scoring, spending on your level of knowledge/experience. Research has shown that the ability to predict job criteria, therefore having a high level of sector knowledge/experience, accurately predicts job performance (the objective of the job interview process), compared to when the criteria is explicit prior to the job interview.  

‘Giving too much away’ prior to the job interview, in terms of explicitly explaining the job criteria, allows an interviewee to prepare an ‘expert’ answer even if their industry knowledge/experience is low.  Evidence shows that sharing job criteria prior to the interview start makes it more difficult for interviewers to accurately predict a potential employees job performance during a job interview, as the ‘expert’ interview answers are in contrast with their actual level of knowledge/experience. 

It has been argued that in the job interview, the interviewee presents the ‘best’ version of themselves. This distinction between the ‘best’ version of an applicant and actual performance once employed has an impact on the organisation’s output. As an example, job interviews often test people’s potential ability (knowledge/expertise not their characteristics IE work ethic, time keeping, etc). The structured interview, therefore, is asking candidates what they are ‘likely’ to do, not what they will ‘actually’ do once employed. 

What employees ‘actual’ do in the workplace comes down to their level of motivation. In ‘real-life,’ rather than the fictional scenario discussed in a job interview, the employee makes choices which affects output. Choice could include effort, acting on distractions, responding to external forces IE the characteristic or mood of a manager. In the job interview though, the applicants answers are based on their competencies, framed as ‘typical’ day to day approaches but answers are often examples of the candidate performing at their best. 

To counter the distortion created by interviewees presenting a high performing examples, some recruitment campaigns hold all-day interviews which include structured interviews, assessments (to test knowledge/experience) group work activities and informal discussions (to view temperament), with the idea that an applicant, due to the duration of the day, will show their ‘real’ selves and therefore the interviewers can see the candidate as they would act/perform once employed. 

Here we see another problem when searching for the ‘best’ applicant. All day interviews often include a ‘teamwork’ or ‘problem-solving’ activity to view characteristics. In a job interview, applicants are highly motivated to act outside their ‘typical’ working style as the ‘activity’ will be for a short duration allowing the interviewee to put in a high amount of ‘energy’ and ‘effort’ which, in a typical working day, wouldn’t be sustainable. In this sense interviewers view applicants at their best, not their norm. 

The applicant’s job interview level of confidence can also alter reality. Some ‘high level of confidence’ candidates will use the interview activity to showcase their abilities – actively promoting themselves, whereas a ‘low level of confidence’ interviewee, with the same level of knowledge/expertise will unconsciously self-disclose weaknesses and conform with other, more confident, applicants in team tasks.  

Temperament also affects the employers perception of the interviewee, especially the extrovertism and introvertism trait. These two characteristics have nothing to do with confidence, rather it’s about being ‘expressive’ or ‘reserved.’  In team tasks, the expressive individual feels at home as they gain ‘energy’ from interacting with others and thus appear confident, which can help them to stand out in the interview activity. Reserved individuals will think before talking and can be viewed, by some, as being less confident than their extrovert counterpart. This ‘thinking’ before speaking can benefit the introvert in the structured interview as they way-up their answer before replying, ensuring that each answer is relevant to the job criteria. Extroverts, who will often ‘speak’ before they ‘think’ and can, at the worst, interrupt an interviewer or answer without truly understanding the meaning of the question.

All interview formats create a stressful environment making it difficult to see the interviewee as they would ‘typically’ act in the workplace. Some applicants respond well to the ‘challenge’ of a job interview, whereas others act uncharacteristically, due to the stress of the situation. The only way to view an employees typical workplace behaviour is to evaluate an employee when they don’t realise they are being observed. For a recruitment campaign this is an impossible scenario. 

It is clear then that the more a confident applicant understands the job criteria  and therefore gives high scoring answers, the more successful they will be in a job interview, but not always in the job itself. It is for the interviewer, not the interviewee, to create an interview process that uncovers the applicants work ethic, motivation level, knowledge/expertise as well as to understand which interview answer is based on their maximum performance, and to question the interviewee to understand the applicants ‘typical’ work based behaviour.

The interviewee has one goal; to be seen as an authentic and strong applicant. With a subgoal if deciding if the organization is one they want to work for. As you will learn, to be seen as authentic and strong, the candidate needs to show high levels of knowledge/experience and high levels of confidence.

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Non-Retail Jobs That Seniors Will Love

There is nothing at all wrong with being a door greeter at Walmart. However, that’s not for everyone. If you’ve found yourself retired and bored (or struggling to make ends meet), then the jobs below can fill your days as well as your pockets. The best part is that they are all flexible, meaning you can work when you want and relax when you don’t.

Insurance Sales

As an adult with decades of life experience, you already know the benefits of having life insurance. Insurance sales is an excellent way to share your knowledge and help people protect their family’s financial future. You don’t need sales experience, but you do need a driving passion and a willingness to get to know your products before you start signing contacts. You’ll also want to research insurance companies to get an idea of the culture and salary you are walking into. As an agent, you can expect to make a median income of just more than £25,494, but you could earn much more if you put the work into it.

Consultant

If you worked before, there is a good chance that you have all the experience necessary to become a consultant in your former industry. A consultant is not a full-time employee; instead, you are your own boss and sell your skills to others. If you were a policeman or detective, for example, you might work as a consultant in loss prevention or private security. The possibilities for this line of work are virtually endless.

Working as a consultant may offer you the opportunity to work remotely from home. One of the most effective ways to locate consultant work is through online job boards like Upwork. These boards list both short- and long-term job opportunities in areas like sales and marketing, customer service, and administrative support.

Substitute Teacher

Do you love kids? Becoming a substitute teacher is one of the best ways to make a difference in your community while enjoying all of the hugs, smiles, and laughter you could ever want. Swing Education notes that you can set your own schedule and choose which classrooms you want to teach in. You probably won’t make a ton of money, but you will have an opportunity to meet many local families. Just make sure you get your flu shot before your first teaching gig.

Rideshare Driver

Ridesharing is one of the great inventions of the Millennial generation. But just because it’s the 20- and 30-somethings using it does not mean that seniors don’t appreciate companies like Uber. In fact, according to some surveys, more than half of on-demand drivers are 61 years or older. It’s an excellent part-time job for seniors, particularly if you live in a populated area.

Tour Guide

Out of all the jobs we’ve listed, this one has the potential for the most fun. As a tour guide, you get to share your home town — or even the world — with people from all walks of life. Live in London? Grab a microphone and narrate an architecture tour. Additionally, ghost hunting and historical walking tours are one of the most popular attractions. Many museums also have plenty of volunteer opportunities available for seniors who are interested in historic conservation. These often are reimbursed with tips, only but it’s a wonderful experience.

Again, if you want to work behind the cash register or bag groceries during retirement, there’s absolutely no shame in that. However, if you are a little more adventurous or feel called to share your life experiences, the positions discussed above all have excellent availability. So, clean up your resume, brush up on your interview skills by utilizing the many helpful tips found on Influence the Interview, and set to work!

Article written by Carla Lopez

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4 Ways to Answer “what is your experience?” depending on your level of job role.

To influence the job interview outcome you first need to determine the level of position you are applying for as each job level requires a different type of answer for the asked job interview question.

Secondly, you need to be aware of how job interviewers perceive you. The ‘Interview Prediction Grid’ (IPG) ©2020 model takes into account your sector knowledge/experience K/E (on a scale of low-high) as well as your job interview level of confidence LoC (on a scale of low-high) The IPG score, created by the combination of KE vs LoC, creates an ‘interview identity’ which affects how an employer perceives you in the job interview. Your ‘interview identity’ has a direct effect on the likelihood of you passing or failing the job interview.

Thirdly, by understanding the level of job and your ‘interview identity’ you can create a perfect job interview answer relevant for the advertised role.

What Job Level are you Applying For?

Generally speaking, there are 4 levels of job roles; voluntary jobs, low-skilled roles, medium-skilled positions, and high skilled jobs. Each level of position requires a different job interview approach, which is referenced in the answers to the job interview question.

Voluntary jobs – charity shops, befriending, soup kitchens

Low skilled roles – retail, fast-food chains, internships, customer service positions, telephone operators, warehouse staff, administration

Medium skilled positions – middle managers, skilled laborer, medical staff, engineer, career advisor, teacher, other degree-level positions

High skilled jobs – chief executive officer, specialist doctor, senior engineer, head-teacher

Job Interview Prediction Grid

The decision of where you place yourself on the IPG depends on two key factors; your level of K/E and LoC. Remember the ‘interview prediction grid’ needs to account for your behavior in a job interview, not in the workplace IE you may be a productive worker but if you struggle to communicate your work ethic in a job interview you will be perceived as having low K/E.

Each of the two axes is on a scale of 2-8; 2 represents low K/E or LoC, 4 is sufficient, 6, medium (required for roles degree level and above roles) and 8 high (expert level) For a detailed breakdown and to check your specific ‘interview identity’ click – Interview Identity.

Job Interview Question – what is your experience?

How to answer the commonly asked job interview question – what is your experience? Depending on your interview identity, formed on the IPG, choose one of the following job interview question answer templates:

Low/Low Employee

In the main, low/low employees have little experience and need to focus on their skill set, personality and any part-time/work-experienced roles. With low confidence it can be difficult to reply to questions, using a 3 step structured process can help them to deliver a strong answer.

Example Job Interview Answer Template

“I am a (add quality), (add quality) individual who enjoys (add skill). When in school I (add work experience/club position/roles of authority) where I (add duties/responsibilities) The reason I am applying for this position (explain why you have applied for this role).

Example Job Interview Answer

“I am a kind, caring individual who enjoys customer service. When in school I was the head prefect where I was responsible for organizing the prefects timetable, organizing the end of year ball and feeding back to teachers. The reason I am applying for this position is because of the high standards of customer service your employees have”

Low/High Employee

As low/high employees possess high levels of confidence (but low levels of experience) making rapport with the interviewer through storytelling can increase likability and job offers, as the stories highlight your expertise and unique selling point.

Example Job Interview Answer Template

“I have over (add years) experience working in (add company name/sector/job role) as you know (add sector related problem) To achieve this I (add solution/unique selling point) an example of this when I worked at (add company name), where I had to (add situation). To solve this issue I (add actions you took) which resulted in (add outcome)”

Example Job Interview Answer

“I have over 2 years experience working in retail, as you know the key to success is maximizing profitability in a competitive market. To achieve this I use my psychology degree to improve my teams awareness of the psychology of sales; an example of this when I worked at Tesco where I had to push an end of line product after the Christmas rush. To solve this issue I taught my team how to embed the psychology of scarcity by using a ‘last few products left’ sign while only displaying a few of the items (which we replenished one by one as a purchase was registered) which resulted in 2 things; selling all of the products and being the areas highest profitable shop for 3 months in a row”

High/Low Applicant

The lack of confidence can create difficulty in communicating your answer. Using models, theories, abbreviation and sector terminology allows you to communicate a high amount of information (inferred details) without physically saying to much.

Example Job Interview Answer Template

“As a (add job role) I use (add model/theory). My success comes from (add strength/unique selling point) I’m skilled at (list several key words related to the job role/industry)

Example Job Interview Answer

“As a project manager, I use the ‘prince 2’ methodology. My success comes from my analytical ability and being able to predict potential, high cost, project problems and communicating this to the customer prior to the initiation of the project. I’m skilled at writing work packages, quality control measures, setting scope, presenting updates in board meetings, risk management, negotiation, trouble-shooting and end of project pass-over.”

High/High Applicant

To create awe, answer questions by giving multiple examples and/or possible situations to help the interviewer understand your level of expertise.

Example Job Interview Answer Template

“I have spent the last (add duration) (add power statement) As a highly experienced (add position) (add specialism/unique selling point) (add result/outcome). Not only can I share my expertise and wealth of knowledge, I can also share with you (add 3 hooks)”

Example Job Interview Answer

“I have spent the last 25 years turning around organisations on the brink of bankruptcy into highly profitable businesses. As a highly experienced consultant I have a track record of implementing ‘lean’ techniques in failing supply-chain management organisations, which has resulted in consistent successes. Not only can I share my expertise and wealth of knowledge, I can also share with you my client list who only hire me as their consultant. I also worked with several logistic companies and suppliers who I have negotiated terms with that help me reduce overhead cost for our customer base and I can promote the organisation on my social media channels where I have over 1.2 million followers.”

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The psychology of job interviews series

You will learn how to ace a job interview using 5 key psychological principles

Each link will take you to one of 5 job interveiew pychology artciles. Embedded within the techniques are pyschology researcher paperps to help you better understand the subconcious actions of job interveiw panels

Job Interview Psychology 1 of 5

Rewards and Fears

The psychology of job interviews part 1 of 5

Job Interview Psychology 2 of 5

Unconscious Bias

The psychology of job interviews

Job Interview Psychology 3 of 5

Creating a Connection

The psychology of job interviews part 3 of 5

Interview Psychology 4 of 5 –

Social Proof

The psychology of job interviews part 4 of 5

Job Interview Psychology 5 of 5

Effects of Positive Moods

The psychology of job interviews part 5 of 5

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The psychology of job interviews part 5 of 5

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 4 of 5 – effects of positive moods

Alice Isen and Paul Levin (1972) completed an experiment on the effects of good moods.

In a shopping mall, they left money in the coin return slot of a telephone booth to boost the moods of the lucky shoppers who found the cash. After the subject left the phone booth, another shopper (part of the experiment team) ‘accidentally’ dropped a folder a few feet in front of the shoppers. 4% of people who didn’t find the change in the telephone booth helped the man who had dropped the folder, but a staggering 84% of the people who did find the change, and as a consequence were in a good mood, helped the man.

The results clearly showing that if you feel good you are more likely to help others.

This ‘feel good, do good’ effect is a powerful tool in a job interview. The timing of your job interview also plays a key role in the success of the outcome of your interview.

Contrast bias is the process of comparing one thing; a weight, experience or a job interview applicant, to another recent experience in the same category.

The first interviewee to be interviewed becomes the baseline and all other applicants are compared to this initial interview performance.

As the baseline interviewee, you can never surpass the benchmark because you are the benchmark.

The timing of your interview, therefore, has a direct impact on your success rate. When possible never choose the first interview slot or you will become victim to contrast bias. *in addition to the job interview this same interview psychology has an effect on your salary negotiations.

Job Interview Psychology – likeability

If being the first interviewee has a negative effect on your job interview outcome, should you apply for the last interview slot? No! And the reason why is decision fatigue – the quality of decisions deteriorate after a long period of decision making, and deciding on the best candidate after a long day of decision making is very tiring.

Compared to the ‘feel good, do good’ theory, if the interviewer is in a negative mood they ‘feel bad, do bad’ The interview panels emotional state, therefore, has a direct impact on their decisions making ability.

To increase job interview success your task is to make the interviewer feel good about themselves. Your goal is to create an altruistic interviewer.

One contraction to the ‘feel bad, do bad’ theory is the ‘negative-state relief’ theory. Guilt creates an internal motivation to ‘do good’ as we believe that ‘a good deed cancels out a bad deed’

Also, sadness can increase ‘helping.’ The reason guilt or sadness influences someone to help others is because people will help others so they feel good about themselves, to relieve their guilt or sadness.

In a job interview, effective storytelling can induce sadness. We see this all the time on TV talent shows, where a sad backstory affects the votes of the judges

But as with the above audition, talent also plays a key role. ‘Talent’ in a job interview is your ability to influence the interview panel, not the talent of completing job tasks as you only need this skill once you are employed.

Humans like to be consistent, it makes us feel good as our actions are in line with our values and identity.

If you want to predict the type of interviewee that will be offered the job role, look at the type of person who was last recruited by the same interview panel.

If you create an association between the previously hired person, through identifying similarities, you are more likely to be hired “he’s like X, we hired X, let’s hire this person”

Ownership increases value. This is the famous (in sales) endowment effect; once we own something we add more value to it.

A study with students where they were given a cup with the university logo on it, worth $6. In a trading game the owners of the cup requested items of $5 value (on average) for the cup trade, but other students who didn’t own the mug, only believed the mug value was worth around $2. It was the sense of ownership that increase the value of the product.

In recruitment, people believe that internal candidates have a better success rate for internal job roles then external candidates because the company embraces internal mobility.

The truth is, an organization wants to hire the ‘perceived ‘best person for the role (internal or external). But, organisations have a feeling of ownership to their employees, and see them, initially, as a higher value (until you can influence them that you are the strongest candidate)

This is why volunteering, being an intern or an external mentor for employees – anything to link you to the ‘team’ gives you an advantage; you will be seen as being owned by the company – “she is one of ours”

Positive moods in the interview panel created from the association, the sense of ownership or comparison, can support you to achieve job interview success.

If the interviewer is feeling good (interviewing in the middle of the day – but not after dinner time, as eating food makes you tired, helps with this) they are more likely to see you in a positive light.

To increase happiness in others is relatively easy. And through association, what the interview feels, will be projected on to you – they feel good = you must be good.

If you smile you feel good. I suppose you cant always deliver a well-rehearsed comedy set in the job interview to make the panel laugh, but you can smile.

Mirror Neurons

Humans use mirror neurons to perceive how other people are feeling. Neurons activate when you need to complete a specific task (scratching your face as an example) these mirror neurons also activate when you see someone else performing a task; seeing someone scratch their face activates your ‘scratch my face neurons.’

In an experiment, two subjects had to look at and openly discuss a number of photographs.

In fact, one of the subjects was in on the experiment and would complete a subtle behavior; scratching their face or tapping their foot.

The experiment was about behavioral influence, (and had nothing to do with the pictures) the psychologist wanted to know if the subject would copy another person unconsciously?

Yes, they would and a lot. Mirroring is a natural rapport-building process.

Mirror neurons have the same effect with emotions. If you smile (and feel good) the interviewer, with mirror-neurons, will feel the same happy thoughts.

You can take this further, and have open body language, sit with confidence and your job interview panel will, with unconscious awareness, copy your behavior and feel good about you, which we know through unconscious bias, creates a positive effect on the job interview outcome

Finding common ground increases likeability, complementing people makes them feel good and seeding the idea of a good interview “I can see that this will be a good interview” will increase the likelihood of the job interview actually being good

But most importantly – people respond well to charismatic authority. Being confident, extrovert, humourous and knowledgeable, while showing interest in others (the interview panel) will create a powerful liking bond that will help you secure your next job offer.

Interview Psychology 4 of 5 – social proof

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Free career coaching for careers

Carers week (7th-13th June 2021)

In the UK over 6.5 million people are currently caring unpaid for a family member or friend who is older, disabled or seriously ill.

Caring has a direct impact on the carers life from where they could study in higher education to their career choices.

To support carers with the career options Employment King are offering FREE mini virtual career sessions.

Choose between a career guidance session to help explore career options, educational pathways, and apprenticeships.

  • Match a career to your personality, values and skills
  • Create a career plan
  • Discuss job salary, duties and entry routes

Or, an interview coaching session to help improve your chances of gaining a job offer.

  • Mock interview and feedback
  • Learn how to structure an interview answer
  • Improve job interview confidence

To enquire about a career coaching session complete the form below and one of our career coaches will get back to you to discuss a suitable date and time

All career coaching sessions will take place during 7th-11th June

Sessions are completed online via video call

Each session will last aorund 30 minutes

Carers have to be 18yrs+ to access this free service

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    The psychology of job interviews part 4 of 5

    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 4 of 5 – Social Proof

    The current trend for job interviews is to be interviewed by a panel of interviewers (between 2-5 on average) The panel will be made up of a variety of personnel to create a fair interview process (but as we discussed previously unconscious bias plays a key part in the recruitment process)

    A second psychological principle in play during a job interview process is social proof. The mind is lazy and is always looking for short cuts to decide how to act in the real world. One of these short cuts is following on the crowd; we unconsciously (and sometimes consciously) take our cues on how to act, what to believe and which candidate to offer the job to, from the people around us.

    The process of social proof is well embedded in the human mind and was started in our evolutionary past. When we walked around the world as hunter-gatherers, to survive, we learnt that you had to band together – a group was stronger than an individual. Each tribe had its own group culture, beliefs, and values. If you didn’t ‘fit in’ (interviewers still use this terminology “he/she would be a good ‘fit’ for the team”) with the group culture you may be banished from the group and left to survive on your own – many ostracized group members didn’t last very long. To ensure we weren’t exiled, humans learned to agree with the group leaders, taking cues from the actions of others.

    Job Interview Psychology – Group Polarization

    To increase job offers you need to understand the power of social influence.  Muzafer Sherif’s 1935 experiment shows how social proof impacts decision making; a number of subjects sat in a dark room one at a time and were asked to look at a dot of light a few feet in front of them. They were asked to state, in inches, the distance the dot was moving. The subjects were unaware that the dot of light was in fact stationary but an illusionary movement causes by the ‘autokinetic effect‘ tricked people into believing the dot was in motion.

    After a couple of days, the experiment was repeated, but this time the same subjects completed the same experiment in a group. The groups were asked to shout out the perceived distances of the light movement. This time the group, ignoring their own individual estimates, came to an agreement on a common estimate.

    In the final stage of the experiment, the subjects completed the same test for the third time. In this third stage, the subjects undertook the test on their own again, as they had initially. It was found that the subjects gave the movement estimates, in this third test, that matched the group consensus from the second group test, rather than sticking to their original (individual) test one results. This is because we are influenced by the power of social proof (we rarely want to be different) to make a decision.

    Psychologist Robert Cialdini explains social proof in his book; Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion: “Whether the question is what to do with an empty popcorn box in a movie theater, how fast to drive on a certain stretch of highway, or how to eat the chicken at a dinner party, the actions of those around us will be important in defining the answer.” In the job interview, the ‘group’ that others take their cues from is relatively small. In small groups, we will often follow the lead of the person with the most authority (authority here relates to personality not the hierarchy of the position of each panel member)

    Authority

    If you can influence the most authoritative interviewer from the panel you will create a domino effect. Imagine being a farmer; your job today is to move a herd of cows from a top filed to the bottom field, ready for milking. The quickest way to achieve this is to find out which cow is the ‘lead cow’ If you are able to move the lead cow in the direction you intend, the rest of the herd will simply follow their leader.

    The authority rule was proven with the now-famous Milgram experiment. In this experiment, subjects thought they were participating in an experiment about the effects of punishment on learning. There were roles for each of the subjects; teacher and learner (the learner subject was actually part of the experiment team and not a real subject) The teacher subject was tasked to help the learner remember a list of paired words, if the learner made an error, the teacher would give the learner an electric shock by pressing a switch. The voltage of the electric shock would increase with each mistake.

    The teacher was observed by a scientist sitting behind the leaner assertively telling the teacher to continue with the experiment even when the fake leaner was screaming when each of the shocks was administered (in fact there were no real electric shocks) Milgram found that two-thirds of the subjects administered high levels of shock, believing that leaner was in real pain. The experiment showed how people complete actions because an authoritative figure (in this case the scientist) told them to.

    To spot the leader of the interview panel (this isn’t always the person with the highest graded position) you need to learn how to spot an authoritative person through their temperament. There are several key characteristics of an authoritative person; a blind loyalty to what they believe in “this is the best team in the company,” they talk about their experiences and skillset and believe that these are better than yours “I also use to work in the sales team, I was the number one sales executive,” and they use authoritative language “my team WILL be the successful”

    In the job interview the interviewers, especially the authoritative leaders, will wear a mask; they like the idea that they can persuade you by playing a role (the nice interviewer) But, it is easy to spot the leader of the pack. It is always the person that other interviewers on the panel look to (physically) The leader will often interrupt their colleagues and when asking a question, it somehow becomes about them not you.

    To influence the leader you need to build rapport with them through an emotional connection. These 5 rules will help you achieve relationship building; once the lead interviewer likes you they will express this to their fellow interviewers and they, through the authority and social proof rule, will create an unconscious positive bias towards you.

    Rule 1 Agree with the authoritative interviewer’s points, as they like to be seen as an expert on their chosen subjects

    Rule 2 Ask them about their experiences and skill set (when they naturally discuss these) as they enjoy talking about themselves

    Rule 3 Never interrupt an authoritative interviewer as they will take a disliking to you – for them, the interview is more about them then it is you (they like interviews as they can show off)

    Rule 4 Praise the leader for their successes as this creates rapport and a poistive association

    Rule 5 Build upon what they have said – if you only agree and come across submissive you will be seen as weak. The authoritative interviewer wants to hire someone like them (but just not as good as they are because they like to be seen as the best)

    Interview Psychology 3 of 5 – creating a connection

    Interview Pyschology 5 of 5 – the power of positive emotions

    Job Interview Advice

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    The psychology of job interviews part 3 of 5

    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