Tag: job interview pyschology

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70 quick job interview tips

The recruitment process is a highly competitive process with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of applicants applying for each vacancy. Having an edge is key, and every little improvement can help you land that all-important job offer.

Here is a list of 70 easy-to-implement changes to help you succeed in the job interview.

The tips will include advice on structured job interviews, video interviews, preparation, and answering questions.

Top Tips

  1. Understand the structured job interview process (how job applicants are scored during the interview) as this will help you in terms of how you answer questions
  2. Detailed and relevant answers score higher than short and snappy replies
  3. Using examples in an interview answer helps employers understand your value, knowledge, and experience
  4. Speaking confidently creates authority – this includes pace, pauses, volume, and tonality
  5. Fully understand the essential job criteria (job duties, skills, qualities required) and reference three of these per interview answer
  6. Be a self-promoter; talk up your experiences, use power words, and explain actions you took in tasks
  7. Rhythmic breathing helps to relax you
  8. If you sit confidently, you will feel confident due to the mind-body cycle
  9. Practice saying your interview answers out loud, as this technique helps improve memory more than just writing down your answers
  10. Ask questions to clarify what the employer is asking,g as this will help you to give the most relevant answers

Pre-interview preparation

  1. Research the organisations values, vision, and mission, and this will highlight the employers way of working
  2. Use Google Maps on the day of the interview as this will help you avoid traffic jams
  3. Bring an umbrella, there is nothing worse than turning up to the interview wet
  4. Carry pocket-sized wet wipes to clean your shoes before you arrive at the interview
  5. Carry out mock interviews to practice answering questions
  6. Write down your ten unique selling points to boost your confidence and to be used during the interview
  7. For video interviews, check your down/upload speed on your internet
  8. Re-read your CV/application as employers will ask questions based on what you wrote
  9. Check the interview panel’s LinkedIn profile as this helps you feel like you know them, which makes it easier to talk to the interviewers
  10. Familiarity creates confidence; get to know the company. Visit the premises, check out the website, and read news articles to get a feel for the company
Evolve the mind book on Amazon

Virtual job interviews

  1. Ensure you have a clear background
  2. Test your lighting – a light above the head often works best, but this depends on the darkness/brightness of the room
  3. Ensure you won’t be interrupted, a sign on the door works best
  4. Test the microphone/headset – and double-check your mic isn’t on mute (we have all done this)
  5. Place the camera so it shows the stomach to the top of your head – this allows the interviewer to see your face, and gestures
  6. Check if there is any construction or other noisy activities happening on the day of the interview
  7. For some online interviews, you will need to pre-register
  8. Put animals in a different room. I have seen cats jump on people’s laps during online interviews
  9. Reduce your vocal pace during a virtual interview to ensure you are understood
  10. Look towards the camera not the screen as this creates virtual eye contact

Interview arrival

  1. Arrive in plenty of time, in some large organisations you may have to walk up flights of stairs to a second reception area
  2. Ensure you have all required documents (ID, qualifications, DBS, etc)
  3. Bring a copy of the interview invitation to show to the receptionist
  4. Be polite on arrival, even if you are stressed through running late as there have been many cases of the person at reception being part of the interview panel
  5. While in the waiting area, sit with a confident and professional posture to help improve your first impression
  6. Use the waiting time to re-read your CV/interview preparation notes
  7. Ensure you relax your body (through breathing/positive posture) as the mind/body cycle can help you feel calm
  8. When you meet the interviewer, give a confident handshake while maintaining strong eye contact
  9. Smile and ask questions to help create rapport
  10. Give compliments to create likeability (people like people who like them)

Interview Answers

  1. Start answers with a confirmation statement; “Yes I have lots of experience in this area…” as a confirmation statement encourages the interview panel to listen to the rest of your answer
  2. For technical questions, as well as giving an example, explain the theory relating to the question (project management process, stakeholder matrix, engineering reasoning, etc) Stating a theory highlights a high level of knowledge
  3. Always, always, where possible give an example
  4. When giving an example 1) state the situation 2) discuss actions you took and the reason why 3) share the positive outcome and/or lessons learnt
  5. Relate answers to the organisations vision and mission; “…I know that your company is interested in expanding into X, I have been through this process in a previous company where I was….”
  6. Use positive power words/language throughout the interview
  7. Nod along when an employer is talking about their company/projects to build rapport and likeability
  8. Be aware of the structure of your interview answer. Waffle turns people off, and a lack of an easy to digest sequence losses peoples interest
  9. Ask (on some questions), does that answer your question or is there anything else you would like to know
  10. At the end of each answer, summaries what you have discussed; “in summary…”

Be seen as an authority

  1. What you wear says a lot about. Dress powerfully, be seen as powerful
  2. Quote industry experts creates authority via association
  3. State data, percentages, quotes, ask this makes information easy to digest
  4. Smiling, eye contact, gestures, mirroring, and mimicking language creates high levels of rapport
  5. Discuss reasons behind decisions to highlight high levels of knowledge “…there were two options, option would have X, and option two would have Y, I choose option two because….”
  6. Build on what an employers states. As an example if they mention about expanding into a new industry discuss the pros and pitfalls, and when possible give advice
  7. Praise employers for recently business successes. Hiring mangers subconsciously associate positive feelings with the person they are communicating with
  8. Reframe perceived problems. As an example if the employer states they want to expand into a new competitive market, and they make reference to the difficulties on this venture, give them a new frame of reference; “yes it can be difficult, but with my experience of entering new markets I can make the process much easier by…”
  9. Prior to job searching, write articles for industry websites as this help you to be seen as an industry expert
  10. Give detailed interview answers. Within one answer give several examples to show your breadth of experience

Post job interview

  1. Reflect on your interview answers. Which answers worked well, which got lost, which answers could be improved
  2. Write down any new examples, improved answers, or engaging ‘lines’ that hit the mark
  3. If you have an interview coach book an interview review coaching session to continue to improve your interview answers
  4. Continue to job search until you have a job offer(s)
  5. For any gaps in your knowledge, undertake some research
  6. Think about your non-verbal’s, did your body language, gestures, and facial expressions have a positive impact?
  7. Reflect on your tonality, volume, pace. Did these reinforce the words you used?
  8. On a scale of 1-1,0 how confident were you? Could your confidence level improve?
  9. Write down any of the unexpected or tricky interview questions
  10. Ask yourself if you actually want this job role (sometimes an interview tells us this isn’t the company I want to work for)

Interview Coaching

Need help? Book an interview coaching session.

Virtual job interview coaching can help you achieve your career dreams:

  • Double your salary when you master selling yourself in the job interview
  • Enjoy the interview process with increased confidence
  • Choose the employer of your choice with multiple job offers

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Who Gets Hired?

With tax increases, cuts backs, and a freeze in recruitment drives, finding a new job is becoming more difficult.

The light at the end of the doomy tunnel is the truth that there are still jobs being advertised.

The number of vacancies has decreased: “Overall vacancies declined to 736,000 over the period from March to May 2025.” Source: Economics observatory, which means competition for each job role is high.

With more people applying for fewer vacancies, who will get hired?

Some say ‘the best person for the role’ will be offered the position, but who is the best person?

The person with the most experience?

The candidate with the highest qualification?

The applicant with a persuasive personality?

Experience, qualifications, or a persuasive personality alone are never enough to guarantee a job offer.

The Interview prediction grid explains how it’s a mixture of perceived experience/qualifications X confident (persuasive) communication that creates a successful interviewee (source: Interview Identity)

Understanding the Rules for a Successful Job Interview

Relevance is king in a job interview.

The biggest mistake experienced career professionals make is discussing experiences that are low on the organisation’s hierarchy of criteria for the advertised position.

For each company, and for each role within the organisation, there is a hierarchy of experiences, skills, knowledge, and qualities that are required for the position being advertised.

Speaking generically, in a structured job interview, each of the hierarchy of criteria will be asked in one of the job interview questions.

If the company values stakeholder management, they may ask, “Give me an example of influencing multiple stakeholders to actively engage them in a multiagency project”.

For a lower-skilled job, where ‘teamwork’ is valued highly, the question may be “Can you share a time you worked successfully within a team?”

Being able to foresee the hierarchy of criteria, therefore predict the interview questions, allows a savvy applicant to rehearse their interview answers.

In a structured job interview, a scoring system is used, where applicants’ answers are graded by being cross-referenced against a list of criteria and/or example answers.

The scoring system is often 1(low) to 4 (high). The interviewee with the highest score, the person who references more of the essential criteria, is offered the role.

Job criteria can be easy to predict. For some roles, finance, as an example, mathematics, and financial knowledge, will be on the hierarchy of criteria.

The company values, mission, and vision will also give clues to how the organisation operates, which links directly to their operational styles.

As an example, the company may be proactive or reactive, innovative or process-driven, and they may be a large corporation or a small family business.

The wording of the interview question also gives clues to the hierarchy of criteria. “Give me an example of influencing multiple stakeholders to actively engage them in a multiagency project,” compared to “give me an example of successfully working with multiple stakeholders.”

Even though the questions are similar, the word “influencing” is key here. The interviewee may discuss stakeholder theory, such as the stakeholder matrix, to explain the reason behind their actions, helping to acquire a higher scoring interview answer.

The key to a successful job interview is only discussing relevant information in your interview answer.

Language influences

Self-promotion is not only key for a successful job interview, but it is also expected.

Research has proven that detailed (relevant) interview answers score higher than simple and short replies.

What is important when selling yourself is the promotional language that is used. Words have power.

Synonyms are important here; imagine your answers use the word ‘good’ to describe your work ethic.

At an emotional level, how does the word ‘good’ feel? If ‘good’ was replaced with ‘strong’, ‘excellent’, ‘outstanding’, ‘brilliant’, or even ‘exceptional’, would this feel better?

Remember, employers often have a ‘gut’ feeling about an applicant, which influences how they score their answers.

A big barrier, often caused by interview anxiety, is the lack of detail given during an interview answer. It’s common for candidates to answer behavioural interview questions (give me an example of…) by saying  “yes this is something I have a lot of experience in” or something similar in length. The answer may confirm the required experience, but doesn’t actually say anything.

How much experience? What level of knowledge? What active role did you have? Do you have the underpinning knowledge for this task?

Employers need to know the breadth of an applicant’s experience and knowledge. A strong way to answer behavioural interview questions is with the ‘theory X experience’  interview answer formula.

First, the interviewee discusses the theory behind the job criteria (explaining the stakeholder matrix theory) and then gives a real-life example.

All examples should state the situation (what was being asked of them), actions taken (be specific here), and the positive outcome of the actions taken.

Employers will only know how good you are if you tell them

Evolve the mind book on Amazon

Confident communication is the icing on the interview answer

People like to hire confident professionals.

We like and admire confidence in others.

Confident communication is powerful in a job interview. If answers are self-promoting and relevant to the job criteria, speaking like a professional orator will add those vital extra points on the interview scorecard.

Public speakers know the value of confident communication and use the following techniques to be viewed as strong speakers:

Pause after each sentence and paragraph – the pause allows the interview panel to catch up (they will be busy scribbling down notes) and shows confidence as nervous people speak quickly without a break, losing the interest of the audience

Reduce filler words (urms and arghs) – filler words are the way your brain fills silences, as anxious people hate silences. But filler words are viewed as an annoying habit, and remove the vital pause that allows the interviewer to listen intently to the applicant’s interview answer

Non-verbal’s are key – smiling, eye contact, and positive gestures add volume to the words spoken. People always use non-verbal’s, even nervous interviewees, but their non-verbal’s highlight fear and weakness (looking away, head down, cold and damp handshake, pulling at imaginary threads)

Rhetoric devices – the use of rhetorical devices embedded into interview answers is an advanced technique. The best orators throughout history use rhetorical devices, as they help residents their story to an audience, influencing them at a subconscious level.

Common rhetorical devices:

  • Logos: Appeals to logic and reason, using evidence, statistics, and facts to support an argument. 
  • Pathos: Appeals to emotion, using strong language, vivid imagery, and stories to connect with the audience on an emotional level. 
  • Ethos: Appeals to credibility and authority, establishing the speaker or writer as knowledgeable and trustworthy. 
  • Metaphor: A figure of speech that compares two unlike things without using “like” or “as”. 
  • Simile: A figure of speech that compares two things using “like” or “as”. 
  • Hyperbole: Exaggerated statements not meant to be taken literally. 
  • Alliteration: The repetition of the same sounds or syllables at the beginning of words. 
  • Anaphora: The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. 
  • Anadiplosis: The repetition of the last word or phrase of a clause at the beginning of the next. 
  • Antithesis: The contrast of opposing ideas in parallel form. 
  • Rhetorical question: A question that does not require an answer, used to make a point. 

Use the right words to make a big statement

Interview Coaching

Need help? Book an interview coaching session.

Virtual job interview coaching can help you achieve your career dreams:

  • Double your salary when you master selling yourself in the job interview
  • Enjoy the interview process with increased confidence
  • Choose the employer of your choice with multiple job offers
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Getting Motivated for a Job Interview

Career progression is only possible by overcoming the hurdle that is the job interview.

Why does the job interview seem such a barrier? Surely, a 45 minute 1-2-1 talking about one’s own workplace achievements must be easy?  

Three psychological traps are the reason why most people fear the recruitment process.

  1. Humans hate the unknown

For many, job interviews are rare. Career professionals, research shows, only tend to apply for a new role every 3-5 years.

Even during this brief period of active searching, most job seekers only attend 2-3 job interviews.

Comfort comes from routine, and nervousness from the unknown. Attending a job interview activates the flight or fight response, in most cases its ‘flight’ rather than ‘fight’.

Unknown processes, unknown interviewers, unknown interview questions, so many unknowns that the mind reacts like it would to any threat – flight or fight.

2. The spotlight is blinding

Only a small group of people like being in the spotlight.

Most career professionals hate the thought of the focus being fully on them. In the job interview, the spotlight is fully on the job applicant, and shining bright. The interview panel, often 2-3 managers and HR personnel, spends the whole of the job interview fully focused on the interviewee:

Questions are asked, answers are queried, and eyes are focused fully on the applicant.

The number one fear in the world is ‘being the centre of attention’ And the interview is public speaking to a small group of strangers, all eyes are on you.

3. Worthy or worthless

At a psychological level, humans need to feel that they belong. This is because we evolved as a species that survives as a tight-knit group. Tribes survived longer than individuals when we roamed the earth as hunter-gatherers.

At some level humans still have this need to belong and hate the thought of being rejected. In the job interview we naturally think that we are not worthy for the role: others may be better, maybe I’m not as good as I thought I was, have I been faking my ability to do my role?

Will I get rejected if I apply for the advertised position?

This limiting belief of not being good enough claws away at our self-esteem, often resulting in interview answers that lack substance, detail, and enough self-promotion to generate a job offer.

With all the negativity, most people believe its easier to give up (not apply for the job) on job searching rather than going through the pain of having to attend a process that will uncover their weaknesses, resulting in a big rejection – a job decline letter, making them feel worthless.

Master Motivation, Master Job Advancement

The truth is, job motivation is easy to encourage. When motivated and confident, the job application becomes a clear communicator who can talk the talk and walk the walk. They can sell themselves, build rapport, and enjoy the job interview process.

When it comes down to it, the job interview is only a 45-minute process, 5-10 minutes of this is the employer talking about their organisation (to sell the job role/organisation to the applicant). The first interview question is always an open question that is easy to answer, and the final question is normally ‘do you have any questions for us?’

So, out of 45 minutes, it’s really about 30 minutes of the ‘tough’ interview questions.

Tough? Not really, these days the interview questions are based on the job role, ‘do you have experience of doing (task)?’

This makes it easy to predict the interview questions, allowing the career professional to prepare and practice their interview answers.

Practice creates motivation.

It is well documented that familiarity makes a task easier. By practising job interviews with an interview coach, interview AI videos, even by attending public speaking workshops, talking more about yourself, or by practicing the interview questions and answers on your own increases motivation because the process of question/answer becomes familiar.

Speaking improves communication. Sounds silly, I know, but the more someone practices communication, the better their oration skill become. This is key in a job interview as every answer needs to be clear, concise, and to be understood by the interview panel.

Often overlooked, confident communication is powerful in a job interview as helping another person see your version of a story, not their perception, helps you to sell your unique selling point.

In the job interview, there is an additional step to gaining a job offer.

Answering questions confidently isn’t enough to guarantee a successful interview outcome. What is needed is self-promotion. As referred to earlier, the need to avoid rejection is powerful. If a job applicant has low self-esteem, they need to turn this emotion around into something more powerful and useful.

Confidence and motivation are key to interview success. Employers use a structured job interview process where each job interview question is asked to all applicants and answers a scored depending on how they meet the job criteria. An interview answer that ticks all the boxes scores high, whereas an answer or example that seems irrelevant or lacks specifics will always score low.

To self-promote, the candidate must understand the organization, their vision, and the day-to-day duties. This needs detailing: is the organization process-driven or innovative?  What specific tasks does the role entail?  Is the goal quality, financial, or something else? The more an interviewee understands the brief of the role, the more they can detail how they meet the specific criteria in their interview answers, resulting in a high-scoring application.

To pass a job interview

Get motivated by a strong self-belief that you will succeed

Get familiar with job interviews (through practice)

Get confident in answering interview questions

Get skilled at selling yourself

Get knowledgeable about the job role you are applying for

Evolve the mind book on Amazon

Interview Coaching

Need help? Book an interview coaching session.

Virtual job interview coaching can help you achieve your career dreams:

  • Double your salary when you master selling yourself in the job interview
  • Enjoy the interview process with increased confidence
  • Choose the employer of your choice with multiple job offers
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How the Book Thinking, Fast and Slow Can Be Applied in a Job Interview

The book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman explores two primary modes of thinking that shape human judgment and decision-making.

An overview of the key theories and concepts:

1. System 1 and System 2 Thinking

  • System 1 is the fast, automatic, and intuitive way of thinking. It’s fast, effortless, and often operates below our conscious awareness. This system is responsible for making quick judgments and decisions based on heuristics or mental shortcuts. It’s also highly influenced by emotions and experience.
  • System 2, on the other hand, is slower, more deliberate, and requires conscious effort. It’s responsible for more complex reasoning, logic, and decision-making that requires effortful thought. System 2 thinking comes into play when we need to solve puzzles, make thoughtful decisions, or engage in tasks that require focus and concentration.

The book argues that while System 1 is efficient and often effective, it can also lead to biases and errors in judgment because it relies on heuristics (mental shortcuts) that can be flawed. System 2, although slower and more resource-intensive, is better for making reasoned decisions.

The central theme of Thinking, Fast and Slow is that our thinking is a blend of intuitive, automatic judgments (System 1) and deliberate, effortful reasoning (System 2).

Kahneman emphasizes how understanding the interplay between these systems can improve decision-making and help people become more aware of the biases that affect their choices.

His work highlights the importance of recognizing these biases in both personal and professional life and encourages more reflective, slower thinking to mitigate errors.

How the Book Thinking, Fast and Slow Can Be Applied in a Job Interview

Job interviews are high-stakes events where candidates are assessed on their skills, experience, and ability to fit within an organization.

However, the decision-making process in an interview is influenced not just by the qualifications of the candidates, and their interview answers, but also by cognitive biases and the ways in which both the interviewer and the candidate process information.

Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow provides key insights into the mental processes behind these judgments. By understanding these concepts, candidates and interviewers alike can improve their decision-making and interview performance.

Here’s how the theories from Thinking, Fast and Slow can be applied during a job interview:

System 1 and System 2 Thinking in the Interview Process

System 1 (Fast Thinking): This is the intuitive, automatic, and subconscious system. In an interview, both the interviewer and the candidate might rely on System 1 to make snap judgments. Interviewers may form quick impressions of candidates based on initial cues such as appearance, tone of voice, or body language. Candidates might respond instinctively to questions without fully thinking through their answers. While these instinctive impressions can be helpful for gauging chemistry or comfort, they can also lead to mistakes. A candidate who appears nervous might be unfairly judged as unqualified, or a strong first impression might cloud an interviewer’s judgment later on.

System 2 (Slow Thinking): This system involves more deliberate, analytical, and effortful thought. When interviewers engage System 2 thinking, they are more likely to focus on the content of the candidate’s answers, the relevance of their experience, and their critical thinking skills. As a candidate, it’s essential to engage System 2 to think carefully about each question, avoiding knee-jerk responses and taking a moment to consider the best way to convey your strengths.

Tip for Candidates: When answering questions, try to slow down and resist the urge to immediately answer from instinct. Take a few seconds to think through your response logically to avoid relying too heavily on your first instinct.

Tip for Interviewers: Be mindful of your initial impressions. To combat the bias of System 1, take notes and refer to specific examples or skills mentioned in the interview, instead of letting the initial impression guide the entire evaluation.

Heuristics and Biases

Kahneman highlights that people often rely on mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, when making decisions. These heuristics are not always rational and can lead to biased decisions. In a job interview, several heuristics can come into play:

  • Anchoring Effect: Interviewers may be influenced by an early piece of information, such as a candidate’s educational background or an initial response. For example, if a candidate mentions having graduated from a prestigious university early in the interview, this could anchor the interviewer’s perception of their capabilities, regardless of the candidate’s actual performance.
  • Availability Heuristic: If an interviewer has recently hired a candidate with a particular skill set, they may overweight the importance of that skill in future hiring decisions, even if other candidates are more qualified.
  • Representativeness Heuristic: Interviewers may judge a candidate based on how closely their traits match those of an “ideal” employee, which could lead them to overlook the diversity of skills that other candidates bring to the table.

Tip for Candidates: Be aware that interviewers may be unconsciously influenced by these heuristics. Don’t assume that a single detail or part of your resume is what’s driving the interviewer’s decision. It’s important to highlight a range of your skills and achievements throughout the interview to avoid being pigeonholed by a single characteristic.

Tip for Interviewers: Counteract heuristics using a structured interview and a consistent evaluation framework. Focus on specific skills and accomplishments, rather than first impressions or stereotypes.

Prospect Theory and Risk Aversion

Prospect Theory, as outlined by Kahneman, suggests that people are loss averse—they feel the pain of losses more acutely than the pleasure of gains. This can influence how both candidates and interviewers approach the interview process.

  • For the Candidate: If a candidate is asked to discuss a previous failure, they may be reluctant to admit mistakes because they fear the “loss” of their chance at the job. However, framing failures as learning experiences and showing how they led to growth can demonstrate resilience and maturity.
  • For the Interviewer: Interviewers might also display risk aversion. If they’re unsure about a candidate, they may be more likely to reject them out of fear that the potential “loss” (hiring the wrong person) outweighs the potential “gain” (finding a great hire). This could lead interviewers to rely on safer, more familiar choices.

Tip for Candidates: Emphasize your learning process from past mistakes and show how overcoming challenges makes you more capable. Acknowledge that setbacks are a natural part of growth.

Tip for Interviewers: Focus on a candidate’s ability to learn and adapt rather than simply looking for perfection. Acknowledge that taking calculated risks can lead to rewarding hires.

Loss Aversion and the Interviewer’s Decision-Making

Loss aversion also plays a role in how interviewers make decisions. They may tend to overvalue candidates who seem to fit the mold perfectly and hesitate to hire someone who doesn’t fit exactly into the desired profile. This bias can cause interviewers to focus on avoiding losses rather than gaining the best possible hire.

Tip for Interviewers: Focus on the potential benefits of a candidate’s unique strengths, even if they don’t meet every single criterion. Resist the urge to dismiss candidates because of minor mismatches.

Cognitive Ease and Cognitive Strain

Kahneman’s idea of cognitive ease and cognitive strain can influence both the interviewee’s performance and the interviewer’s judgment.

  • For the Candidate: If you’re able to present your qualifications in a clear, straightforward manner, it will create cognitive ease for the interviewer, allowing them to process your information quickly and form a favorable judgment. On the other hand, if your answers are convoluted or difficult to follow, it can create cognitive strain and may lead to a less favorable impression.
  • For the Interviewer: If the interviewer experiences cognitive ease when speaking with a candidate—if the conversation flows smoothly—they might form a positive impression of the candidate’s competence and fit. However, cognitive strain might cause the interviewer to become more critical or overly cautious in their decision-making.

Tip for Candidates: Be clear and concise in your answers, and organize your thoughts before speaking. This will help reduce cognitive strain for the interviewer and improve the clarity of your responses.

Tip for Interviewers: Try to remain aware of the ease or difficulty in understanding a candidate’s responses. Recognize that cognitive strain can sometimes be a result of the interview format, and not necessarily the candidate’s qualifications.

Evolve the mind book on Amazon

The Planning Fallacy and Interview Preparation

The Planning Fallacy refers to the tendency to underestimate the time and resources required to complete a task. For candidates, this might manifest in overconfidence when preparing for an interview, believing that they don’t need to spend much time practicing or researching the company. Conversely, interviewers might underestimate how long the interview process will take, leading to rushed decisions or incomplete evaluations.

Tip for Candidates: Avoid the planning fallacy by adequately preparing for the interview—research the company, practice your responses, and anticipate potential questions. Proper preparation will help you avoid underestimating the challenges of the interview process.

Tip for Interviewers: Allow enough time in the interview schedule to fully evaluate the candidate’s fit. Rushed decisions are often poor decisions.

Conclusion

Incorporating insights from Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow into job interviews can help both candidates and interviewers make more informed, less biased decisions.

Candidates should be aware of how cognitive biases and heuristics can influence their performance and strive to engage in more deliberate, System 2 thinking. Interviewers, on the other hand, should recognize their own biases and take steps to create a fairer, more thoughtful evaluation process. By understanding and applying these theories, both parties can improve their chances of a successful, rational outcome

Need help? Book an interview coaching session.

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Horns Effect

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.

Evolve the mind book on Amazon

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.

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The psychology of job interviews part 1 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 1 of 5 – rewards and fears

The psychology of the job interview starts prior to you attending the actual job interview itself.

DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOU?

Today is the day of your job interview! You scared, nervous because you haven’t prepared. You received your job interview date 2 weeks previously; you had planned to rehearse the job interview question but just never gotten around to it and there’s a psychological reason for this

Job Interview Psychology

Are you a future optimist? Psychologists Arie Kruglanski and Torey Higgins, have found that we have two motivational systems: the “thinking” or “doing” system

We believe we think and then take action. But humans are only skilled at using one of these systems at a time. For job interview preparation we are good at planning what we need to do to be successful at the job interview:

I will research the organisation

I will prepare job interview questions and answers

I will rehearse my interview presentation

This planning creates a positive feeling – you have achieved something and because you have spent time organising your job interview preparation, you allow yourself to complete the actual action of job interview preparation tomorrow – as a reward

The future optimist – you believe this plan is great, and tomorrow you will focus on the action taking. When tomorrow comes, something, more important, takes over so you plan to take action the following – what does an extra 24hrs matter …you have a plan!

Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system

Another system is also in place that affects your job interview motivation. Within the autonomic nervous system sits the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. These two systems work in opposite ways; “the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) meditates the body response to arousing circumstances. for example, producing the famed ‘flight pr fight’ stress response” (Robert Sapolsky – Behave; book 2017) The parasympathetic nervous system “PNS is about calm, vegetative states” (Robert Sapolsky – Behave; book 2017)

How do these two systems effect your job interview preparation?

The Sympathetic nervous system speeds up your heart rate, stops your digest process and sends the fight or flight stress signal – we don’t like to feel this way. When you think about a forthcoming job interview your perspective of the situation is ‘life or death’ if I don’t succeed in the job interview I have failed. These thoughts lead to the activation of the SNS.

Whereas, the PNS – parasympathetic nervous system, slows down the heart rate, activates the digestive system and sends out the relaxation signal. This is a state we all like, the state that we all desire be in.

It’s simple; the thought of a job interview sets of the SNS – and we want to avoid this feeling. Moving the ‘thinking about job interview preparation’ task to tomorrow releases the PNS – the state we crave. This leads to you self sabotaging, we have planned so now we can watch TV (releases SNS) and focus on job interview preparation tomorrow (removes PNS)

The Reward System

The final emotion in play is the reward system. The brain’s reward is via the release of dopamine – the happy chemical. When you receive the job interview offer from an organisation, you receive a big dollop of dopamine. If you have a strong application and receive regular job interview dates, the amount of dopamine decreases with each job interview offer. Constant success reduces dopamine releases.

The dopamine system if fired of in anticipation of, rather then achieving, a task (unless the achievement of a task doesn’t result in a reward, then we get very angry IE we think we will be successful in a job interview and are then told we have been unsuccessful)

The job interview request comes into your in-box; dopamine release. Now you have to prepare for the job interview; If you feel confident you will expect a positive outcome (where you will receive another dopamine release and a job offer) but the level of dopamine reduces as you prepare for the job interview (taking action doesn’t release as much dopamine as the anticipation of a reward) and surprisingly the dopamine release is less when you are offered the job compared to the release of dopamine you received from being invited to the job interview (unless this situation is rare for you)

If you fear the job interview, the dopamine receptors are blocked and you become stressed. Because you desire dopamine, you have learned where you can get this from; the thought of a chocolate cake, as an example. So instead of job preparation activities (that make you feel stressed because this is a fearful activity for you), you eat cake, waste precious time, but don’t care because you have your chocolaty hit of dopamine.

To be successful in the job interview you need to be proactive in job interview preparation. You need to evolve your mind to reduce job interview fear and increase job interview excitement.

In the next article, you will learn about job interview subconscious bias and how to make these work in your favor

Interview Pyschology 2 of 5 – Unconscious bias

Job Interview Advice

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The Pyschology of Job Interview First Impressions

 

Everyone talks about how the first ten seconds of a job interview is the most important – well they are wrong and here’s why

So what is this 10-second rule in a job interview all about? The interviewer comes to the reception to invite you into the interview room, it is in this initial meeting when the first impression is received. 

Many job interview coaches will tell you “make a good impression in the first 10 seconds and the rest is easy” Well the 10-second rule is a lie and even when you make a good first impression that doesn’t mean the job interview will be easy, it only means that the interviewers will listen to your job interview answers more favourable …without even knowing it 

Is the 10 Second Rule a Lie?

A psychologist will tell you the truth about the 10-second rule; that its a lie. 

Because first impressions are made in milliseconds. 

That’s right, the first impression is made instantaneous.

The subconscious will take billions of pieces of information; your stance, hairstyle, posture, micro facial expressions, the colour of your interview clothes, the material of said clothes, your voice, tonality, the words you say…the list does go on a bit so I will stop there. And without conscious awareness creates a first impression – the interviewer will feel an emotional association to you – this could be positive or negative

Make The First Impression a Good One…

Here’s a great trick to help improve your first impression.

So, I’m not going to say dress in a nice suit blah blah blah…if you’re not already doing the basics stop reading this blog. 

When you arrive at your interview, you will, in most situations, be greeted by the receptionist. The receptionist will take your name and you will be asked to take a seat until the interviewer is ready to collect you.

Most people, in this situation, will sit nervously thinking (thinking is an internal process) about how they can sell themselves. This is bad because if you start thinking like this you are sure to increase your nerves – not a good start.

Secondly, when the interviewer comes to meet you, what do they find someone daydreaming – not a good first impression. 

Instead, apply this little trick using interveiw psychology: 

Ask the receptionist about her day? I know not what you expected? Follow this up with more questions – basically get the receptionist into a conversation with you (you could even ask questions about the organisation to see if you would like to work there) 

 

Interview questions and answers

What happens now is that when the interviewer arrives to greet you, their first impression is a friendly, confident and professional person engaged in a conversation – that’s just the conscious first impression.

Remember we said that the subconscious makes an automatic first impression in milliseconds based on, well, everything about you.

When you are involved in a conversation your body language to your voice is more charismatic compared to when you are sat nervously in a waiting room chair. The interviewers subconscious will be screaming they’re amazing, hire them now – well not quite but you can see how this simple strategy creates a better first impression

 

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Why Do Psychopaths Get Offered More Jobs Then You?

Not all psychopaths are killers. Many career professionals with psychopathic tendencies will quickly reach the grade of their sector, often kicking people in the face on their rise to the top.

Psychopaths are often found in top-level positions in industries including the finance sector, medical professions and sale roles. One in four people in your workplace could be a psychopath but rarely does the none psychopath recognize the psychopath’s traits, allowing these master manipulators to gain promotion after promotion.

But how do psychopaths win over the interviewer? How do psychopaths quickly climb the career ladder, winning job offer after offer? What do psychopaths do differently in the job interview, and can you learn from these persuaders?

You can use these 5 psychopathic traits to win over your next interviewer.

The Psychopathic Interview

Psychopaths have particular traits which they use blatantly during the interview process. This devilish designed manipulates the interview, stopping you the none psychopath, from being recruited, while helping the psychopath rise through the ranks gaining pay rise after pay rise, promotion after promotion.

Superficial Charm.

The Interview Psychopath wears a well-fitted interview mask, mimicking the employer’s personality or creating a charming front that wins the interviewer over.

This confident charming persona, which is not their real personality, creates strong rapport and likeability. The psychopath will uncover the employer’s values, likes and interests and state how he himself enjoys these same passions and preferences the interviewer’s likes.

To learn from the psychopath you also have to be charming and confident. Research has shown how a warm smile creates positive feelings in the recipient. Create a conversation to find commonality with the interviewer which increases likeability.

A Grandiose Self-Perception.

Psychopaths truly believe they are smarter and more powerful than they actually are. This belief system oozes confidence and confidence is a key quality to winning job interviews.

The psychopath will give examples of past projects, explaining how they achieved the contract KPIs, how they increased profits and how they rallied the team to meet the deadline. The psychopath is happy to blow their own trumpet, and in the eyes of the psychopath their musical instrument is massive.

Take a leaf out of the psychopath book and throughout the interview shout about your achievements, don’t shy away and minimize your effort, instead make it clear that it was you who was the pivotal person that achieved the desired outcome

Deceits and lies.

Most people feel bad when lying, but the psychopath is highly comfortable creating a perfect picture of themselves which may be far from the truth. No matter what the employer requires, the psychopath has the experience, whichever skill is essential the psychopath has in abundance and however the employer approaches task, the psychopath has the same work ethic

Now, we won’t suggest that you lie as this can have implications during your employment. Instead you need to think about previous roles and look at what skills are transferable, how you have approached work different in similar organizations and how your hobbies have given you a new set of qualities and make these fit the interviewer’s essential criteria.

An Absence of Emotions.

The psychopath lacks emotions, they don’t feel guilty when lying, or remorse when taking credit for other people’s achievements and the psychopath rarely feels nervous in the interview process.

The psychopath, who always feels superior, looks down on the interviewer increasing their personal feeling of power. The psychopath sees the interview as game, a place to manipulate and deceive, an arena to show off and to showcase his talents.

For many, interview nerves kill the interview. You don’t need to go as far as the psychopath but you can create a new perception of the interview. Instead of one where the all-powerful interviewer questions you, demanding to know the answer, you can frame the interview as a place where you are an authority, an expert and industry specialist, and this person talking to you, wants to learn from you, they want to know why you are so successful and how you always achieve KPIs.

Never Being Wrong.

The psychopath rarely admits to being wrong, making mistakes or errors. In a promotional interview situation the psychopath will quite confidently put the blame on others, highlight colleagues shortcomings and explain how other peoples errors where the catalyst for the failure in the project.

In external job interviews, the psychopath will simply not mention any inadequacies and focus the interview on their unique selling point. When questioned on weaknesses, the psychopath will reframe the answer and talk about development opportunities.

Too many interviewees happily offer up their weaknesses and failures, even when not asked. Instead keep the interviewer focused on your strengths, positives and achievements. You need to associate only positivity to your interview as these create the basis for a successful job interview.

Do You Need To Be A Psychopath?

To increase your chances of being offered a job at the interview you don’t need to be psychopathic, but you can take a couple of tips from the psychopath’s interview approach.

The key to a successful interview is to be confident, charming and likable. You need to frame every interview answer as a positive.

Remember times when you have used the required skill they are questioning you about and reframe negative based interview questions.

By framing the interview as a place to showcase your talent increases confidence and never discussing negativity creates a positive association that can only lead to more job offers.

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Ace Any Job Interview with Psychology & Body Language Reading

Todays guest post is by Saurabh Tyagi is a career author 

Job interviews are an inescapable part of every educated individual’s life.

One has to face at least a couple of interviews in his or her entire professional tenure.  How you wish you knew mind reading and could just tell what the interviewer is thinking about you. What if this wish of yours comes true?

With a little practice, keen observation and psychological analysis you can almost listen to the thoughts of the interviewer.

More about the same follows.

The 2007 financial crisis has affected the job market in such a way that both the communities, that of jobseekers and recruiters, are having a tough time adjusting with each other.

Savvy recruiters and hiring managers are using a variety of job interview techniques to make sure that they do not end up chasing the wrong candidate. Under such competitive circumstances, a job hunter’s task, which was already tough, has become even trickier than before.

Now, if you need to stand out from others at an interview you are going to need some extra aces up your sleeve.

Almost everyone knows the normal preceding routine to an interview; researching the organization, dressing up well, and arriving on time at the venue. However, the hard part starts now.

Right from the moment you enter the room, till the last word you speak, you will be constantly judged based on your actions, gestures, body language, tone, and last but not the least, your answers.

According to Patti Wood, a body language expert and author of Snap: Making the Most of first Impressions, Body Language, Charisma, “A candidate can give out thousands of non-verbal cues within the first minute of meeting a hiring manager, and those messages make more of an impact than the words that you use during the interview”. 

Now, if you have been to even a couple of interviews, you must be well aware of the fact that hiring decisions are made on more than just skills and experience. It’s a game of Hide and Seek, where multiple psychological factors come into play.

The recruiter will ask certain questions that may appear simple on the surface but are attempts to dig deeper on a psychological level.

He can even play mind tricks on you. But with a little application and experience you can turn the tables and play your own tricks on him to get through the entire process unscathed and emerge as a winner.

Imitation Is the Best Form of Flattery: Use Mirroring

The Mirroring Technique is one of the worst kept secrets of influencing people. It is a great way of establishing instant rapport and initiates a certain level of mutual trust.

If you are able to execute the technique perfectly, the interviewer will deem you trustworthy as he subconsciously finds similarities that connect him with you.

In simplest of terms, mirroring is copying another person’s behavior, way of speaking and mannerisms so as to become a mirror of the other person.  The interviewer nods, you nod, he puts his hands on the table, you repeat after him (after a gap of 20-30 seconds) and stuff like that.

However, proper execution is of utmost importance as the interviewer should never feel that you’re copying him.

Another important rule while mirroring is to adopt only the positive body language and speech from the interviewer. If he gets angry at something, do not even consider pissing him off further by copying his anger. An interviewer with

Do Away With the Fake Smile

Every single positive body language signal that you make in the interview room is a step forward towards clinching the job offers.

Smiling, maintaining eye contacts, sitting in a relaxed posture are all some basics that we are taught to positively influence the interviewer. However, too much of fake smiling should be avoided. False smiles are often easy to spot and too much of it in an interview results in an unfavorable evaluation.

This holds true for other body language gestures as well.

Have A Weakness? Do Not Be Afraid Of Showing It

This is pretty much clichéd.

No one is perfect and our resumes have weak spots. So are you better off hiding them or being upfront and honest about them is a better option?

We all want to be in the good books of the recruiter, and knowing that this interview is perhaps our only chance at making a positive impact; it becomes a real puzzle how to reveal our weaknesses without reducing our likeability.

According to a 1972 Jones and Gordon research, when someone was honest about his/her weaknesses, those listening had a more favorable impression of him or her than if he or she concealed it.

Most of us find honesty as a positive trait, & therefore you have nothing to fear while coming up with your weakness, unless it severely harms your job prospects.

Use the Recruiter’s Name or Title While Having the Conversation

One book that every professional is recommended to read is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Dale says that using someone’s name is an incredibly important part of any conversation. Rightly said, a name is the most intricate part of our identity that stays with us throughout the entire lifetime and even after our death.

Hearing it makes the person feel positively about the person who said it. To use this fact for influencing an interviewer you can refer to him with his name or a title that goes well with his position.

Leave the Fear Outside The Interview Room

The four-letter F word, i.e Fear is certainly the biggest enemy of all job seekers. Pre-interview anxiety is the biggest hindrance in your performance on the big day.

While interview nerves are common and do not always mean a bad outcome, feeling excessive anxious and nervous often sabotages your chances of making it through. To overcome this fear, just remember three commandments:

  • Preparation
  • Positive thinking
  • Avoiding desperation

The last one is pretty important. No matter how badly you want the job, don’t make it a matter of life and death. Remember, it’s just one opportunity and there are many more to come.

Author bio:

Saurabh Tyagi is a career author who has written articles and blog posts for job seekers. These articles help individual apply to new jobs and make through the interviews with unmatched success. Twitter- https://twitter.com/sa_ty

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