Hiring Frustration #7: 1st Impression Victim

Is your company plagued by hiring decisions that focus on hiring people who are better actors in the interview than employees who perform their job effectively?

Do your hiring managers have a tendency to fall in love with candidates when they look like you, talk like you, and have a similar background to you?

When you meet someone in the interview that you immediately like, do you find yourself quickly starting to sell the job?

How long does it take to make a first impression in an interview? Our research indicates that it can take anywhere from 1 second to 10 seconds for most hiring managers. Once that first impression gets set, basically the rest of the interview is used to reinforce the hiring manager’s initial first impression.

In over 15 years of training hiring executives and managers to make better hiring decisions and raise hiring accuracy, we’ve heard this frustration of falling victim to first impression in the interview as one of the top hiring manager frustrations (even when they know better and acknowledge they are doing it).

Studies show that over 80% of most hiring decisions are based on rapport, personal chemistry, and likability. Notice that over 80% of the hiring decision had nothing to do with competency, skills, accomplishments, and future potential. This problem of falling victim to first impressions in the interview is one of the 8 major hiring manager frustrations that we’ve identified.

Is it any wonder why more than 50% of hiring at the managerial/executive level fail? The tendency to fall victim to a first impression is also one of the most glaring hiring mistakes that is reflected through superficial interview questions, not probing deeply enough, and making snap judgments. How is it possible to evaluate a candidate in seconds?

If you desire to make better hiring decisions, you’ve got to have a process designed to force objectivity, rational thinking, and validation/verification of the information candidate’s provide. Our Success Factor Methodology overcomes the frustration of falling victim to a first impression by using a structured approach to interviewing that not only puts everyone on the same page, but also validates, verifies, and vets all the candidate information so that you can get to the truth in every interview.

STOP falling victim to hiring candidates who do a better job of interviewing and presenting themselves than actually doing the job. START using a hiring process that “Puts the Candidate in the Job BEFORE You Hire Them.”

Barry

Related posts:

1. Hiring Frustration #5: Poor Cultural Fit
2. Hiring Frustration #6: Useless Candidate Evaluation
3. Hiring Frustration #3: Exaggeration and Lies