First impressions – should we rely on them?

‘First impressions are everything.’

‘I can tell after two minutes whether the candidate is right for the role.’

These views I am afraid are not the observations of experienced interviewers and suggest that the interviewer is judging from a narrow perspective. The fact that a mathematical modeller presents themselves as a taciturn, verbally reclusive, monosyllabic candidate can be a positive indicator if you are seeking a highly numerate and technical analyst whilst the energetic, verbose, gregarious candidate may be an excellent fit for that business development role you are seeking to fill.

We know that each situation is very different and the determinants that will influence the outcome are varied.

Whether and how you validate and interpret first impressions will be dependant to the job criteria, the individual personality type of the interviewee and equally and more surprisingly the personality type of the interviewer.

So how we judge first impressions will be contextual to the situation [ work, social ] and the context of the personality individual type. jobcoach.org.uk