How Emotions Can Affect Your Chances Of Getting A Second Interview

As hard as it may be to land the first interview, getting a second one may be even harder. JobMob suggests you’ll have a greater chance of getting called back if you have a high level of what’s called Positive Affect.

Picture: Dani P.L./Flickr

Positive Affect (PA) is simply how much positive emotion you have and express, and how positively you interact with others. People with high Positive Affect are more enthusiastic, energetic and confident, while those with low Positive Affect are more like Eeyore the donkey from Winnie the Pooh. Research has shown that people with high Positive Affect were more likely to get called back for second interviews.

It might sound obvious, but things like talking negatively about former work, failing to make eye contact and seeming uninterested (i.e. low Positive Affect behaviour) are some of the worst interview mistakes people make.

So how do you increase your levels of Positive Affect, especially if the job hunt is dragging you down? JobMob says you can instantly boost your PA with the Best Possible Self exercise:

“Think about your best possible self” means that you imagine yourself in the future, after everything has gone as well as it possibly could. You have worked hard and succeeded at accomplishing all of your life goals. Think of this as the realisation of your life dreams, and of your own best potentials. In all of these cases you are identifying the best possible way that things might turn out in your life, in order to help guide your decisions now. You may not have thought about yourself in this way before, but research suggests that doing so can have a strong positive effect on your mood and life satisfaction.

Other steps towards becoming happier in general, such as experiencing awe and practicing gratitude, might help you perform better in your interview and get that second one leading to your next job.

How to Get a Second Interview: Not What You Think [JobMob]