If you have the leeway to schedule your next job or school interview, the best time to interview may be as early as possible in the day, according to one study.
Photo by Ryk Neethling
The Dumb Little Man blog summarises this study by researchers at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania:
In this study, the hypothesis was in the form of an example: “An interviewer who has already highly recommended three applicants on a given day may be reluctant to do the same for a fourth applicant.”
Information collected from more than 9,000 M.B.A. interviews supported this hypothesis. And through auxiliary studies, alternative explanations were found to be “unlikely.” In plain words, they found that successful early interviewees “ruined the party” for later interviewees.
This makes sense because of how interviewers expect an even distribution of candidates. When interviewing six people, the interviewer might expect two excellent candidates, two good, one average, and one guy with a fake resume. So when an interviewer encounters three excellent candidates in a row early on, (s)he may unknowingly frame the remaining candidates in a more negative light in order to confirm their expectation bias.
Add to this the fact that many of us are at our best at the start of the day, and it seems like a no-brainer to go for the early interview.
Hit up the link below for other research-backed tips for making better choices.
3 Amazing Science-backed Life Tips You’d Never Guess [Dumb Little Man]
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