Few people are hired without an interview. But
interviewers make perceptual judgments that are often inaccurate 20 and draw
early impressions that quickly become entrenched. Research shows we form
impressions of others within a tenth of a second, based on our first glance. 21 If
these first impressions are negative, they tend to be more heavily weighted in
the interview than if that same information came out later. 22 Most interviewers’
decisions change very little after the first 4 or 5 minutes of an interview. As a
result, information elicited early in the interview carries greater weight than
does information elicited later, and a “good applicant” is probably characterized
more by the absence of unfavorable characteristics than by the presence of
favorable ones.