My interview mistake

A few years back, I was asked to interview for a Director of Product Marketing role.

The recruiter emailed me and asked when I would like to interview.

"First, last or somewhere in the middle?"

Being the behavioural science nerd I am, I decided to go first.

Why?

The primacy effect suggests that the first interview will stick more in the mind than others.

Serial Position Effect (Glanzer & Cunitz, 1966) — The Serial Position Effect study (Glanzer & Cunitz, 1966) showed that words listed first had a higher recall than average.

I could have picked the last slot, but I thought I'd be compared to previous candidates due to anchoring. My gut said the first slot would improve my chances.

I've since learnt I was wrong.

Reacher Galinsky studied the hiring records at Princeton University and found something surprising.

With just a few exceptions, candidates interviewed last were more likely to get the job.

Galinsky found that the last candidate effect wasn't limited to interviews.

An analysis of 50 years of Eurovision Song Contest results found that countries that performed in the latter stages of the competition were typically awarded higher marks than those that performed earlier.

The same with American Idol. The X-Factor, too.

Steve Martin wrote about this in his latest book.

He says interviewing first backfires due to the framing effect.

"It's easy to assume the first candidate holds an advantage because they set the benchmark by which the others are judged.

But this ignores an important point. Recruiters already have a frame of reference. It comes in the form of the job description, a document that typically describes the image of a heaven-sent candidate.

That alone might be enough to disadvantage any first candidate.

After all, few candidates are likely to possess the skills to match a recruiter's ideal." ― Steve Martin, Influence at Work

I was right in assuming going first would help the recruiter remember me.

But I suffered due to framing. I was being compared to the recruiter's imaginary dream candidate, not a real candidate with all their real flaws.

I didn't get the Director of Product Marketing job.

The next time I interviewed, I asked to go last.

And so should you.

Cheers,

Phill