Candidate characteristics driving initial impressions during rapport building: Implications for employment interview validity |
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| Authors: | Murray R. Barrick Susan L. Dustin Tamara L. Giluk Greg L. Stewart Jonathan A. Shaffer Brian W. Swider |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Management, Texas A & M University, Mays Business School, College Station, Texas, USA;2. Department of Management & Marketing, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, School of Business, Illinois, USA;3. Department of Management & Entrepreneurship, Xavier University, Williams College of Business, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA;4. Department of Management & Organizations, University of Iowa, Henry B. Tippie School of Management, Iowa, USA;5. Department of Management, Marketing, & General Business, West Texas A & M, College of Business, Amarillo, Texas, USA |
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| Abstract: | We examine the antecedents impacting interviewers’ initial impressions of candidates formed during the rapport‐building stage of the interview and subsequent evaluations of answers to highly structured interview questions. Ratings for 130 mock interview candidates reveal a strong relationship between interviewers’ initial impression of the candidate and their evaluations of candidate responses to structured questions. These initial impressions correspond with candidate extraversion and verbal skill, controlling for job qualifications. Interviewers’ initial impressions mediate the effect of candidate characteristics, relevant for some jobs more so than others, on later evaluations. Thus, initial impressions formed during rapport building appear to influence subsequent evaluations whether they are clearly job‐relevant or not. These findings have important implications for the validity of structured interviews. |
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