Rereading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell reminded me again how quickly we humans make unconscious judgments. Gadwell recounts a psychological experiment that compared students’ impressions of whether or a not a professor was good from a two-second video tape to the impressions of students who sat in the same professor’s class for a semester. The conclusions are remarkably similar. The same occurs in interviews. Job interviewers make immediate split second decisions about whom they interview. Those who make favorable impressions during those first few seconds are those who are offered the job.
Of course, the same occurs in a college interview, another factor in a student’s being admitted to his/her college of choice. What this means is it’s not only your well-thought-out answers or the relationship you develop throughout the interview or even the impression you make during the time you interface with the interviewer that count. What also counts is the way you walk into the room, how you look, what expression you use as you look your interviewer in the eye. The tone of you voice and the handshake are also important factors.
College Basics has tips about what to wear on your college interview as well as advice about how to effect a good FIRST impression. We also found these Dos and Don’ts. Check them out.
