Job Interviews

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An old colleague of mine was fired for spending hours at work playing video games.

I always wondered how they'd deal with this dismissal in future job interviews.

Should they admit to the mistake?

Deny it?

Or stay silent?

That's what Donald Ferrin and his colleagues tested in 2007.

102 participants watched a video of a job interview.

In the video, the interviewer raises a problem with the candidate's experience.

A reference said that the candidate had made a mistake filling in a tax form at a previous job due to incompetence.

Ferrin then created three different versions of the video:

1. The candidate apologises and takes full responsibility
2. The candidate denies the accusation outright
3. The candidate says they can't confirm or deny due to confidentiality

Each participant was then asked if they would hire the candidate.

Turns out, apologising worked best.

According to Professor Vanessa Bohns, it's better to say, "Sorry, I made a mistake; it won't happen again," than "It wasn't my fault."

The participants were asked to rate the candidate for perceived integrity:

• Apologising = 4.98/7
• Denying = 4.21/7
• Staying silent = 4.17/7

Willingness to trust them with important tasks:

• Apologising = 3.57/7
• Denying = 3.00/7
• Staying silent = 3.26/7

Willingness to hire them:

• Apologising = 4.47/7
• Denying = 3.94/7
• Staying silent = 3.89/7

Perceived competence:

• Apologising = 4.55/7
• Denying = 4.44/7
• Staying silent = 4.28/7

When it comes to problems with your experience, owning up to it is always better than staying silent.

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Cheers,

​Phill​

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