The Halo Effect and Recency Effect: What's Your Greatest Weakness?

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This case mainly centers on the question “what is your greatest weakness?” The table on 7-2 present varying responses that the recruiter can have. A halo effect is where there is an overall impression of the candidate and it influences other ratings about the interviewee. An example is when a person meets all the qualifications on paper but their interviewing skills may need a lot of work. The recruiter may be willing to overlook or not judge as harshly because on paper they have everything they want in an employee (Holbrook, 1983). This can also tie into leniency which is when a personal characteristic causes a person to rate much more positively. In example, if the person went to the same university as the recruiter they may feel a bond with the individual. This would lead them to mark the person higher than others just because they do not want to say anything negative about another alumni.
Recency effects is when the recent information impacts a decision. This can be a misstep when answering any question and giving the recruiter a strong sense of doubt. That doubt will carry over to their final decision and negatively impact the whole interview process. The bad will essentially override any good despite the effort put into the situation. Contrast effects will always play a part during any interview process. There is competition for every job and the interviewers are trying to find the best person for a job. If a person is honest and says that their weakness is doing routine work and another person says they have no weaknesses you are left with the idea that one is honest and the other is presenting false information (Krietner & Kinicki, 2013).
In this case the recruiters’ perceptions are based on the person not ad...

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...s I wanted more responsibilities and work rather than needing to be micromanaged. On the downside a recruiter could take view this negatively. If they are looking for people to do one job and only one job I may not be the best hire. They could think that I would think any position is temporary because I am always looking toward the next thing. It would be a valid concern but I would hope that my work history and general attitude would help ease any concerns.

Works Cited

Holbrook, M. B. (1983). Using a Structural Model of Halo Effect to Assess Perceptual Distortion due to Affective Overtones. Journal Of Consumer Research, 10(2), 247-252.
Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (2013). Organizational behavior. New York,NY: McGraw-Hill.
White, S. S., & Locke, E. A. (2000). PROBLEMS WITH THE PYGMALION EFFECT AND SOME PROPOSED SOLUTIONS. Leadership Quarterly, 11(3), 389.

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