New Wharton, HBS Research Shows Last Interviewee of the Day is the Worst

A research paper co-authored by Wharton operations and information management professor Uri Simonsohn, shows MBA candidates interviewed at the end of the day are more likely to be rejected than those interviewed earlier. 

On a five-point scale, with five being the best possible score, a similarly qualified applicant who interviewed on the tail end of his top-scoring competition got lower scores overall than what he or she would have otherwise received. Conversely, those who interviewed after a group of weaker competitors got better than expected evaluations. The data covered more than 9,000 interviews done by 31 interviewers, none of whom were alumni.

So if an interviewer interviewed four people, and all four were good, they will think the fifth person is less likely to be good, they say. The effect very well could be unconscious.

They say a phenomenon called "narrow bracketing" was affecting how those late-day candidates were being judged. Narrow bracketing is when an individual makes a decision without taking into account the consequences of many similar choices.

The report is called "Daily Horizons: Evidence of Narrow Bracketing in Judgment" 

Source:  Knowledge@Wharton

Interview Mistakes to Avoid!

BusinessWeek has just published a short and humoros piece on interview mistakes. Some of these seem very obvious

- Don't cry! 

Even if you feel the pressure, anticipate the obvious questions and prepare your answers

- Don't interview the interviewer!

Too much confidence is too much of a good thing. 

- Don't touch!

-Hugging the interviewer is out!

-Don't perform!

Don't bring an easel, don't bring props

-Don't forget your manners

Don't sniff, pick your nose, don't forget to switch your cell phone off.

For more on this article, please see:
 MBA Admissions Interviews Gone Bad—Really Bad