Gut Instincts in Recruitment
When interviewing job candidates, it's natural to rely on your gut instincts to help guide your hiring decisions. However, research shows that intuition and "gut feelings" can be unreliable and biased indicators of a candidate's suitability for a role.
While gut instincts can be based on subtle micro signals you pick up during an interview, there are several reasons why they should not form the primary basis for choosing candidates –
Hiring managers are prone to cognitive biases that distort their intuitions. Things like affinity bias, halo effect, and primacy effect can influence gut instincts in unhelpful ways.
Gut instincts are based on limited information gathered in a short interview. You may miss important details or not get a full picture of the candidate's skills.
Emotional responses to candidates can sway intuitions, but liking someone is a poor indicator of job performance.
Without a structured process, interviews that rely heavily on intuition lack consistency and evidence-based evaluation.
People vary in their ability to accurately detect and interpret micro signals, so not all gut instincts are equally valid.
Candidates can give off micro signals that do not reflect their true competencies and suitability. Subtle cues can be faked.
While gut instincts based on micro signals may provide some useful information, they are still prone to errors, biases and being based on limited data.
The most accurate hiring decisions generally incorporate both objective data and intuitive judgments. A balanced approach that leverages both intuition and evidence-based methods like behavioral event interviews can improve validity.
The takeaway: Do not discount your gut instincts entirely, but recognize their limitations. Supplement intuitions with structured interviews and objective evaluation criteria to make the most informed hiring decisions. Your gut may guide you, but the data should decide.
In the end, the goal is to choose the candidate most likely to succeed in the role and contribute positively to your organization - and that requires combining both art and science in your hiring process.
