How To Design Your Interview Based on Behavioral Science

As the blind dates of business, job interviews are a dance between organizations that hope to hire the best person for the job and applicants hoping to find the best job for themselves. For business leaders searching for the right candidates, they have full control of the interview environment and can (read: should) design their hiring processes to be inclusive and eliminate bias. But for applicants hoping to shine within systems they have little control over, it may seem like there are few strategies they can use to get ahead. Fortunately, the behavioral sciences have some advice for your next job interview (and it’s not to work on your power pose). Instead, use what cognitive psychologists know about how memory works to design your interview. 

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The Interview End

The most famous research studies showing the “end” effect involved the discomfort of colonoscopies and submerging hands in very, very cold water (..not at the same time..). Whatever the source of pain, researchers found that if the pain decreases at the end, that entire experience is remembered as less unpleasant — and this holds even when the duration of pain is greater. 

The same trend is found with the intensity of exercise. In a recent study by Zachary Zenko, Panteleimon Ekkekakis and Dan Ariely (full disclosure: I work with Dan at the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke, and Zack used to be a post-doc there), the researchers invited participants to exercise on a stationary bicycle, either increasing or decreasing the intensity of their workout over time. When the intensity decreased over time, people enjoyed their exercise more, remembered it more positively, and predicted greater future biking enjoyment. As if you needed another reason for a post-workout cool-down and stretch!

Read the whole story (subscription may be required): Forbes