Psychology prof’s research can help interviewers spot certain traits in candidates
Written by Dan Howse

From that subtle scent you keep tucked away for special occasions, to your favourite pair of shoes that pull the outfit together, job interviews are all about how you present yourself. While dressing up for any situation is fun, during an interview, it’s essential. It demonstrates the confidence and assertiveness many employers look for.

But recent research from University of Guelph psychology professor, Deborah Powell, showed that interviewers can be trained to detect traits such as assertiveness from just your behaviour. Don’t hang that tie up just yet, but make sure it’s tied loose enough to let you be yourself.
“You can say you’re assertive but if you don’t act assertive in an interview the employer will be able to see that,” said Powell.
While everyone has some intuitive understanding of psychology, the study Powell conducted tested the ability of average people to learn how to read psychological cues. Her study found that interviewers could be taught how to pick up on certain traits fairly easily while others proved more challenging.
“It is possible to be able to train people to more accurately detect some personality traits, [but] some traits are easier to teach than others,” said Powell.
Powell focused on traits that were consistently valued as useful for the position, in this case a bank manager trainee. Her research focused on assertiveness, self-discipline and vulnerability to stress. While interviewers were easily able to detect assertiveness and self-discipline, reading a person’s reaction to stress proved more difficult.
One cause of this finding might be that the stress induced in the experimental mock interviews was not proportional to the stress of an actual job interview.
“There was a video camera on [the participants], so that might have increased some stress but there were no stakes associated,” said Powell.
However, while teaching interviewers to pick up on vulnerability to stress proved difficult, the study did generate some unintended beneficial results.
“People scored more accurately on some traits I didn’t necessarily train them on,” Powell explained.
Participants that had been trained specifically on picking up assertiveness and self-discipline also did a better job at identifying the facets of conscientiousness and extroversion.
While these four personality traits consist of only a small portion of what employers need to know about their prospective employees, studies like these are undoubtedly changing the hiring process. Fourth-year psychology student, Jesus Estevez-Rossouw, explained the importance of professor Powell’s research.
“Research in the field of industrial organizational psychology is critical to ensuring that the right people are hired for the right jobs,” Estevez-Rossouw explained. “Interviews are particularly important in the hiring process, as in many cases, they can be the determining factor when choosing between two otherwise equally qualified job applicants.”
While it might be intimidating to think that employers are getting a leg up on future employees, don’t fret, help is coming.
“This research benefits interviewees as well,” said Esteves-Rossouw. “A better understanding of the interview process hopefully showcases their desirable traits.”

Your anonymous comment may be printed in The Ontarion's print publication.