Your West Texas plant has an opening for a controller, and four candidates have been selected for interviews.
➢ Mark, the son of a plant employee, worked as an accountant for two years to put himself through the Wharton Business School and recently earned his MBA.
➢ Aaron is a CPA with eight years of experience in a public accounting firm.
➢ Michelle also has a CPA and has worked as an accounting manager in the corporate office of a large
corporation in the same industry.
➢ Lorna does not have a CPA or MBA but has worked as controller of a smaller local competitor for eight years.
After interviewing all four candidates, the general manager told you he wants to hire Mark because he shows promise. You know from a previous conversation with the GM that he also worked his way through college.
Which of the following biases could be influencing the GM’s decision?
A. Knowledge of predictor
B. Halo effect
C. Similar-to-me
D. Gut feeling
Answer – C – The GM could be influenced by his similar experience working his way through college.
Explanation: Knowledge of predictor bias is a factor when the interviewer knows that a candidate scored particularly high or low on an assessment test. The halo effect occurs when interviews allow one positive characteristic to overshadow other, less positive attributes. The gut feeling bias occurs when interviews rely on intuition to make hiring decisions.
