You’re most likely to get a job if you look like your interviewer
Next time you're fretting about your qualifications before a job interview, don't bother. What the hiring process really comes down to is a manager's “gut instinct”,which is completely out of your control.
According to research by recruitment research firm CPID, one of the main things that sways a prospective boss's mind is how much a candidate looks and acts like them. They tend to go for a “mini me” who dresses in the same way and even has the same haircut.
Also helpful is having matching hobbies, interests and mannerisms. But similarity to your interviewer isn't the only factor that forms their instinct of you, with other influencers including time of interview and ethnic background.
Full details of the study are published in the report Head for Hiring: The Behavioural Science of Recruitment.
Jonny Gifford, research adviser at the CIPD, said:
So many recruitment decisions are based on a ‘gut instinct’ or what feels intuitively right, and this is a real problem. We like to think we can spot talent, but insights from behavioural science show that our decision-making is actually highly prone to ‘sloppy thinking’ and bias.