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One-third of Americans call their last job interview ‘love at first sight’

Posted on February 8th, 2013 Read time: 1 minutes

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, a recent report likened the job application process to the courtship period between two romantic partners. One-third of Americans experienced instant attraction in their most recent job interview, calling it “love at first sight,” according to HireView, a recruiting software provider.

The survey, which polled more than 1,000 U.S. adults during the first week of February, revealed one-third of working Americans said their last interview process was like a game of “hard to get.” In addition, 20 percent said their interview was “hot at first, but then fizzled fast,” and 18 percent compared the process to an unsuccessful relationship that lasted too long.

“Interviewing is a courtship to one of the most important relationships for Americans – their job,” said Kevin Marasco, chief marketing officer at HireVue. “In the job interview process, both falling in love instantly and playing hard to get may cloud a candidate’s judgment in assessing the opportunity at hand.”

Marasco suggested employers and HR administration professionals find an objective medium. One Forbes contributor recommended starting slow and asking personal questions about where the candidate is from what jobs he or she had in college. It’s a good idea to include open-ended questions, and follow-up answers with more detailed ones.

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