Why First Impressions Are More Damaging Than Any Third-Grade Movie!

When you say "First impressions are worse than a 3rd-grade movie", you are so right. It might take you a couple of days to get over the movie trauma, but the earlier one will always be with you, or at least until you get a better offer. So, the question arises are first impressions a good approach? This topic has undoubtedly been discussed before, whether in person or in writing. Though it still exists, the good part is that people certainly don't want this to continue forever.?

I recently conducted an online poll on?whether the first impression is the final one- the right approach?? 78%?of people voted for?"No", 15%?opted for?"Yes", and 4%?each for?"Not Sure"?and?"Others".

This debate is valid for both personal and professional environments, as we are discussing this on a professional platform, so let us stick to the latter one. Nearly everyone must have faced this scenario, sometimes for good and most of the time the contrary. Although the percentage of good performance would be less because we usually tend to forget. But we do recall cases that go against our interests. For this article, I'll use a sample job interview with a professional who is interacting with a CXO for the first time.

First Scenario:

The CXO, for whatever reason, may like a candidate and pick him/her for the job. Now, adding on to it, what if the candidate is not bright enough? When this happens, it's up to the candidate to manage pressure and learn or simply quit.?

Second Scenario:

Suppose the reverse happens, a bright candidate gets rejected for whatever reason? And a talent goes for a toss. Just look around your friend circle, and you may find many such examples. It's not always that the bright candidate gets nervous, but mostly it's like the answer given by the candidate failed to meet recruiters' expectations. Meeting the requirements of the position and answering queries from recruiters is overwhelming in any case, and now comes the added pressure of meeting their expectations.

The purpose of the above statements is not to justify the ineligibility of any applicant. But it is significant to recognize that the applicant might have answered differently, and a person sitting on the other side of the table may think differently. So there will always be a mismatch.?

Elaborative Approach

What if rejection happens at the last level, with whom the candidate doesn't even have to interact daily? For instance, you do multiple rounds with different people and then one fine day, when you interact with the CXO, you end up rejected? Sometimes, a candidate is branded as non-punctual or has no respect for time if he/she gets late for a scheduled meeting. At the same time, if the recruiter does the same thing, then it's not a big deal.

There could be several permutations and combinations for not performing to their potential. Any number of reasons could be at play, it's not his/her day, the recruiter was in a bad mood, technological glitches, and many others. If not, how did this professional make it so far? Thus, the point remains the same, how wise is it to judge by the first impression???

Recruiters look at resumes, do a reference check, and there are multiple calls and exchanges of documents to measure the knowledge and depth of the candidate and many more such things. Yet the CXO asks just a couple of questions and then comes up with a judgment??They say it's the hunch that leads them to form a decision. Even though all CXOs have proficiency with numbers, I don't understand what forces them to rely on intuition instead of numbers to make such decisions (as they refer to the applicant's CV). Frankly, if their hunches had always been that accurate, several organizations would not have headed south. We unquestionably live in an employer-friendly market!?

And then, there is societal pressure, and in some cases, families may show displeasure that the candidate does not qualify for the position or does not have the proper knowledge to clear the interactions. Often, it is also a feeling in the mind of the candidate. But who cares?

While life does not end here due to the lack of a proper mechanism. I don't think that's a justifiable assessment of an applicant's potential. There could be many other aspects, but I would like to know what others think of it.

So, one should never lose hope, and remember the famous lines by Laurel House,?"The harder you slam a ball into the ground, the higher it bounces back up… A divorce, a breakup, losing a job, or just feeling seriously down can ground you, rough you up a bit, leave calluses on your feet, and grit under your fingernails. But more than that, it leaves you wiser and stronger next time. Life is about experiencing opposites, isn’t it?"