The role of meta-accuracy in recruitment

Laetitia A. Renier¹, Emmanuelle P. Kleinlogel², Claudia Toma1¹,  Marianne Schmid Mast², Nora A. Murphy³

Previous research showed that people may or not know the impression they convey to others (i.e., meta-accuracy). However, little research has addressed to what extent meta-accuracy may be related to social outcomes such as actual hireability (recruiter’s intention to hire). Three studies were conducted to test whether people who knew the impression they conveyed (meta-accuracy on skills and traits) during a job interview or based on their online résumé (i.e., LinkedIn profile) are the ones who are more likely to get hired. Findings consistently showed across the three studies that meta-accuracy was related to hireability. For instance, whether meta-accuracy regarding job skills during an interview (Study 1, N = 49, and Study 2, N = 127) or regarding traits on a résumé (Study 3, N = 135), polynomial regression and responses surface analyses indicated that actual hireability increased when metaperception and other’s perception increased, while staying in agreement. Additionally, actual hireability was higher for candidates underestimating the extent to which a recruiter would perceive their traits and/or skills than for overestimators. The role of accuracy had to be nuanced by addressing Dunning-Krueger effect. These results suggest that the best chance to get hired does not rely only on good impressions but also on knowing or at least on underestimating the actual impression made upon others.

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¹ Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

² Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

³ Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, United States