How To Design Your Interview Based on Behavioral Science

Make a positive, lasting impression on your interviewer with the peak-and-end effect. GETTY

As the blind dates of business, job interviews are a dance between organizations that hope to hire the best person for the job and applicants hoping to find the best job for themselves. For business leaders searching for the right candidates, they have full control of the interview environment and can (read: should) design their hiring processes to be inclusive and eliminate bias. But for applicants hoping to shine within systems they have little control over, it may seem like there are few strategies they can use to get ahead. Fortunately, the behavioral sciences have some advice for your next job interview (and it’s not to work on your power pose). Instead, use what cognitive psychologists know about how memory works to design your interview.

Design Your Interview Peak and End

By designing your interview based on behavioral science, you can fill the nanometer of space reserved for you in your interviewer’s brain with the unforgettable moments you need to stand out. The way to instill this vivid memory is by designing your peak and your end.

You can bet that your interviewer won’t remember everything about your interview. But which parts will she remember? Turns out, this is actually far more predictable than you might think. In the field of psychology, there’s something…