June 2003), Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Teacher Education, NASSP Bulletin and Education Administration Quarterly. Psychological and Contextual Influences on the Teacher Selection Interview:

Interview: A Model for Future Research ” suggested that psychological influences can bias the interview process. According to the authors, research suggests that variables such as attractiveness, likeability, expertness, and similarity can influence interviewers ’ perceptions of prospective employees and applicants’ perceptions of the interviewer and the job itself. The article notes that interviews, not paper qualifications, have been rated as the most important criteria in making hiring decisions; therefore education administrators need to be aware of these issues to ensure that the selection process is not biased by psychological influences. The authors suggest that in certain professions such as teaching and nursing where the ratio of candidates to jobs is very low, selection processes may deviate from the norm and be subject to contextual influences (interview structure, interview format and the influence of local and federal policies on interview outcomes) as well as psychological influence. The authors conclude by noting tha