How to use Cold Reading When Hiring

Used for millennia by psychics, charlatans and civilians alike, cold reading refers to gathering information from a human subject by "reading" their facial expressions, body language and nonverbal cues, as well as pulling information from their manner of dress, style of speaking and responses to certain questions. In an interview, using cold reading can certainly help an employer to better read each candidate for the job on a deeper level.

Instructions

1. Educate yourself on the art of cold reading. Learn more about typical human facial expressions and posturing in your culture to gain deeper insight into what these non-verbal cues may reveal about the true intentions and emotions of the people around you. Men and women often use different expressions, so it's best to learn about both genders.

2. Practice with the public. Try to go "people watching" and see if you can guess the emotional state and motivations of the strangers in your line of sight. Practice on people you know well, too. People in love maintain almost constant eye contact and touch very frequently. People who don't get along often cross their legs and arms away from each other and avoid direct face to face eye contact. People who are fighting tend to square off and stand directly opposite each other. You can also practice in the mirror by noting your own facial expressions and postures in response to various influences.

3. Study posture and mannerisms. Men who feel confident in a situation tend to lean back in their chair and open their arms and legs wider, displaying that they feel relaxed and in command of the situation. Women who touch their ear or neck and fiddle with jewelry at the neck are really communicating defensiveness and nervousness. A chin resting in a hand and slumped forward posture communicates boredom. Fidgeting often communicates impatience, and rigid postures often communicate feeling threatened or preparing for conflict. These are just a few common postures used in the workplace.

4. Use your new keen powers of perception. If you notice that a candidate appears to be indicating nervousness, offer reassurance and help them to relax during the interview. You can posture your own body in a relaxed and uncrossed way that shows receptivity and change your own non-verbal cues to create the right environment for open and honest communication. Similarly, if you believe that somebody may be lying about their qualifications or work history, you can use their non-verbal cues from your cold reading to prompt you to check more closely for inaccuracies in their application.

5. Gather more information by asking open-ended questions. Open an interview by asking "tell me about yourself," and then watch how they respond. This question will obviously make them nervous and their gestures will show you how they personally react to nervousness. Note their use of eye contact and smiling. Their response will tell you a great deal about their communication style. Notice if they list facts or feelings, focus on other people or their own accomplishments, and how long they go on for. All of these subtle indicators can give you a deeper sense of the person and their character.

6. Realize that cold reading is not a hard science. At best, it's a pseudo science of the observant and can help inform your opinion of other people, though it should never become the determining factor in giving somebody a job or disqualifying them based on an assumption that could be way off the mark, and possibly discriminatory.