According to the book, how long in an interview does it take personnel directors to make accurate decisions regarding an applicant's employability?

• A. 20 seconds
• B. 2 minutes
• C. 10 minutes
• D. 60 minutes

Answer: (A)

People form strong judgments about a candidate almost instantly in an interview, picking up cues from appearance, posture, voice, and how they communicate. The book states that accurate decisions about employability can be made in roughly twenty seconds, meaning most of the initial assessment happens in that brief window. This explains why first impressions matter, but it also highlights the need for structured questions and multiple data points to verify or adjust those quick judgments. The longer timeframes listed—two minutes, ten minutes, or an hour—don’t align with this rapid-assessment idea, which is why the twenty-second mark is the best fit.