Question

Jill is interviewing candidates for a position as an entry-level management trainee. The first two candidates were judged unfavorable. The third candidate was just average, but Jill was so pleased to find an acceptable candidate after the first two interviews that she assigned a better rating to candidate 3 than she normally would. This is an example of a _____.

Answer 1

The answer is contrast error.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the questions, obviously Jill's rating to Candidate 3 has been much affected by quality of the first two interviewees. In fact, if Candidate 3 was interviewed before the first two or one of the two performance was better, Candidate 3 would be rated at a more appropriate level.

In human resources management, the contrast error term is used to refer to the situation where the result of the interview/performance appraisal is not relatively accurate due to the effect of previous interviewed/appraisal candidates on the appraiser.

It is quite clear that after interviewing 02 first candidates, having filled with disappointment and the willing to have at least one out of three interviewee qualifying for the interview round, Jill has set a lower benchmark for the third candidate which result in wrong interview's appraisal.