Qu'est-ce que Confirmation Bias ?

Definition

Confirmation bias is a fundamental cognitive bias in which people tend to favour information that confirms what they already believe, while discounting or ignoring contradictory evidence. In recruitment, it manifests when a recruiter forms a rapid first impression of a candidate and then conducts the rest of the interview seeking evidence to validate that initial judgment rather than objectively evaluating the candidate.

In practice

A recruiter who decides within the first 30 seconds that a candidate is "impressive" will unconsciously interpret ambiguous answers charitably, ask easier follow-up questions, and overlook red flags. Conversely, a negative first impression leads to more probing questions and harsher interpretation of the same answers. Research suggests recruiters make a decision within the first 90 seconds of an interview in many cases. Structured interviews with pre-defined scoring criteria are the most effective countermeasure — they force evaluators to assess the same behavioural criteria for all candidates, reducing the room for confirmation bias to operate. Panel interviews with independent scoring before discussion also help.

Key takeaway

The antidote to confirmation bias is process discipline — pre-define what good looks like for each criterion before meeting any candidate, then measure everyone against the same standard.