Qu'est-ce que Dunning-Kruger Effect ?

Definition

The Dunning-Kruger effect, described by psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger in 1999, is a cognitive bias where individuals with limited knowledge or skill in a domain significantly overestimate their competence — partly because the same skills needed to be competent are also needed to recognise incompetence. Conversely, genuine experts often underestimate their abilities because they are acutely aware of what they don't know.

In practice

In recruitment, the Dunning-Kruger effect manifests in candidates who radically overstate their proficiency in technical skills on their CV ("expert Excel" when they can do basic sums) and come across as highly confident in interviews despite limited actual ability. It also affects self-assessment exercises: genuinely skilled candidates may rate themselves modestly while less skilled candidates self-assess highly. For recruiters, it underlines the importance of objective skills tests and structured competency evidence rather than relying on self-reported skill levels or candidate confidence as a proxy for competence. Technical roles particularly benefit from practical work samples that cut through subjective self-assessment.

Key takeaway

Confidence in an interview is not evidence of competence — always verify technical skills with objective tests or concrete, probe-able behavioural examples.