The rate of UK unemployment rose to 4.4% in the three months to November from 4.3% in the three months to October, the Office for National Statistics revealed.
The number of payrolled employees was also estimated to have tumbled by 47,000 during December to 30.3 million – the biggest drop since November 2020. It follows a revised 32,000 fall the previous month.
To help people get back to work, an employment coach at Resumesta named Jackie Racine shared her top tips on how you can better your chances at getting through you job interview and be offered a role – and it all has to do with behavioural psychology.
“One of my best interview hacks is that if your interviewer or the staff of your interviewer ask if you would like water, coffee, or tea, always say yes,” Jackie said in a TikTok video.
While it might seem like a small thing to do, Jackie went on to explain that it might actually work in your favour and make the interviewer like you more.
“Now there’s actually some science behind this, and like behavioural science,” she explained. “This kind of causes what is known as the Ben Franklin effect. This theory kind of suggests that when someone does a favour for you, they tend to like you more afterwards.
The psychological phenomenon is named after the American Founding Father, Benjamin Frenklin, after he wrote about the concept in his autobiography.
The phenomenon describes how doing a favor for someone can actually make us feel more positively towards that person. When we do a favor for someone, even if we initially had no strong feelings toward them, we tend to become more inclined to like and trust that person, The Decision Lab explained.
“So think about it this way, someone has to feel like they like you in order to do this favour for you, so it plays a little trick in their mind – ‘oh I’ve done something for this person, I do like them, I do have a positive perception of them.’”
She continued: “This may seem really really small, but it’s like a weird little psychological hack that could definitely help you on your next interview.”
People took to the comments to share their own experiences of unknowingly using the Benjamin Franklin effect, and most could vouch that it actually worked.
“I conduct interviews and sometimes when people say no to our offers of snacks and drinks it makes them seem unsettled/nervous! Love this tips,” one user said.
A second person said: “This is interesting, I interview people a lot and it always annoys me when people say no to having a drink, I find it really weird, why would you not want water if you’re talking for an hour??”
However, sometimes, it might not work the way you think, as one person shared: “
I had an interview at a coffee shop once and after the interview was over he bought me a coffee but I talked to someone else who got the job and they didn’t get a coffee from him and I was not hired..”
