Walking the Walk and Talking the Talk

Abstract

The first aim of this study was to investigate the unique contributions (beyond objective qualifications) of verbal and nonverbal interviewing skills to recruiters’ assessments of applicants. The second aim was to examine whether applicant gender moderates these relationships. Using a sample of 311 recruiter-applicant dyads, we found that interviewing skills explained assessments beyond objective qualifications. Further, nonverbal skills were more strongly related to interview assessments than were verbal skills. Finally, we predicted that rational verbal skills would be more important for females than for males and that nonverbal skills would have a greater impact for males than for females. The former proposition was not supported; the latter was marginally supported.