THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
First Impressions
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOW
OTHERS PERCEIVE YOU
by Tracy Walsh
W
orking hard to attain
success, but seeing little or
nothing to show for your efforts?
If so, have you ever thought about
how others perceive you? Unfair
as it might seem, first impressions
do matter – in today’s world,
they matter more than ever. An
interviewer or potential business
partner can find information about
you online and form a lasting
opinion in a matter of seconds.
Even if you maintain a clean social
media presence, though, how you
come across to others will be the
ultimate determinant as to whether
you will succeed or not at the end
of the day.
EVERYONE MAKES SNAP
JUDGMENTS
As much as we like to think of
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ourselves as paragons of fairness,
we (and everyone around us) are
constantly making snap decisions
based on our gut reaction to
about all the filters people put in
place to make sense of their world,
responding appropriately to the
most common ones can greatly
“UNFAIR AS IT MIGHT SEEM, FIRST
IMPRESSIONS DO MATTER – IN TODAY’S
WORLD, THEY MATTER MORE THAN EVER”
various situations. Some of this can
be attributed to instincts passed
down through the ages, but our
ability to size up a person improves
as we accrue life experiences.
However, our own biases are not
the issue – rather, we need to
consider what others think about
us. While we can’t possibly know
increase our odds of success in
any social arena.
APPEARANCE MATTERS
When you are trying to land your
dream job or sign your first big
client, how you choose to present
yourself will have the biggest
impact of all. There are certain
attributes you can’t easily change,