Which among the following statements is not true?

Directions: Read the following passage and then answer the question that follows:

PASSAGE – IV

Then I told him, “It’s the shoes, silly.” Of all recruitment filters this must be the strangest. Or is it? Speak to a journeyman recruiter about what puts her off someone she is interviewing, and the list that emerges is stranger still. “Overgrown nails, tight clothes, nasal hair, dandruff, a loud tie, louder socks, mini skirts, cleavage, tattoos…”.

Probe a little further and the list acquires a psychographic tinge: “Arrogance, obsequiousness, a know-it-all attitude, inability to listen …..“. Smart recruiters do not need too much time to look for these: the duration of the interview itself will do. Ask Dr. Yasho V. Verma, LG’s head of HR. “I never listen to what people have to say; it is far more important how they say it.” That statement should endear him to the proponents of the form-over-content school of thought.

There is enough scientific evidence to suggest that hiring decisions are based as much on form as on content. Social psychologists have estimated that we make up to 10 (value) judgments on someone we meet in the first 30 seconds after we have met them. These include those related to economic and education levels (“She looks like an MBA”); trustworthiness, social worthiness (“He’s the kind of guy I won’t have over at home”); level of sophistication, and economic, social, and moral heritage. Not convinced? A 1996-study titled Silent Messages by Albert Mehrabin, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, discovered that 55 percent of the impact we make on others is a function of our appearance, 38 percent, our voice, and 7 percent, the content (or what we say).

“Every small cue counts,” says Satish Pradhan, the head of HR of the Tata Group. The appropriateness of dress and demeanour is one thing that most interviewers look for in a candidate, and it is a fairly easy thing to measure. What other things do recruiters look for? They try to see whether the candidate’s body language is in sync with what he (or she) is saying, “An interviewer will try and corroborate what a person says by reading his non-verbal conduct” says RP. Singh, Central Manager, HR. Philips. For instance, a person who avoids looking straight into the eyes of the interviewer is either unsure of what he is saying, or is lying. There are other things that seasoned interviewers look for: does the candidate sit still, or fidget? Does he shake his leg or twiddle his thumbs while speaking (a sure sign of nervousness)? How does he react to a stressful question? (If he flails his arms, stammers, or gets shifty eyed, he is not used to stress). And even if a person is able to fudge all these and land the job, the result is a zero-sum game: it is difficult to fudge behaviour forever, and the company will get rid of the person sooner than later once the truth is out.

For the person being interviewed, there is just one way out: to be himself or herself.  Last word: just improve your walk some. A few recruiters believe in seeing how candidates walk into and out of a room.