Body of Knowledge · Glossary
Halo effect
One salient positive trait colouring the assessment of unrelated traits. In hiring, it is the impressive credential or strong first answer that lifts every later score. Independent scoring per criterion, before any discussion, counters it.
Where the standard develops it
- PL-3Hiring and onboardingStructured evaluation, calibrated standards, assessing capability rather than tool access.
Related terms
- Affinity bias
- Favouring people who resemble oneself in evaluation.
- Calibration
- Aligning evaluation standards across interviewers, managers or organisations so that the same capability or performance earns the same judgment.
- First ninety days
- Treating a new role as a transition with its own work (learning, an early real contribution, the relationships the role depends on), with explicit outcomes at thirty, sixty and ninety days.
- Structured interview
- Consistent questions mapped to a rubric defined before the process starts, scored independently by each interviewer before any discussion.
Cite this definition
Chicago, BibTeX and licence →Engineering Management Academy. (2026). Halo effect. In Engineering Management Academy Body of Knowledge (Version 3.1, GLO.halo-effect). https://www.engineeringmanagement.academy/body-of-knowledge/glossary/halo-effect