How Unfamiliarity Bias Affects Who Gets Promoted

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Have you ever been passed over for an internal promotion, only to have your company opt for an external candidate with less relevant experience?

Unfortunately, this happens all the time.

This week alone, three of my friends said they’ve either personally faced this situation or seen a spouse go through it.

Why does this happen?

What causes companies to opt for external candidates so often instead of choosing the known quantity: an internal candidate who has proven himself or herself already and knows the company inside and out?

In other words, why do companies spurn the bird in the hand to reach for the bird in the bush?

Unfamiliarity Bias

I have a working theory. Let’s call it “unfamiliarity bias” — the tendency to overvalue the capability of an unknown hire compared to an internal candidate.

We overvalue the resume skills we see on paper for external applicants while undervaluing the tangible skills we’ve witnessed from internal applicants.

We fall prey to this unfamiliarity bias for three reasons:

1. We’ve seen the weaknesses of internal candidates. After working with someone for even…