A 2009 poll conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that 54% of HR managers base their final hiring decisions on “chemistry” and 30% of HR professionals make the “not-to-hire decision” in 15 minutes of first meeting the job candidate, whereas 28% reach the same conclusion in just 5 minutes. Here are four reasons why this is a bad idea: Potential for discriminatory actions/lawsuits When you assume you can make a “you-know-what” out of you and me Hiring your likeness compromises your primary job – getting work done through others If everyone on your team is the same, there won't be any complimentary skills or diversity, which the best teams have An analysis of 120 job interviews over the course of two years at elite firms in areas of banking, consulting, and Big Law suggested that the most common mechanism by which a candidate was evaluated was their similarity to their interviewer. The findings attribute this similarity effect to three key factors: