Yes, it is. The reason is you can focus 100% on observing them, their body language, their words, and the dynamic of the conversation. Talking to them means you also have to be participating in the discussion. Additionally, with their focus on you, they are adapting their own style to how you react to it. You have to sort of do the same. That makes the patterns harder to see.<p>So, many people that do this try to detach themselves. That Jessica further keeps the image or at least visitors&#x27; assumption that she might be just a secretary is straight brilliant: almost nobody pays attention to such people. That let&#x27;s her stay either 100% or nearly so focused on her evaluation of them.<p>There are two modifications that have shown to be superior. One is that one or more of the interviewers have the same ability to read people. As I said, the difficulty makes these rare people. However, you do see this among talented negotiators, intelligence types, and so on.<p>The other one is keeping the assessor outside the room but with full visual and audio to pick up the unconscious cues <i>plus a feedback mechanism</i>. This might be a computer or earpiece for one or more interviewers. The reason is that the character assessment might run into situations where it&#x27;s too vague to make the assessment. So, the person assessing might give a suggestion to the interviewers for how to prod the person to get a specific reaction. This might happen a little or a lot if the overall team has worked together a lot. Eventually, the interviewers get so good at spotting these situations and remembering how they were handled that they intuitively create these opportunities for the remote reviewer without being asked. The results are a more detailed and effective evaluation.<p>Such a setup is not for everyone. Many prefer just having one or more people talking with another doing more listening and people watching. That&#x27;s Y Combinator&#x27;s setup. Many high-stakes interviews or negotiations use the latter method though with lots of effectiveness. That you can read the reviewer while the reviewer can read you probably helps a lot. ;)