Social class can be determined within just seven words, and it could have major implications in job interviews, researchers from Yale University believe.

In a new study, 274 people with hiring experience were asked to listen to audio recordings, or read transcripts, from the pre-interview discussions of people who applied for a lab manager position at the university.

The hiring managers were asked to assess the candidate's professional qualities, starting salary, signing on bonus and social class, without reading CVs.

The findings showed that within the first seven words, hirers had made snap judgements of the candidates, based on class, which were later reflected in decisions to hire, as well as salary and bonus levels.

The average starting salary of those judged to be higher class started at around £45,260 ($58,750) compared to roughly £44,680 ($58,000) for those judged from a lower class.

Likewise the majority of the higher class candidates received a starting bonus above £1,925 ($2,500) while nobody from the lower classes reached that level.

“We rarely talk explicitly about social class, and yet, people with hiring experience infer competence and fitness based on socioeconomic position estimated from a few seconds of an applicant's speech," said said Dr Michael Kraus, assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management.