You’ve done the standard interview preparation; you’ve shown up on time, dressed in appropriate interview attire, and practiced the different scenarios and questions you might get asked. But none of those interviews has landed you a job offer. Well, the answer could lay in your body language. Studies suggest that only 7% of your communication is the actual words you say, 38% are certain vocal elements and 55% is your nonverbal (facial expressions, posture and gestures)
Body language during an interview plays a very important role in making or breaking your career. The expression “actions speak louder than words” holds very true, especially during job interviews.
Click below to read about the messages you have been sending with your body language and how to tweak them to land your next job interview.
– Adopt an engaged body posture: A very natural thing for the body to do is to slouch in the chair or fold up your arms and this looks like you are making yourself smaller, wrapping yourself up. The signal you give is that you are stressed or nervous. Instead, keep your body open, lean forward from the waist and this will give the appearance that you are interested.
– Appear calm and relaxed: If you are moving in a chair, keep changing your body posture or you are playing with objects around you. You are going to appear anxious and nervous therefore the interviewer is going to have less confidence in you. Instead, slow your breathing down, this will slow your heart rate and this will make you feel less nervous.
– Use the right hand gestures: Keep your hand gestures steady and only to emphasize a point. Plam upward signifies that what you are saying is honest and trustworthy, Touching your heart signifies that what you are saying is genuine and steepling is a sign of confidence.
– Mirror the interviewer: This technique needs to be done very subtly. Mirror hand movements, mirror your speech (vocabulary, jargon, rate and volume of speech). Keep in mind people trust those who are similar to themselves.
– Maintain healthy eye contact: Looking into the interviewer’s eyes, you are asserting your confidence and trustworthiness. Instead of staring, alternate your gaze between the left eye, right eye, mouth every 3 seconds.
– Avoid lying signals: The main rule is to avoid touching your face (especially your nose, mouth, ear and sideburns) these suggest that you are lying and dishonest.
