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THE
CAREER DOCTOR
SOMETIMES
YOU SAY NOTHING - AND STILL SPEAK VOLUMES |
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In
a job interview, is your body agreeing with what your mouth
is saying? It is imperative that you are aware of your body
language and what it says about you, writes Rowan Manahan
ABRAHAM LINCOLN famously said, "You can fool all
of the people some of the time; you can fool some of the
people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people
all of the time." And the reason why not is, in
a nutshell, your body language.
| Psychologists
across the world argue as to just how much information
we communicate non-verbally; but put a group of them
in a room together and they will all agree that we
receive very little information merely from what people
say. Somewhere between 10 per cent and 30 per cent
of all the information an interviewer takes on board
during a job interview will be as a result of what
you actually say. The rest comes from your non-verbal
cues.
So
make sure that your body is not disputing what your
mouth is saying. The easiest way to do this is by
telling the truth. This will also ensure that no one
is hiring you under false pretences and you are likely
to be happier (and survive/thrive longer) on the job.
A good rule of thumb for job-hunters is: If
you have to lie to get your foot in the door, this
probably isn't the job for you.
The
over-riding rule of body language in interviews for
both men and women is that Stillness Projects
Strength. You rarely see a Newsreader gesturing
to camera. You don’t have to sit like a statue,
but make sure you get yourself comfortable in the
chair – with the base of your spine well against
the seat-back – and keep your non-verbal cues
relaxed and open.
Keeping your body language open and relaxed demonstrates
self-assurance. You don’t have to perch nervously
on the edge of your seat to display attentiveness,
but slouching back and placing your hands behind your
neck won’t exactly endear you to the interviewer
either. |
BODIES TALK,
WHO LISTENS?
Sharon Stone's famous
interview scene in Basic Instinct
in which she left no one in any doubt as to who
was in charge |
In most
settings, your legs will be hidden below the table, so you
can cross and un-cross your legs at will. If your legs are
visible, an ankle cross is generally deemed acceptable,
the typical alpha-male ankle-to-knee cross is not.
| FAQ:
"What should I do with my hands?"
Well,
crossing your arms is a definite and obvious no-no.
Try resting your hands in your lap or leave one on
your leg and the other on the armrest of your chair
(don't grip too tightly!) Play with this until you
find a couple of comfortable positions. Interlacing
your fingers briefly or rubbing your palms slowly
together are usually signs of deep thought; scratching
your head is less acceptable. If you have a notebook
with you, put it on the table. You can hold your pen,
but don't 'fiddle' with it. |
First
Impressions
Are first impressions - the smile, the posture, the handshake
- meaningless trivial pleasantries or life-and-death moments?
Try doing these badly and see what you think. The handshake:
To crush or not to crush? Hold the handshake for two or
three beats and try and match the other person's pressure
- unless they are obviously trying to crush your hand, in
which case trying to out-macho an Alpha-male silverback
is probably not the smart move. Maintain eye contact for
the handshake until you are aware of the colour of the other
person's eyes.
Eye
Contact
Don't stare the interviewers down, but you should talk to
them for 66 to 75 per cent of the time while you are answering.
This is more difficult to maintain in a panel interview
setting where you have to sweep back and forth - your aim
is to engage your audience and try to make everyone feel
included.
There's
all sorts of theories about what is going on when you break
eye contact while you are speaking. As a general rule, a
trained interviewer will not be impressed if they have asked
you a fact-based question and you look to your left. (The
inference is that you are drawing on the right side, the
creative side of your brain by doing this - in other words,
you're making your answer up as you go along.) Most people
tend to look to the right when they are drawing facts out
of their memory.
A
good time to maintain very close eye contact is when they
are asking the question - to ensure that you have picked
it up fully and correctly. You can non-verbally demonstrate
that you are listening as well - head inclined to the side,
a little smile or nod. Be obviously alert and interested
while they are talking. You can back this up verbally with
little "uh-uh" and "mmmm"
noises. Reinforce their impression of your alertness and
intelligence by echoing their language of specific terminology
back at them as the interview progresses - this is particularly
effective when you are asking questions at the end of the
interview.
Irritators
Gesticulation rarely accomplishes what you intend. Be aware
of your usual pattern and practise to get it down to an
effective minimum. Occasional, strong and slow are your
watchwords for gesturing.
Silence
has a place in interview. You don't have to, nor should
you, jump in straight away with a response to their question.
Also, your voice is a fundamental asset at interview. It
is critical that you use the appropriate words, but most
listeners will take more from how you say it rather than
the micro-specifics of what you say. Exercise your voice.
Practise with different emphases, pauses and pacing. A little
work here can make a huge difference. Pay particular attention
to pace - most candidates speak far too rapidly at interview.
Licking
lips, stamping feet, playing with jewellery or hair, touching
your nose, leaning suddenly forward to make your point.
Most of us have at least one physical 'tic'. Find yours
and kill them off.
Sighing
or blowing air out through your pursed lips are indicators
of a problem question that is giving you real pause for
thought. You may want to deliberately give that impression
once or twice, but no more than that.
It's
probably fair to say that very few people relish the idea
of giving an account of themselves in a job interview. We
all experience nervousness and we all manifest it in different
ways. Remember Tigger, the bouncy, flouncy, pouncy tiger
from the Winnie the Pooh stories? Personally, I
don't particularly want to meet Tigger when I'm interviewing
candidates for a management position. It happens so often:
you read the CV and like what you see; you meet the candidate
who is confident and beautifully-turned out; they sit down
and the opening of the interview goes well; but then you
get into some below-the-surface probes and suddenly, Tigger
is in the room!
Even
a well-trained interviewer will find it hard to focus on
what you are saying if your body language is pinging all
over the place. If the overriding rule of body language
is that stillness projects strength, the corollary to that
rule is: if the non-verbal cue does not reinforce the verbal
message, don't use it. The majority of us are blissfully
unaware of our physical presence and its impact - just look
at how people react when they hear themselves on tape or
see themselves on camera for the first time. "Do
I really sound like that?" or "I don't
have that many chins, do I?"
BE
CAREFUL, FUNNY MAY BE A RISKY APPROACH
GRAHAM
NORTON: Leave the jokes to the professionals
SHOULD
you use humour or tell jokes in an interview? Using
humour or not depends on the nature of the role (are
you being interviewed for a sales or an undertaker’s
job?), the interviewer’s style and you. Many
candidates use humour out of nervousness, thinking
that it will mask their discomfort.
For
an entry-level position, you risk coming across as
a smart-Alec or as not taking the process sufficiently
seriously. For a more senior position, you may be
perceived as not having sufficient gravitas. So, humour
can be a very risky approach to take. However, if
the interviewer is adopting a breezy style and injecting
some humour, it may be appropriate for you to respond
in kind.
But
it will only be a useful tool for you if you have
the ability to use your wit to make your points more
memorable and the ability to closely gauge the interviewer’s
reaction and modify your approach accordingly. You
should look for a meaningful benefit to any approach
that you decide to take at interview and humour is
no exception. |
Becoming
Aware of Your Physical Self
Grab a tolerant friend and a video camera and tape yourselves
having a conversation. Watch the playback and note body
language or phrases that might irritate. Then do the same
for an interview dry-run (this can be a useful practice
for a speech or presentation too). Play the tape back at
high speed and it will reveal any bad physical habits. You
will have to listen very carefully to spot the verbal ones.
There
is nothing phoney about practising for an interview - if
you had a spoken part in a play, you would be in rehearsal
for weeks. Getting the unfamiliar language of the interview
flowing smoothly from your mouth takes a lot of practice,
you have to get the lexicon of the interview into your vocal
memory. The greatest public speakers all rehearse extensively
in advance of an important event. If you think someone is
speaking very well 'off the cuff', the likelihood is they
have put a massive amount of work into their speech.
If
knowledge is power, then self knowledge and an awareness
of how you are perceived in the interview setting is a vital
trump card. Most candidates give a great deal of thought
to how they represent themselves in writing (the CV) and
in person (the interview suit, the hair, the make-up). Do
your homework and start applying that kind of clinical thinking
to the much larger physical representation that you give
of yourself once the interview begins and you will dramatically
increase your chances of success.
Rowan
Manahan's Where's My Oasis? The Essential Handbook
for Everyone Wanting that Perfect Job is published by
Vermillion (a division of Random House), details: www.fortifyservices.com
original
article here
