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| Horizon Campus, Faculty of Management students at their internship evaluation interview with the Chairman, Horizon Group, Mr. Upul Daranagama |
If you want to win at a job interview, it's important to consider how you carry yourself or how you present yourself. Apart from proper business attire, your body language is just as important , says hiring managers.
"You have to be conscious of how you're moving your body," "But a lot of people aren't."
Body language includes how you sit and whether you're making eye contact, he says, and it can negatively impact how the interviewer judges your performance.
Here are the four most common body language mistakes that you should be aware of, according to the experts.
1] Mind your hands
"Number one: Do not sit on your hands," says Drexler. Even if you're not sitting on them, don't have them to your side or hidden from view, he says.
During an interview, the applicant typically sits across a desk and faces the interviewer, explains one expert. What often happens is that the applicant is so nervous or solely focused on what they're saying that they will sit on their hands, clasp them tightly in their lap or sit rigidly with their arms by their sides. "People don't move," says Drexler. "They sit there, in tense, rigid manner." But doing so makes you appear both stiff and uncomfortable, he says.
During an interview, experts advises that you use your hands to express yourself because it makes you appear more at ease, which then puts the interviewer at ease. "If you watch someone talk, they're moving their arms," he explains.
For example, if you're talking about yourself, you can point to yourself. If you're listing things, you can hold up a finger each time you state something. If you're talking about the job or the company, you can gesture to the office. "But don't over-do it" "Do it when you need to."
However, Thirteen percent of hiring managers said using too many hand gestures while speaking was a big interview mistake. While talking with your hands has the potential to make you seem more likable, body language expert Janine Driver told Today, flailing arms and wild gestures can be off-putting.
“The higher the gesture, the more out-of-control you look,” Driver said in an interview. The key in an interview is balance: Some hand movement keeps you from coming off as too stiff, but too much and you could look like a loose cannon.
2] Facial Expressions
"There's something I call 'face talk,'" says one expert. "Your face talks [and] it tells a story."
This means that if you're feeling bored during an interview, the interviewer can likely "read" your emotion based on your facial cues. "The worst is when I'm speaking, they look distracted, they're not even interested in what I'm saying, their face is blank, there's no emotion," explains Drexler.
To see just how easily your face can sabotage you, imagine that you're meeting someone for the first time. "How long does it take you to tell the person isn't interested or they're distracted? A millisecond," says Drexler. "We're all intuitive when we meet people. You know when they're interested in what you're saying and when they're not." Interviewers are not different, he says.
Although interviewers relay a lot of background information about the company or the role that you may not find compelling, it's important that you show interest even if you're faking it, advises the interview coach.
"Make sure your face tells a story [and] that your face is saying that you're attentive, you're engaged, you're interested, you're excited," says John Drexler. "So your eyes light up, you smile, you tilt your head."
3] Sitting back in your chair or slouching
When speaking with an interviewer, you want them to be engaged. Slumping in your seat doesn’t convey confidence. People often make the mistake of sitting with their backs to the chair and leaning away from the interviewer, he says, which makes them appear closed off. Slouching or slumping, meaning sitting in a drooping, disrespectful, disengaged way is another way to lose the interview even before it is started.
Instead, you should be leaning forward to show that you're invested in the conversation, says Drexler, especially when answering questions that put you on the defensive. For example, an employer will often challenge an employee by asking, "Why should we hire you?"
For questions like this, you "definitely throw your body into it" and lean forward, says Drexler. "You don't want to be sitting back when you answer that one," he adds. "You want to make a point."
Another instance is when you're describing your background and experience. "If you want to emphasize that you did exceptionally well, you lean in a tiny bit, your face lights up and you [show] that you're proud of yourself," he says.
4] Looking toward the floor or avoiding eye contact
When candidates are feeling unsure of themselves, says Drexler, they often look toward the floor. He typically sees interviewees demonstrate this bad habit when discussing past jobs that didn't end well.
For example, a candidate who abruptly left a company after a few months would likely be asked to explain why. If they were fired or had a negative experience, says Drexler, it transfers to their body language. "The head tilts down, the voice drops off, the whole body says something is up."
But Drexler says it's important not to look dejected even when discussing a negative circumstance. Instead, you want to sit with your back straight, look up toward the interviewer and demonstrate "powerful" body language.
"You want to have a comfortable open stance," he adds. "Shoulders should be back and strong."
5] Handshake, too strong or too weak
A firm handshake makes a good first impression, researchers have found, but it’s possible to overdo it. A too-strong handshake was a big turnoff to 9% of HR managers CareerBuilder surveyed.
When shaking hands with your interviewer for the first time, you want your grip to be firm, not crushing. Aside from possibly causing some serious pain, a bone-smashing handshake might make your interviewer think you’re too aggressive, or perhaps even difficult to work with. “Twisting the other person’s hand so that yours is superior or playing hand jujitsu to let the other person know you are in charge is just rubbish,” body language expert Joe Navarro wrote in an article for Psychology Today.
At the same time, a weak handshake is even worse than a too-strong one, according to CareerBuilder’s survey. Nearly one quarter of HR managers said a weak handshake was a body language mistake.
“Many people find the unwillingness to give a firm handshake as the sign of a lack of commitment or determination — both qualities an interviewer wants to see in an eager new employee,” John Feldmann of Insperity Recruiting Services wrote in a post for Undercover Recruiter.
6] Touching your face or touching your hair too often (specially for young ladies)
Twenty-eight percent of hiring managers said playing with your hair or touching your face was an interview no-no. The first makes you look childish and stressed, body language expert Patti Wood told Forbes. The latter conveys something even worse.
“Face touching, especially on the nose, is commonly interpreted as an indication of deception,” professional coach Marc Chernoff explained.
7] Fiddling with something on the table or your phone during the interview
Thirty-four percent of hiring managers cited fiddling with pens or shuffling papers as a major example of poor body language in an interview. Clicking a pen or similar gestures can be interpreted as a sign of anxiety, according to Chernoff.
“It can also be interpreted as a lack of preparedness,” he wrote. “It’s always best to keep your hands comfortably at rest when you’re in the presence of others.”
8] Not smiling
Stony-faced candidates don’t do well in interviews, with 39% of people surveyed saying not cracking a smile was one of the biggest mistakes a job seeker could make. After all, who wants to work with someone who’s always grumpy?
Not only does smiling make you seem warm and friendly, but it might even calm your interview jitters. A study by researchers at the University of Cardiff found that people who’d received Botox treatments and were thus unable to frown reported being happier and less anxious than those who could still look down in the mouth.
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