Enhance Your Body Language For A Successful Job Interview | Fusion - WeRIndia

You could be saying how great you are, but your body could be giving your true feelings away.

Preparing for an interview is one of the most stressful events for any professional, regardless of experience level or job title.

You’ve been told to research the company in advance, practice your answers and prepare good questions.

Another aspect of the interview to pay attention to is your body language; it’s important not to cross your arms, slouch or avoid eye contact.

While it’s critical to say the right thing in an interview, it’s also important to realize that your body language will communicate an enormous amount about you.

It will demonstrate your level of confidence in yourself, your interest in the position, even your ability to perform in the new position. With this kind of pressure, and so many elements to consider during the interview, it can feel overwhelming to have to consider your body language, as well.

Here are few tips to enhance your body language for a successful job interview:

Practice Makes Perfect

Start paying attention to your body language now, don’t wait for the interview. If you are currently working while you job search, pay attention to your body language when you talk with co-workers, superiors and employees.

Notice how you sit during meetings and what you do with your hands and arms during business occasions like dinners. Are you sitting up straight or do you tend to slouch? Do you speak in a confident tone with direct eye contact or do you tend to look down instead? Then practice improving your body language, as often as possible, in every situation.

Whatever habit you may have, if it belies the fact that you’re nervous, you come across as less confident, and less believable. Have a close friend or family member help you with your body language when at home, as well.

Practice your interview questions with several people, attending to your body language. Get their feedback. The key is to train yourself to always have body language that indicates you are open and confident.

First Impressions

\ First Impression

While waiting, don’t hunch your shoulders or tuck your chin into your chest, which will make you seem closed off.

Sit with your back straight and your chest open — signs that you’re confident and assertive.

Elongating your legs or throwing your arm across the back of the chair can make you appear too comfortable, even arrogant.”

Don’t have so much stuff on your lap that you’re clumsily moving everything aside when you’re called.

You want to rise gracefully, without dropping things, so you can smoothly greet the person coming to get you.

 

Prepare In Advance

When you have prepared well for a job interview, including your research, responses and questions, that makes it easier to make a good impression with your nonverbal communication.

When you have prepared your responses well, you will feel more at ease and confident. If a question catches you off guard, you’ll be more comfortable pausing for a moment if you’ve prepared. If you find yourself getting nervous, take a deep breath to keep your nerves at bay and ground yourself again.

Taking a breath to get grounded in your body again will help you remain calmer and present. It will also give you a better demeanor overall which will improve your body language.

 

Perfect Handshake

A handshake is a seemingly minor detail of an interview, but it carries its weight in influence.

A handshake often occurs within the first few moments of the interview and lays the groundwork for your first impression.

The perfect handshake should be strong, hold a complete grasp of the hand, and should be accompanied by eye contact and a smile.

Be conscious of yourself during this interaction—never wipe your hand off on your pants, which you may do without thinking.

It conveys that you find the person unclean. Avoid placing your other hand on top of the hand shake.

 

Be Organized

 It is important to prepare your answers, but it is also important to prepare and organize your materials.

You should have everything organized and easily accessible, including your resume, your reference list or even your presentation, so you’re not scrambling around to locate them.

Imagine that you are rummaging through your portfolio trying to find your resume in the waiting room or even worse, during the interview. What would your face and body language look like? Not positive.

If the hiring manager sees this, it most likely would not be a stellar moment, and you wouldn’t be making the first impression that you want to get the job.

As part of preparing for the interview in advance, collect and organize your items at home before you leave, in a way that you can easily reach for what you want at the right moment.

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash (Free for commercial use)

Image Reference: https://unsplash.com/photos/4zfD5SOcE_0