Body Language – Yours
If you remember I mentioned that those vital first impressions can be made in as short a time-scale as four seconds. So what can you do to put the odds in your favour at this crucial time? Making sure your body language is positive at interview will help create the right impression.
Your body language, if right, can make sure you get the right reaction from the interviewer at this key early stage. As soon as your interviewer appears, stand up straight (you are likely to be sitting in some sort of waiting area), take an open pose and offer your hand.
Introduce yourself “Good morning I’m Derek Armson”, establish eye contact and shake hands firmly, and smile as you do this. Let’s look at each part of the introduction in detail.
1. The Introduction – This is really just plain good manners. Your voice should be firm and confident, but polite. This tells the interviewer you are a self-confident person who is not afraid of meeting new people. Gain one plus mark!
2. Eye Contact – Eye contact is crucial in making a good first impression. Avoid eye contact and the interviewer will immediately be on the defensive, as he will believe you are trying to hide something, or that you are not honest, etc. Remember earlier, if you do not get a positive in those early seconds, the interviewer will take a dislike to you and try to justify that by asking more awkward questions, turning the answers to fit his “profile” of you. This initial eye contact again shows good confidence and the ability to deal effectively with people.
Some people find it difficult, even after years of practice, to maintain direct eye contact. A little trick of the trade here. If you do find this difficult, try looking just above the bridge of the nose. It will give the interviewer the impression of eye contact. You will, however, lose the benefit of being able to read the interviewers own eyes. This can reveal many things! Gain another plus mark for good initial eye contact.
Having made good initial eye contact, make sure you maintain a good level of eye contact during the course of the interview. If you do not, or allow your own gaze to wander, it will be interpreted as a sign of disinterest on your part. I hope it goes without saying that it is vital that the interviewer thinks you are interested in the job he has to offer!
3. Handshake – A firm handshake, please. There is nothing worse than the “wet fish” handshake. Sorry, but if you shake hands like an old wet rag, it is taken as a sign of weakness. It is not very pleasant on the receiving end either. Not only is a limp handshake seen as a sign of weakness, it will make you feel weak and submissive as well. In 99% of cases it will put the interviewer off, and go a long way to create the wrong first impression.
4. Voice – As I said firm, confident and polite. Speak deliberately and with as low a voice as you can naturally generate. This is important. Try too hard and you will sound false. If you do not believe this, next time you are involved in a group discussion look out for the dominant person. It will not be the loud, high voiced aggressive person, but the deliberate low speaker. The ideal example is that of a T.V newsreader. If you feel you have a problem in this area, it pays to practice.
Small portable dgital recorders are available cheaply nowadays. Listen to yourself, what do you sound like? Compare yourself to the newsreaders, how do you differ?
Some regional accents, if very strong, may also hold you back. I know this is a case of prejudice, and I am not defending it, but trying to get a job, say, in a City Bank with a Mancunian accent could prove more “awkward”. If you decide you need to make a change, there are many communication courses and speech therapists available.
5. Smile – I have left this one until last because it is the easiest to do and the easiest to forget but, it is the most important.
A smile is so vitally important. It makes the interviewer feel, for want of a better word, nice! It helps get him on your side, and will (normally) smooth the path into the interview. By the way, if the interviewer smiles at you during the interview, always smile back, and when you smile, make sure it is sincere. If it looks even the slightest bit false, the response will undoubtedly be negative!