Many people underestimate the importance of body language during the interview. We all have little idiosyncrasies that can be our undoing when under the spotlight, such as in an interview. These are often exacerbated particularly for those job seekers who are under a lot of stress and intense pressure to secure employment quickly. Often we are not aware of the messages or emotions our body language is sending, and even if we are it can be difficult to cover up.
The interview process is one of intense judging, from the resume, through to our verbal communication skills, our physical presentation and also our body language. If you are not feeling confident about yourself and your abilities, and are having a hard time dealing with the emotions of change – an expensive suit and new hair cut will not hide this.
As we all know in this economic climate many people have lost, or will lose there job in the near future. Many people looking for work will find it hard to get re-employed. This is not because they don’t have the necessary expertise or experience or even due to being made redundant, it is an individual thing that comes back to the emotions that come through in our body language, created through stress, change, fear etc.
Seasoned interviewers become very adept at reading body language. They can frequently pick up when a candidate is lying, stressed, unsure, lacking confidence and so on. Being nervous is one thing and this is factored in by interviewers. However what tends to happen, particularly in the current market is that candidates may be coming across as lacking in confidence, desperate, intense, lacking in focus, moody, inconsistent and so on, lessening your chances of being hired.
So how do you change your body language?
There are a number of ways you can change or control your body language, a few of which include:
• Acknowledge your emotions
• Be clear of who you are and what you have to offer
• Confidence and authenticity
To ready the full article visit ‘Body Language in Interviews’
