Introduction
Undergoing a job interview is a daunting task. However, you can make it easy by having control over your body language.
Body language during an interview play an important role of conveying the messages which your tongue cannot. It is a very important nonverbal cue that interviewers pick up to make the decision of your job.
According to research, interview body language communicates 93% of the information.
- 55% of the communications are conveyed through your body.
- You should know how to modify your tone voice. This is because 38% of the communications are conveyed through your tone.
- However, the content only has a role of 7% in communicating your information.
Your interview postures are a reflection of your personality and self-confidence. You have control over your tongue and it can be dishonest. On the other hand, your body language cannot be dishonest because it incorporates your reflexes.
Let us have a glimpse of the body language tips for job interview. This will help you to avoid a bad body language in an interview setting.
Tips for Body Language During an Interview
Exhibits Your Honesty in the Job Interview
The body language during the hiring process radiates your honest nature. This is because you do not have much power over it and it is your reflexes and your unconscious mind that forms your interview body language.
The recruiters are experienced enough to detect your dishonesty through your interview body language. They can easily detect your lies through your lack of self-confidence and nervousness. Hence the body language in a job interview exhibits your truthful nature.
Mirror of your personality.
Your character and personal traits are visible from your body language. Highly experienced recruiters can have an insight into your inner personality through your interview body language.
Rambling in the tone of your voice exhibits your lack of knowledge on a particular subject. A negative body language in an interview shows your careless personality. Slouching or leaning back in your chair shows your unprofessionalism as well. On the other hand, the good posture and eye contact is also important and displays your vigilant nature.
The organization only hires those employees who suit their company’s culture. So you need to revise your body language according to it. You can have cognizance of the company’s culture beforehand.
Depicts your moral ethics like gratitude.
An interview body language is basically a reflex action. Hence, it also glistens your moral ethics like gratitude. In case you lack in moral ethics, your careless nature is revealed in front of the recruiters.
You could proffer a sweet smile to the recruiters during the job interview. Such interview skills would help you to display your gratitude. In the end of the interview, you could thank the recruiters with a smile for sparing their valuable time with you.
However, you should make sure that your smile is a cordial one. Grinning or wide laughing will exhibit your vague attitude. This bad body language in an interview would make the job opportunity to slip out of your hands.
Unravels your attentive nature and listening skills.
An interview body language shows your interest in the job opportunity. A proper body language in an interview helps you to amass the interest and confidence of the recruiters in yourself.
On the other hand, a bad body language in an interview shows a dearth of listening skills. Hence, you should conduct a confident body language in your next interview. You should make the recruiters believe that you are vigilant even about the smallest of the things.
Assists in averting fidgeting.
Fidgeting is an attribute of nervousness and unprofessionalism. If a candidate fidgets during an interview, he or she is likely to lose the job opportunity. It displays a lack of self-confidence and truncates your credibility and reliability as well.
However, you can avoid fidgeting by using your hands as an effective medium of communicating your content. You could use hand actions to emphasize your content. Explaining with hand movements helps in a quick cognizance and grasping of the content. It is more likely to leave a visual and memorable place in the minds of the recruiters.
Body movements veil your nervousness and hyperactive nature. But you should make sure to use them in the right way. You should communicate in a professional and formal way with your hand gestures to evade fidgeting and make a positive first impression.
Serves as a supplement to your content.
Your facial expressions should always match your content. This exhibits your practical nature and may impress the recruiters. On the other hand, a robotic tone devoid of expressions displays only your theoretical knowledge. Companies prefer employees with practical knowledge.
Hence, conveying a serious message with a funny smile would display your unprofessional attitude. Thus body language and voice tone serve as a lubricant in your cycle of communication.
Effectual and appropriate tone portrays your confidence.
Rambling while communicating displays your lack of confidence. A robotic voice without any expressions signifies that you have memorized your content. It does not intrigue the recruiters and brings monotony to your conversation.
Hence, your interview body language should incorporate an appropriate tone. You should deliver serious content in a grave voice. On the other hand, a funny and light conversation should be exchanged in a happy voice.
Upright and confident posture exhibits your confidence.
You should straighten your back and keep your head held high while entering into the room. This ensures a confident body language interview. Such an interview body language has already kept you at an advantage from others. So body posture during an interview can help you to fetch the required job.
On the other hand, a sloppy and a bent back would radiate your unprofessionalism. It also shows your lack of confidence and truncates your credibility in the eyes of the recruiters. You are likely to make a compelling impact and achieve the job opportunity with a confident posture.
Implies your eagerness to articulate your views.
A vigilant and alert body language during interview shows your eagerness to put forth your opinions. You can agree to a fact by nodding your head. On the other hand, you could even smile at a proposal, do a firm handshake and agree to it.
Such positive body language actions will help you to fetch the job. However, a monotonous expression on your face will display that you are uninterested.
Maintain eye contact to illustrate your enthusiasm for the job.
Avoiding eye contact can be taken as a disrespect and disinterest. Maintaining eye contact is the best way to reflect your confidence and enthusiasm for the job. It reveals your vigilant nature and your interest in the job. It is advised to maintain an eye contact for a time period of 1 to 3 seconds.
You can maintain eye contact with the recruiter who is asking general questions to ask from you. Meanwhile, you could also look at other interviewers to make them understand your point.
Conclusion
You can miss out on the job opportunity from your hands in case of a bad body language in an interview. Hence the it should be effectual enough to grab the attention of the hiring managers. Researches show that the hirers select their employees in the first 90 seconds. They do this by having cognizance of the candidate through the body language.
Putting up a genuine smile, maintaining eye contact while answering interview questions, keeping your shoulders back and sitting up straight, not crossing your arms, not making small talk are some of the basic things you could do. It is a part of the job interview process and can help you have a successful job interview.
Here are the tips you should keep in mind to help you in mastering body language for job. Let your personality shine and ace the interview.