Body Language During Interviews

Interview SkillsBody Language During Interviews
Sometimes, in spite of your technical knowledge, your interviewers may be quite
unimpressed.
This could leave you wondering where you are going wrong. After all, if you have the
knowledge, it should be quite enough, isnt it?
However, more often that not a diffident body language can prove quite the deciding
factor during interviews.
Welcome to a new, unspoken language, with a vocabulary that you instinctively read
and respond to, that you use sometimes deliberately and sometimes unknowingly, to
signal your intentions to those around…
What Exactly Is Body Language?
Body Language (BL) is essentially about the use of:
Eye Contact
To signal interest, trust, integrity,
attentiveness
Facial Expressions
To convey a gamut of mindstates
like happiness, surprise,
scepticism, or disappointment
Posture
To indicate attentiveness or ease,
anxiety or a relaxed mental frame
Gestures
To display a range of messages
including open‐mindedness,
conviction, confidence, caution or
ambiguity
Touch
To show camaraderie,
encouragement, support or
friendliness
Space bubble(i.e.
the comfortable
distance that we like
to maintain around
ourselves, while
interacting with
others)
To indicate our level of comfort
with those around
Apart from that, body language also involves Para language (pitch, tone, inflection) to
communicate various mind states such as enthusiasm, passion, anguish, boredom.
Ideal Body Language for an Interview
Remember, your body language mirrors your mind, posture and gestures, thus
reflecting your state of mind. It is great to walk in with a smile, maintain eye contact and
offer a firm handshake.
To Shake or Not to Shake
Whether you initiate a handshake or not depends on:
Country and Culture
Urban India is increasingly veering towards the handshake. Some states however
continue to use the age‐old Namaste.
Are you applying for a job whose headquarters are in USA or Australia? Brisk and brief
handshakes are the order of the day. Interviewing with potential employers from
France? Expect a gentler but longer handshake.
Age
Most women under the 35,40 age group prefer handshakes to convey assertiveness.
Job Profile
Interviewing for a Public Relations post with a multinational bank? Firm handshakes are
called for. Applying to a Public Sector Unit or a government enterprise? You may find
smiling namastes are more appropriate.
As You Walk In…
• Eye contact and pleasant expression
Keep the eye contact direct and dont let yourself get intimidated by a strong gaze.
Match it with a smiling countenance and a direct gaze to convey confidence, a pleasant
temperament and a no‐nonsense attitude. Remember to maintain eye contact with all the
interviewers while answering a question, although you may choose to focus more on the
questioner than on the others.
• Posture
Shoulders back, head high and spine straight works well for soldiers as well as
interviewees. Refrain from frequently leaning forward across the table. Far from
conveying enthusiasm, the posture may come across looking tacky. Also, avoid resting
your arms on the table.
• Choice of Seating
If faced with a choice of more than one seating option, opt for either a chair that is at a
nonconfrontational angle to the interviewers chair (i.e. at right angles to it, not facing
it directly), or, choose the central chair of a trio of chairs.
As the interview proceeds…
Keep eye contact, especially when you begin answering questions.
• Sit erect on your chair, without slouching. Dont go to the other extreme either .
sitting perched on the edge of the seat indicates anxiety.
• If crossing your legs is what makes you comfortable, use the ʺknee‐over‐kneeʺ
style, if dressed in a blazer‐trousers combo, and not the ʺankle‐over‐kneeʺ (also
called the ʺfigure of 4ʺ) style. If dressed in a skirt or sari, keep your legs and feet
parallel. Else, cross them at the ankles. Sometimes, crossing with knee‐over‐knee,
while draped in a sari, can create an inadvertent display of innerwear ‐ so please
avoid!
• Use the armrests of the chairs. Else, hands belong on your lap, not on the table.
ʺ Donʹt hesitate to use gestures to emphasise a point.
• While gesturing, fingers extended together are more effective than fingers
ʺsplayed outʺ ‐ the latter looks more ʺscatteredʺ.
• Anxious interviewees with trembling hands find it helpful to interlace their
fingers for a few initial minutes of the interview ‐ not only is the trembling dealt
with, the gesture indicates confidence.
• Be aware of your habitual gestures that may reduce the impact of your answers.
Train yourself to avoid succumbing to them in moments of stress. Rubbing the
chin, tapping the nose, tucking in an errant strand of hair, chewing on a lip ‐
these might indicate a busily ticking brain, but if done every minute or so, can be
counter‐productive.
Remember to breathe deep to keep stress at bay. In the long run, self‐awareness (about
distracting gestures) and self‐training (to reduce these) helps. Most important, visualise
positive before entering the interview room. A calm mind can easily overcome physical
signs of nervousness.
• Donʹt forget to keep a pleasant facial expression, even when faced with a
question that temporarily leaves you groping in the dark for an answer. While
you smoothen things over verbally (e.g. ʺLet me take a few moments to analyse
and gather my thoughts on thisʺ), let your face reflect your ease with the
situation.
• Do you use ʺfillersʺ in your everyday speech? These are sounds or words that we
use when we have finished saying something and are thinking of what to say
next. Train yourself to avoid sounds like ʺuhhʺ, ʺummʺ and so on, and words like
ʺbasicallyʺ, ʺmeansʺ, and ʺlikeʺ as stop‐gaps between sentences. Donʹt be afraid of
using silence to punctuate your ideas.
• Laughter, if used judiciously, can add a welcome human element. No nervous
giggles, however!
When the interview is over…
As you rise gracefully and collect your briefcase / folder / bag, remember to use the
ʺsmile + handshake + pleasant leave takingʺ formula.
No matter how pleased or disappointed you are with the interview, let your posture and
walk convey only positivity and strength.
And remember, please avoid:
• A weak or hesitant handshake upon entering or leaving ‐ donʹt use the ʺdead
fishʺ handshake.
• Poor eye contact, inability to reciprocate the interviewerʹs direct gaze, blinking
too frequently when stressed.
• Keeping eye contact only with the ʹsympathetic listenerʹ among many
interviewers, ignoring interview panellists who donʹt nod or display other
reassuring non‐verbal indicators.
• Slumped or bowed shoulders, a hunched posture.
• Crossing the arms across the chest ‐ you may seem close‐minded, intimidated or
defensive.
• A high‐pitched tone or speaking faster than usual, when stressed.
• Using ʺfillersʺ while answering.
• Using ʺverbal ticsʺ, such as ʺIsnʹt it?ʺ or ʺDonʹt you think so?ʺ frequently.
• Saying ʺIn my opinionʺ or ʺI thinkʺ. What you say is anyway what you think;
donʹt further qualify your statement.
• Using a smile that doesnʹt reach the eyes ‐ nervousness or unease can sometimes
lead to fake‐looking smiles. Remember to stay tuned into your own strengths
and let the smile be genuine.
• Carrying a handkerchief in the hand. It is not the done thing at all when you are
aiming for a top slot. If your restless hands need a prop, use a good quality pen ‐
but this is strictly as the last resort.
Some specific gestures and their meanings:
Gestures Interpretation
Rubbing the nose while
listening
Being cautious or even
sceptical about what is
being said.
Covering part of the mouth /
fidgeting around the chin
area ‐ while speaking
Being less than completely
honest
Covering part of the mouth
while listening
Disbelieving what is being
said
Head slightly tilted to one
side while listening
Concentrating on the
words
Tugging the earlobes
Carefully evaluating the
pros and cons of what is
being said
In the end, remember to use your gut instincts to understand a situation. To learn more,
check out, ʺHow to read a Person like a Bookʺ By J. Fast and ʺPeople Watching ‐ the Desmond
Morris guide to Body Languageʺ.
Author: Piya Mukherjee
(The author is a Corporate Trainer and Visiting Faculty at Management Institutes in Mumbai)