Body Language in Interviews

Monster.com has a good article called Body Language Can Make or Break a Job Interview by Robert Ordona. Robert points out in detail how to enter, sit in the waiting area, shake hands, take notes, and even how to walk from room to room. This is a good comprehensive reminder of being conscious of how others are perceiving your non-verbal communication.

I would add that mirroring is often useful. If your interviewer is leaned back, legs crossed, looking relaxed, you don’t want to be sitting stiff-backed or leaning forward onto his or her desk. You don’t have to match the other person exactly, but adjusting your posture to approximate the other person will give them more of a feeling of comfort.

The advice on body language also works both ways: Interviewers should be conscious of how they come across in the same ways, because the candidate is sizing you up too!

Comment by Valentino Martinez on May 19, 2011 at 1:45pm: Yes, being cognizant of judgemental people who are observing your body for signs of life, much less, language is important.

The "Art of Departure", mentioned by Robert Ordona, is such a funny title for getting up and leaving an interview. Unless of course, you're leaving with property that is not yours; or you moonwalk away with a fixed stare on the interviewer reminiscent of the old West gunfighter movies where you leave the bar backing out so as to make sure no one shoots you in the back--which can be the case if you're not mindful of the Art of Departure from your job interview.

Comment by Valentino Martinez on May 24, 2011 at 12:55am: Mark,

This is definitely a Déjà vu moment for me. I say this because as you can see, my earlier comment was made on May 19th on the subject of "Body Language in Interviews", and your blog post here, same subject, was made today, on May 23rd.

This means you either re-posted this blog and carried my comment forward. OR, that I can travel to a future state or dimension and can respond to questions even before they are asked. On the possibility of the latter--I do feel, on occasion, that I can finish sentences in conversations with some people.

Comment by Mark Bregman on May 24, 2011 at 5:43pm: Valentino,

I added a picture to the blog, so it probably looked like it reposted completely. I'm old enough that deja vu happens too many times a day. :-}