Body language during job interviews.

Gestures and body movements are unconscious forms of expressions, and therefore they have a language of their own. We are unaware of our gestures and body movements 99% of the time, but other people can notice our gestures and movements if they pay attention to and know what they mean.

For this reason, it is necessary to be relaxed, and pay attention to some things, like:

An equal handshake
This is a tough one to call when greeting someone for the first time, but if you can mirror their grip it avoids any dominant/submissive vibes.

Relax into your chair
The way you sit conveys a lot of subtle information to the people on the other side of the desk. So don't take the seat like it's Old Sparky, instead use a moment to get comfortable. If you look relaxed, it'll encourage your interviewer/s to feel at ease in your company. Just be careful not to take it to extremes, and kick back like you're at home on the sofa. Flipping the chair round and straddling it is also perhaps just a little too cocksure.

Maintain eye contact
Keep it true and steady, but remember to blink. To avoid that staring-like-a-serial-killer mistake, form a mental triangle on your interviewer's forehead and make sure that your gaze doesn't drop below eye level. Any further south and things start to get a bit intimate, an interest in their mouth may persuade them to think you're hitting on them.

Steer your body
Crossing your legs loosely is fine if it makes you feel happier, especially if you're wearing a skirt, but if you can 'point' at the interviewer with your knees or your feet it shows you're focused right in on them.

Use your hands
If you can be physically expressive as you speak it shows a certain confidence in the stuff you're saying. Use your hands to roll out your answers or give shape to your ideas, and at the very least your interviewer will think you know what you're talking about.

But remember, try to stay relaxed. The purpose is not to have the appearance of a robot, but avoid some gestures that may show negative qualities.

Closing the Job Interview - part II

Key points to keep in mind when closing an interview:

1. State your interest in the position. (Sound interested and tell what added value you can bring to the job.)

Example: "From what you have been telling me about this position, and from what I know about your company, I know that I have the right mix of experience and education to bring value to this position. Based on past experiences I can "ramp up" quickly and be on board with projects within the first few weeks."

2. Ask about the next step in the process. (Important for you to know for follow up. Ask for the decision date, if possible.)

Example: "I'm interested in knowing what the next step in the process is and when you will be making a decision in order to follow up."

3. Find out how to contact them. (If you don't hear back, you will need to know who to contact and whether they will accept calls to check the status.)

Example: "I'd like to stay in touch and follow up with you in a week or two to see how the process is going and where I stand. How do you prefer that I communicate with you – email or phone?"

Closing the sale is important, but your closing should be tailored to the position; your personality and interviewing style, and the interviewer. Keeping these things in mind will help you determine which closing is appropriate for you and the situation.

Copyright (c) 2007 Carole Martin, The Interview Coach

Closing the Job Interview - part I

by: Carole Martin

"When do I start?"

That's about as aggressive as you can get at the close of the interview. It may knock the interviewer for a loop, and might appear to be overly aggressive, but some people think of it as "closing the sale." And for some people it has worked. For others this approach may not be comfortable, or have a negative same effect.

Whether you are aggressive, passive and polite, or somewhere in between, will depend on your personality, the interview situation, and the job for which you are applying.

Closing Points

Regardless of your style or how you choose to close the interview, there are some key points to keep in mind.

1. Leave your interviewer with the right picture of you. (Think of at least five skills or traits you want remembered after the interview.) Choose something "concrete". When you answer with, "I have great communication skills and I am a hard worker," you will not stand out.

Example: "I have two skills that are distinctly different but that define my personality. I am a very good pianist and an excellent 'computer guy.' I'm known for my love of keyboards."

2. Ask if there is anything else you can provide. (References, background information, or samples?)

Example: "Is there any other information that I can provide that would convince you that I am the right person for this job?"

Stay tuned for part two.

Behavioral job interview

A behavioral interview is intended to evaluate your future performance based on past performance in a similar situation, then, it is not based in the traditional what would you do, but in what you did. The candidates who prepare for behavioral interviews are better prepared, even for traditional interviews.

When asked simple yes or no questions, a job candidate can easily tell an interviewer what he or she wants to hear, then in a behavioral interview you can expect questions like “Tell me about a time when…” or “Give me an example of when…”. This will help to match the predetermined skills the organization require for a particular position.

To be prepared for this kind of interview, you must think about the necessary skills to do the job you are applying to, then for each, think about a real life example, detailing how you handled a situation involving that skill. If you are interviewing for your first job, you can select an experience that occurred during a time you worked on a group project, or participated in a team sport. Be aware that the interviewer may want to confirm that what you are saying actually happened, asking you, for example, time spent and results.

Examples of behavioral questions:

• Describe the most creative work related project you have completed.

• Tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills to influence someone’s opinion.
• Tell me about a recent situation when you showed initiative and took the lead.
• Please tell me about a time you had to fire someone.
• Tell me about a situation in which you had to deal with a very upset co-worker.

Try to be specific, and don’t describe how you would behave. Remember, you must give real life examples.

behavioral interview questions, behavioral interviewing.

Interview tips for the big day

The day of the interview has arrived; this is the moment when you prove yourself in front of the interviewer and you want to make the most of it. There are some tips you should take into account:

The things you should do:

• Be on time!
• Learn the name of you interviewer, and do not forget it.
• Greet you interviewer with a firm handshake
• Show interest in the conversation: listen carefully and do not interrupt.
• Relax (it sounds easy!) and answer the questions concisely, do not talk too much.
• Be honest; do not lie about your qualifications.
• Be positive, cooperative and enthusiastic
• Ask questions about the organization
• When you leave, thank the interviewer. (Do you remember his/her name?)

The things you should never do in the interview.

• Arrive late
• Chew gum
• Give a poor handshake
• Leave your cell phone on
• Eat
• Treat the receptionist impolitely.
• Say something negative about your past employer Job interview tip, preparing for a job interview

I have no experience, what if my interviewer thinks that I will not be able to handle the job?

Well, even if we do not have any job experience, this does not mean that we do not have experience. Just think for a moment, you are applying for a job where research and organizational skills are a must; you may think I will not be able to handle it, because of my lack of experience. Now, do you remember those extensive reports you have had to complete? For sure you had to research extensively, and organize all this information into a excellent report. Yes, you’ve got it.

The fact is that many of the skills we build during our education and our lives can be converted into qualities needed for our job. Think about all your activities: sports, social clubs, religious activities, personal projects, and try to extract examples to convince your interviewer about your abilities.

Look on the job specifications and prepare yourself. Go for it!Job interview tip, preparing for a job interview

How to dress for job interviews

Think about something really cool you have bought recently... now think about why you bought it.

The fact is that, in many cases we buy stuff just for its appearance. Now think about your services as a product, and your potential employer as a client, do you catch my point? You have to take care of the impression you make, that is why it is always important to dress appropriately for a job interview, even if you think the work environment is casual. Be aware that improper dress costs some candidates the job, then if you have tattoos, or a lot of piercing or something like this, try to cover them.

Everyday you can see that mostly, another person's perception of you is based on how you look. Then, what should you be wearing?

If you area a Man:

• Suit
• Tie
• Long sleeve shirt (preferably white)
• Shoes (of course, no sport shoes)
• Belt (The same color of the shoes)
• Socks (Remember to coordinate them with the shoes or pant)
• Neat hair.

If you are a Woman:

• Suit
• Dress shoes
• Avoid very showy makeup
• Avoid the excess of jewelry
• Use a professional hairstyle
• Pay attention to your nails

Yes, you look great! I would hire you.
Job interview tip, preparing for a job interview

Job interviews: Tactics

Check this cool video that I have found! Job interview tip, preparing for a job interview

The preparation for a job interview - Part II

Ok, you have verified your qualifications for the job, now you have to pay attention to you resume. Is there some skill missing in your resume? Now is the time to add it.

Something very important is to know your own resume; I have seen some cases where the recruiter ask the applicant something that is written in the resume, and the applicant doesn't know even what does it mean. The reason? Because someone else wrote it for him/her. If this is your case, try to figure out which questions may a recruiter do about the things written in your resume. For every statement (what) try to answer yourself the how, when, where did it happen. For example, if your resume says you are proactive, you should be able to answer how you have shown you are proactive, when (specific situation), and may be where (Of course, I assume that if the word proactive is in your resume, you know what does it mean :-)

In job interviews, you have to answer questions about yourself, for example, the classic one: Why do you want to work for us? Or Do you consider yourself organized? Those ones are just examples, we will review a complete list later. By now what you have to be aware of is that you will have to talk about yourself (This has been a problem for me, but I have learned to manage it). You may use the following as a checklist when preparing for your job interviews:

• I know the organization I am applying to.
• I have the "must have" qualities for the job
• I have written all the pertinent skills and experience in my resume
• I understand everything that written in my resume, and I am able to answer questions about it.
• I am prepared to answer personal questions about myself.

If you do, then you are prepared for your interviews. Go for it!

Job interview tip, preparing for a job interview

The preparation for job interviews- Part I

This is one of the most important aspects in job interviews, and that people fail to do. Imagine something: you are reading the news in the morning and you see an ad that gets your attention. The ad says: "X enterprises is looking for a candidate for the position (insert position here)", and after reading it, you feel you can apply to it. The first thing to do in your preparation is wonder, do I know this company? if the answer is no, then you should investigate what is "X enterprises" about; the reasons are simple, most of the job interviews start with the question: Do you know what is our business about? The fact is that if you do know, this will have a good impact in the interviewer, this is the very first impression you will cause. I have done so, and even if I am not able to know everything about the company, I feel a noticeable impact in the expression of my interviewer.

Another reason to investigate is to know if you will be willing to work in the activity that this company is dedicated to. What if you consider that eating meat is wrong, and when you arrive to the interview you figure out that "x foods" is a meat processing plant? If you are not willing to work for it, you'll have wasted your time.

Next, you should verify your qualifications for the job. Most of the job ads display the requirements of the recruiter for the applicants to the job; try to identify which of them are specified as a must and compare with your experience. If there are some of the "not a must" requirements that you don't fulfill, don't be worried. Job ads are often made with an ideal profile, and the truth is that recruiters cannot always find prospects with all the qualifications.

After you know what the job is about, and you have verified your qualification, the first part of the preparation is done!

Job interview tip, preparing for a job interview

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