During a job interview, a prospective employer will gauge many aspects of your candidacy from your conversation skills to your timeliness. Body language is a hugely influential form of nonverbal communication and can offer as many insights about you as what you actually say. So how do you communicate clearly with your posture as well as your words?
Human beings are complicated creatures, and we’ve developed equally complex forms of communication. Despite having the most advanced verbal language of any species, we often struggle to convey our ideas or emotions in words alone. Facial expressions, tone, posture, and gestures are all a huge part of how we interpret each other’s feelings, intentions, and meaning. They’re how we can understand that someone is joking, nervous, or confident. They’re all part of what allows another person to build a deeper, more nuanced impression of you as a whole.
Because body language is such a massive part of how we relate to each other, it makes sense to think about it when going into a job interview. But because this communication is largely subconscious, tapping its potential is more challenging than remembering to put on your best tie in the morning. Often we’ll be telegraphing certain signals with our body language that we’re not even aware of, just as our interviewer might not be consciously aware of receiving them. Perhaps they won’t directly say that they felt like you were a strong candidate because you sat with good posture and maintained eye contact, but the effect will linger nonetheless. So how can you be sure you’re making the right impression when you might not even be aware of it?
Even though body language begins in our subconscious, it’s possible to consciously change many aspects of your posture and expressions to send the right signals. Whether you’re sitting down in person or online, these tips are a great way to make the best impression on your interviewer.
No matter how our personalities might vary outside of the workplace, employers want to know that a candidate can get along with their coworkers. This is why smiling and maintaining eye contact is an efficient way to get an interviewer on your side: you’re showing them that you know how to connect with people, which is a valuable skill in any workplace.
One of the most important things to do in an interview is also one of the hardest: try to relax! An interviewer will pick up on your tension if you’re sitting ramrod straight in your chair with a white-knuckled grip on your folder of papers. For a more positive interview experience, try to loosen your muscles and sit with a more relaxed posture. It will make you seem more confident and easy to talk to, and might even help you reduce your stress!
If you tend to talk with your hands, a few gestures accompanying your statements are totally fine. But if you’re moving your arms throughout the entire interview, it could become distracting. Try to find the right balance of energy and stillness, and you’ll make a great impression on your interviewer.
Sitting up straight might seem like a no-brainer, but when you’re struggling to remember your talking points in the heat of an interview, the dreaded slouch can start to creep in. An upright posture makes you seem alert and approachable rather than shy or withdrawn. Practicing good posture on the drive over to your interview is a great way to form a habit of this conversation hack.
With many jobs shifting to an online format in the past couple of years, you could sit down to your next interview on a video call. While it might seem like a great excuse to disregard all the body language tips we’ve discussed so far, the opposite is true. When you’re on a video call, your interviewer will often be just as aware of your posture and gestures as they would be in the room. One significant benefit of an online interview is that you can situate yourself in a position where you know you’ll be comfortable and confident once the interview starts. Rather than slumping down on the couch, find a chair where you can be both upright and relaxed for the duration of the interview.
Between punctuality and body language, there are many ways to make a great impression in your job interview. Join us for our next video article on how to identify your most significant weaknesses in a job interview, and overcome them!