Knowingly or unknowingly, due to excitement or nervousness, a job applicant tends to overlook certain habits that can turn up to be a major factor in job selection or rejection. Body language plays a crucial role in important situations like a job interview.
Just being cautious about your body language, you can influence the outcome of any situation such as meeting a client, asking for a pay raise, or facing an interview.
Here are the top 8 body language blunders that you should watch out for when attending a job interview:
Enter the cabin with hands in pocket
When you enter the interview room, do not put your hands inside the pocket or hold them behind your back. It gives a rigid look. Keep them at your side and give the interviewer a firm handshake.
Leaning back or forward excessively
Sit only when asked by the interviewer. Just like your standing posture, the way you sit speaks a lot about your personality. Don’t slouch or sit straight like a bamboo tree. You can definitely sit in a relaxing position, but don’t portray a casual attitude by lounging with legs everywhere. Leaning back can come across as a lazy person while leaning forward too much indicates aggressive behavior. You should aim to maintain a neutral posture where leaning forward slightly is acceptable to show that you are paying attention to what the interviewer is saying.
Forget to smile
The thought that “Whether I will get the job or not?” can easily make you feel nervous. However, do not forget to smile when you meet your interviewer. Maintain a genuine smile when meeting someone for the first time as it is a good gesture. However, do not keep smiling or laughing unnecessarily as it can present a casual attitude.
Wrong eye contact
Your eye contact speaks a lot about you. Breaking eye contact when speaking to a person indicates nervousness or low confidence. However, staring is also not recommended. Understand the fine line between staring and holding the interviewer’s gaze. Looking here and there at the time of speaking shows uncertainty and lack of confidence.
Crossing arms while speaking
More often, we prefer to cross our arms while talking to a person, as we are not sure what to do with our hands! The best option is to keep arms at the sides as crossing them makes you look defensive or close to any discussion.
Nodding head too much
Paying attention is good. However, remember you are not a bobble head doll. Nodding once or twice to show attention to what the other person is saying is fine.
Fidgeting
Avoid fidgeting at any cost if you do not want yourself to look nervous. This can be a great distraction for your interviewer. So, if you want him to give more attention to what you are saying and less on other things, stop fidgeting.
Inappropriate hand movements
Pointing with fingers, chopping, or making excessive hand movements makes you look aggressive. Hence, maintain a natural hand movement and keep them on your lap or sides. Do not make a mistake of checking your watch or phone as it shows that you are not serious about the interview and want to be somewhere else. Don’t play with your hands.
Your job selection definitely depends on your qualification, skill sets, and experience. However, maintaining a good body language can majorly influence the final decision of the interviewer to be a YES or NO. When you are completely prepared, job anxiety cannot even touch you.
Good luck!
