Body Language Experts Break Down Job Interview Etiquette | WIRED

wear what you're going to use at the interview in advance and be comfortable make sure that your handshake is proper sat uppr good posture eye contact but you are not staring them down the human body is always transmitting the question is who is receiving that information the interview really starts before the interview outside the door already when someone hands in a CV or their social media when you're parking your car are you taking a space that is not allowed are you greeting the security person that is standing there I remember going to an interview once

and the person that was going to interview me was in the elevator with me sometimes I give uh CEOs the advice sit down on that reception stool and observe the person who's coming in because then you can also already see how they're treating reception staff we assess each other in milliseconds not even seconds it's not just your body language or facial expressions it's everything that communicates some people are making already judgments you have to make a good impression first by understanding that you have to make a good impression selling yourself you're promoting yourself so that's

why you need to be confident and be perceived as trustworthy as well as competent know what you're going to say what they're going to ask you prepare prepare prepare you don't have a copy of your CV and they refer to it you now look less prepared and if you hand it to somebody hand it with value if you do it like this you know bit of the turtleneck like that completely different than this is who I am and this is what I've done in life as I walk into the room I have to remember that

I have to be respectful of that room always make yourself known so you walk up to them you shake hands can can I sit here yes you can sit here I have to make eye contact with everybody in that room and that I have to treat everybody equally and not focus on the chair that you want to sit in but focus on the people that are present in that room as you make your introduction I want to hear a strong voice I want to see an upright posture I want to see the chin up confidence

No Hands In Pockets I want to see your hands I want to see you ready to engage in an interaction I will shake everybody's hands equally I'm not just going to focus on the highest status person or or the leader if you ask most people have you ever had a bad handshake they yeah we all have had those awful handshakes yeah it was wet week this that whatever if we are meeting up for the first time we align ourselves and that we have a short handshake usually it's like this if you're giving me a very

light handshake I don't want to be grabbing at the knuckles if you're giving me a really strong handshake I I don't want to give you a loose handshake back I'm going to try and match your level of grip especially when you're a woman I've had so many bad handshakes because of the strength that men probably want to portray I still don't understand people try and dominate a handshake never try and dominate a handshake but what we do see a lot too long and they keep shaking like this all the time or they hold the hand

which makes it very uncomfortable or they probe the hand which is the like the finger like that keep all of my fingers is below your wrist so up to the point where they touch you here or here or even here and that we would not advise unless I know you very well it's like hey how are you you know then it's like oh so good to see you great humans impress first visually then vocally tone of voice then verbally and the last is haptics through touch the brain cataloges all this negative stuff you have to

let them set the stage and the rules don't talk over them turn yielding does this person ever shut up some people start talking immediately hi I'm here for the job and they start selling themselves take a breath you know what you're doing and speak comfortably depending on how many people you're talking to I would always wait just to let them take up the moment of interaction and to tell them what they want from you show you are engaged you are actively listening and you are in the interaction present use your hands and use your face

to emphasize as they're talking I want you to be nodding along with what they're saying not too much that you look like a Bubblehead you want to have a slight head tilt when you're talking to them especially when you're trying to show empathy when people ask a question make sure you answer it don't be so busy talking that you are not aware that you've been asked a question I want to see you orientated towards them because orientation Behavior shows interest don't pick at your clothing don't pick out lint and so forth don't pring yourself even

because they are uncomfortable you might see a self hug you know those kind of things and we so do not advise that the best conversations take place with comfort for both parties I'm overly sat with my shoulders back and my chest out trying to be really really upright I look like a robot if you are very comfortable like that that is not that's not a good portraying you will feel in your body when it feels unnatural listen to yourself feel comfortable and it should feel natural everybody knows this but a lot of people don't do

it don't be caught off guard with any question have a trial interview have somebody just ask you a few questions and see how you come across and if you're clearing your throat and you have to hesitate for too long people don't like that hesitation is a killer always say thank you show them respect expect by showing them you are grateful for their time expect to you know say goodbye and Shake Hands maybe hand out a card if not you can just nod validate everybody that you had the opportunity this is the last time you have

a chance to influence remember the interview is only over when you are completely out of sight you leave the room with proactiveness and a posture that shows you're active or that you are energetic to go for what you want to go often if you feel that it went really well people can completely relax and they don't walk out the room with as much confidence or as much Poise as they came in the room you're only done after you're back in your car home so maintain that confidence level maintain that posture maintain that Poise into are

fully out of the room when it comes to Virtual interaction you actually at an advantage there's actually a lot more control is the lighting good is the sound okay many people have learned the hard way not to use the camera that came with her computer go out and buy that or borrow a decent 4k camera you are in complete control of your virtual space so you can make sure that it's tidy that you don't have things that are drawing attention away there was somebody applying for a high-end job and in the background there was only

liquor it might be in his kitchen so you can say oh yeah well he's got liquor in his kitchen but we pick up on the liquor first and in our brain we make an association eye contact is really important virtually you just have to remember that everything is now exaggerated your gestures are now reduced to 27 in that's what most cameras capture they can't look at the rest of your body so there's going to be more emphasis on the face the other difficult thing with zoom is the technique so we have sometimes a delay of

a question and that feels awkward sometimes like can I talk already or not and you see the hesitation the turn yielding is a bit delayed that can can throw the interview interviewee or the interviewer off so I have to be extra alert on that when they are talking look at the screen and when you are talking look at the camera what people often do is they look atsel when we are constantly assessing our own nonverbals it's really tiring and it's really cognitively demanding and draining so it creates what's called Zoom fatigue and that will affect

our nonverbals because we're going to show fatigue we're going to show disinterest in essence the rules are the same the important thing is that you understand that you have to be extra alert of your body language because there's no room for interpretations the goal of any interview as the interviewer is information elicitation as the interviewee is to show confidence competence and Trust you're going to create a conversation with that person or you're going to ask questions as well or you will have examples that really apply to it you want to make the other person feel

comfortable you want to make them feel that you are someone to be trusted how did this person dress up are your clothes clean or do you have food on your clothes I mean I'm I'm relaying here what I've heard from HR they're assessing you because you're going to be representing me we may have a great brand name but it's your face your present that's going to make that difference there might be a hundred people applying for that job if you come prepared and you have a genuine interaction with showing that you really want it there's

so much more chance in that setting than oh I'm just here this is my resume yeah please hire me