Mind your body language in job interviews

ASIF Rauf is a key human resources development (HRD) official working for a leading telecommunication company in Bangladesh. Throughout his career, he interviewed hundreds of candidates. I asked him what the first and foremost thing he notices about a candidate as he or she steps into the interview room. His reply was plain and brisk - 'body language'. And you probably won't find one veteran human resource expert disagreeing with him. Did you know a great majority of employment decisions are made within the first few minutes? Realise that during our conversations, especially in the first minute, a very small portion of the first impression we give is via words. The remaining is based upon paralanguage-- pitch, amplitude, rate, and voice quality of speech as well as body language. Yes, your resume is worth looking at. And the people at the interview board are there to listen to what you have to say in reply to their questions. But the company's recruiters are eager to appoint the right person for the job, not by looking mainly at the resume. Beyond the shining resume and academic background, the HR officials want to know what you have to offer and whether you can be relied upon with certain responsibilities. And it's mostly your body language that tells them whether you're worth hiring or not. "Usually, if the candidate demonstrates confidence, rationalism, loyalty, common sense, intelligence and most of all a hard working attitude, we don't care if the academic result isn't that impressive. That's because, at the end of the day, it all melts down to what the candidate can accomplish for the company. As a veteran in human resource recruitment, it's my job to figure that out through everything that the candidate has come forward with - especially the body language," Asif said. Academic results surely are important, but they never were and never will be the absolute parameters when it comes to hiring someone for a job. A lot of candidates are unaware of the fact that their body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements can make or break their chances of getting the job. Almost subconsciously, human beings send and interpret different types of signals through their body language. And this becomes a crucial thing in job interviews. Anisur Rahman has gone through probably dozens, if not hundreds, of job interviews. At first, his rate of success was pathetic. But over time, the guy came out to be a brilliant contender in front of the interview boards. This fellow surely worked hard to hone his strengths and eliminate weaknesses. As now he has any enviable job and career, I took the time to learn his secrets and experiences. "Are recruiters aware of a candidate's body language?" - I asked. "Yes. Some are consciously and some are unconsciously... some managers have the skills to look for specific signs during job interviews. And the astute ones who're well aware of the significance of body language will usually be looking for specific movements of comfortability, direct eye contact, interest, energy level, confidence, courteousness and honesty. And that explains why decisions are sometimes made within the first few minutes." Is that the situation in general? We took the time to interview Faisal Akram, another HR recruitment veteran having worked in the airlines industry and now in a telecom company. During his interview, he mentioned the negative vibes (based on body language) that typical candidates pick up during the job interview. "Weak body language can cost you a job," he said. "Lack of eye contact and poor posture suggests the candidate's insecurity, whereas we presume the candidate is lying if he or she is scratching the face or ear and has low eye contact." Some industries need desperate go-getters to win business. Or at least, this is hard to disagree with people who are working with dashing-and-pushing departments like corporate sales, dealer management, sales or overseas business development. S.M. Abdullah is in a moderately successful professional striving in this kind of field. Like Anisur Rahman, he also struggled a lot to land his dream job at first. But some crude realisations changed his world. "I'm into sales and I had a vision to build a career in this field. But I was under the assumption that I had to show a highly aggressive attitude to get a good job in sales. But I was wrong." "What were the eye openers?" I asked. "You got to keep it in between. which happens to be an art, you see." He smiled. "The recruiters don't want the guy who just comes in and just slumps in chair lazy. And they don't want the overbearing guy who sits down before he's asked to. and you don't stand a chance if your feet are pointing in the direction of the exit, as feet point to where the body wants to go. You won't believe how many times I got disqualified for rocking back and forth. They'll take you as a nervous soul if you do that". So what does it all amounts to? Be it the cool-guy introvert job, or the rock-solid front end job to win and compete every moment, the recruiters do look beyond the resume piercing through the candidate's body language. It's the first impression maker or breaker. And it's what employers judge or appraise the real person on. affan321@gmail.com