7 Top Body Language Mistakes at Interview

Do you know that a failure to exhibit the right body language may be harming your chances of getting a job?

Do you know what the right body language is for interview?

Do you know which body language should be showing to the interviewer to maximise your chances of landing a job?

Is the answer to one of more of these questions, “no?”. Well, the good news is that Career-Builder completed a study of 2,500 hiring managers and asked them, “what are the top body language mistakes that would make them less likely to hire someone?” You can find the results below.

7  Top Body Language Mistakes at Interview

1. Failure to make eye contact (67%)

2. Lack of smile (38%)

3. Fidgeting too much (33%)

4. Bad Posture (33%)

5. Crossing arms over chest (21%)

6. Playing with their hair or touching their face (21%)

7. Using too many hand gestures 9 (%)

The interesting thing is that most of these body language issue are easy to fix, if candidates just prepare well enough in advance and employ the right techniques in the subsequent interview.

Careerbuilder set out 3 tips to help you avoid body language mistakes during an interview and I have listed these below:
1. Keep calm – To make the best impression and avoid nervous body language, take measures to stay as calm as possible before the interview. Leave the house with plenty of time to get to the interview, avoid caffeine if possible and take deep, calming breaths.

2. Practice makes perfect – The old adage proves true in this case, as you’ll feel more comfortable the more you prepare for the interview, and in turn, it will help decrease your anxiety. Rehearse ahead of time with friends or family, do your homework on the company and be prepared for common interview questions.

3. See for yourself – Viewing yourself while speaking can help you notice what body language mistakes you might be making without realizing. Look in a mirror while practising interview responses or videotape yourself to figure out your typical physical movements, and whether or not you need to change them.

So, make sure you maximise your chances of success at your next interview by avoiding these common body language mistakes as described above.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 2,534 U.S. hiring managers (employed full-time; not self-employed; non government); ages 18 and over between May 18 and June 3, 2010 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset of U.S. Employees, based on their responses to certain questions).

With a pure probability sample of 2,534 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.95 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.