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| Not Fidget (Photo credit: TheHuxCapacitor) |
So, you’ve been practicing and practicing answering typical
interview questions and you think that you are getting pretty good at answering
them. You’re going on interviews and
showing off some pretty good verbal skills - but you still haven’t gotten the
job. What’s up with that?
Maybe it is your non-verbal communication skills - or lack
of - that is preventing you from getting the job.
Non-verbal communication skills are something that every
employer looks at, even if they don’t realize that they are. Things like your
facial expressions and your body language are speaking loud and clear and
employers pick up on them, even if they aren’t consciously looking. They may be the reason that the interviewer
is thinking, “Nope. That’s not the one,”
despite the fact that you had all the right answers, the right skills, and a
great resume.
Want to make sure your non-verbal skills match the verbal
ones? Here’s a few tips.
Practice
You practice you verbal skills so why not practice your
non-verbal ones? The best way to do it
is to see it for yourself. Set up your
web cam or a video recorder and have someone ask you interview questions. It’s best to have the camera set up so that
you can capture your whole body and not just your face. When you are done recording, watch the
video. You might be surprised to find
that you have a nervous twitch or that you lick your lips a lot or that your
eyes shift around the room. This is
something you won’t notice until you see it for yourself or someone points it
out to you.
Be Aware
The next time you practice for an interview (because you
really should be doing this more than once) be mindful of what kind of verbal
signals you are giving off. Now that you
know what you do you can stop yourself if you are thinking about it. Once someone told me that whenever I crossed
my legs I bounced my foot up and down when I was nervous or excited. The next time I was in an interview, I caught
myself at it and was able to stop. And don’t
forget to make eye contact with the interviewer.
Quit Fidgeting with Your Hands
After they eyes, the hands can be one of the biggest
non-verbal communicators. When you’re in
a situation where you’re in the spotlight, the hands will tell what a person is
feeling. Are you twiddling with a pen? Are you picking your cuticles? Are you touching your hair? All of these things give off negative verbal
signals that the interviewer will pick up on.
It takes awareness and practice to use good non-verbal
communication skills. Practice these
skills just as you practice answering interview questions and you’ll soon find
that you get much better results from interviews.
