What Your Interview Body Language Reveals About You

What Your Interview Body Language Reveals About You

Poor body language can derail an interview regardless of how confident and well-spoken you are. Body language is as much a part of your communication style as what you say verbally – it’s really about how you say it. Impressions are made within seconds of reviewing body language.

Consider the first step to entering an interview – the handshake. While it may take less than 10 seconds to complete a handshake, in that time, the interviewer has already developed an impression of your character based on eye contact and the firmness of your shake.

A weak handshake and lack of eye contact can leave the impression you are timid and insecure. A sincere and firm handshake with eye contact expresses professionalism and confidence. An overpowering handshake with a fixed gaze may come across as overconfident and arrogant. So, be cautious with your next handshake and start the interview off with a positive impression.

In an interview, body language is present from head-to-toe. Consider the following:

Posture

Whether you are sitting or standing, your posture projects a level of confidence and engagement in the conversation. When one slumps, it implies to the interviewer a lack of confidence and interest. Sitting stiff as a rock implies nervousness and it creates an uncomfortable situation for building rapport. Sitting at the tip of the chair implies you don’t want to be there.

Lying back on the chair with your ankle on top of your other knee may come off appearing unprofessional and too relaxed. In general, crossing your arms and legs may be interpreted as building a barrier.

Related: 8 Body Language Mistakes You’re Making During Interviews

To project professionalism, confidence, and engagement, consider sitting on the chair with your lower back touching or close to the back panel while leaning 10 degrees forward. Keep your hands relaxed in your lap and feet grounded on the floor. When standing, avoid crossing your arms or placing them in your pockets. The point is to project a balanced posture that is not limp or overly stiff.

Eye Contact

Eye contact allows you and the interviewer to connect beyond words alone. However, there is a fine balance between good eye contact and when eye contact becomes a weird gaze or stare that can make the other person feel uncomfortable. When you stare without having breaks in between, a casual conversation can come across as a lecture.

Whether you are listening or speaking, maintain eye contact with your interviewer for a couple of seconds at a time (no more than 7 to 10 seconds) and then glance away before returning eye contact again. If you are looking down to take notes, look up occasionally, especially when it appears a special point is being made or when you are asked a question.

Voice

Speed, tone, and pitch combined presents an impression. Talking too fast can be hard to understand and appear as nervousness. When your tone projects apology or defense, you can come across as unconfident and insecure. When you don’t make changes between your tone and pitch, you can sound monotone, making it more difficult for the other person to stay engaged.

Learn to take control of your voice. If you are nervous, it can come across in your pitch, so take a breath to help you relax before speaking. Be conscious of your tone and pitch to offer variation and to help emphasize certain points.

Bobble Head

Some people have a tendency to bobble their head as a gesture of agreement, but when you nod in excess during a conversation, it becomes a distraction and can be interpreted as though you are agreeing on everything for the sake of wanting to please. You can lose credibility in such instances.

To avoid appearing like a bobble head, nod occasionally to show you are still engaged and have control over how you nod. You can also tilt your head slightly to the side as though you are trying to listen more carefully as another way to show you are engaged.

Extremities

There are people who do certain things out of habit, such as flaring arms while talking, twirling hair, playing with a pen in hand, rocking back and forth on a chair and shaking or thumping their feet. Many of these actions occur unconsciously, however, these are distractions to the person you are speaking to and may be perceived as signs you are bored or have trouble focusing. Some people also touch their nose or face frequently when they are nervous. An interviewer may perceive this as a sign you are not being totally honest.

Be conscious of what you do with your hands, legs and feet and that will help you take control of your movements.

Be aware of your own body language and also read your interviewer’s body language to give you hints about how she is responding to you. The interview may start off very formal, but as you both become acquainted with one another, the mood may relax and you may adapt your body language to reflect what you sense from the interviewer.

There is no absolute rule around body language, but it would be wise to avoid any chance of being misinterpreted. You can properly prepare your body language before heading into an interview by watching yourself in the mirror act out how you introduce yourself and speak. Another helpful way is to have someone interview you and video record the entire session. Review how you present yourself and become aware of problem areas to adjust before your interview.

How Many Versions Of Your Resume Do You Need?

How Many Versions Of Your Resume Do You Need?

A lot of times, job seekers will contact me with help on their career document, then start rattling off a whole list of COMPLETELY different functions that they want to cover in the resume.

One recent client was hoping to try and cover human resources, event planning, and communications all in one document. Unfortunately, in today’s brave new world of applications, one size does not fit all.

But does that mean everyone needs to be constantly chasing after a moving target, always changing the document to meet each job posting? Nope. You have to rethink your strategy completely and start seeing your resume as a themed asset.

Here’s why…

As we go through our careers, our background evolves into probably at least three or more different thematic areas. In my lifetime, I’ve been a meeting planner, television producer, tourism manager, educator, and resume writer, to name a few.

Can I pull all of these areas under one roof/one resume?

Not a chance. No one could possibly digest it all – there is too much stuff “muddying” the waters if, say, I were to apply to be a faculty member in a post-secondary school. The trick to hitting those moving target is to get grounded first.

Focus On One Area

Take a deep breath and think about what area you are actually going to have the highest degree of job search success. Then focus your efforts on that area. I would suggest one, two, but no more than three major areas. Then create a separate document for EACH of those themes.

Create A ‘Relevant History’ Header

Create a section header entitled “RELEVANT HISTORY,” then list the job records most relevant to the position to which you are applying first, then summarize (if necessary) any non-relevant ones to avoid distracting the reader. That way, you can account for any holes that open up in your work experience caused by moving non-relevant history into an “Additional Background” header.

What you are saying to the potential employer is this:

“Here’s the information that is RELEVANT to what you are hiring for… and oh, by the way, you’ll probably notice there are some holes in the work history, so down here, here’s some additional background that summarizes those non-relevant jobs. Want more info? Just ask me.”

Keeping your document themed is critical to keeping your sanity and your job search in check. You need to be focused and centered on your core areas that will yield the highest level of job search success.

Why? Because if you get spread out too thin, you’ll be too far and too wide in your job search efforts, and never get the vertical depth required to find employment success.

You’ve heard of the “shotgun approach” to job seeking? When you are so scattered you end up running around all the time and not experiencing any traction, then you’ve slipped into that mode. Not a good place to be.

Employers can smell desperation, and if they sense a lot of shape-shifting in your resume to try and make yourself more than what you really are to “fit” into a particular job mold, they will drop you like a hot potato. They are more interested in the highly qualified candidates than the “sorta” qualified ones.

Instead, BE THE MOLD. Think thematic approaches in your document on your core strengths, experience, and expertise. Be centered on what you feel is your best “bet” (to borrow a poker euphemism) in finding a job.

Then create a separate thematic resume in that area. This allows you to concentrate your experience, keywords, relevant involvement and professional development in that theme. The end result is you get a specific version of your resume in the proverbial can that is about 90% of the way there. Then, when you find a job posting that matches your target career goal, you’ll definitely need to do some tweaking to make sure your resume terminology matches the position announcement.

That ensures your keyword “hit” ratio is as optimized as possible before you submit your resume as an application. But you won’t have to reinvent the wheel and start all over to create a new document. Job seekers simply cannot be constantly morphing documents into something that someone else wants. You need to be grounded in what it is you offer in a specific field, then tweak the resume to match and make sure the terms mirror one another.

You’ll have better control over your job search, yield better results, and not have the feeling that you are constantly chasing ghosts.

Why Social Media Is The New Resume

Why Social Media Is The New Resume

Resumes are no longer about a two page piece of paper updated only when you’re looking for a job. Today’s resumes, particularly in creative and digital fields, are dynamic portfolios that might encompass several different social media platforms.

Even if you work in a more traditional area, you can still leverage digital channels to give yourself an advantage. Whether you’re a new college graduate looking for an internship or entry-level job, looking to switch sectors or hoping to get that promotion, these expert tips can help you get ahead.

“Social channels are some of the best ways to show potential employers the results and evidence which back up what you say during your application,” says Lauren Gambler, from the HR department at Jellyfish, a digital marketing agency. “It’s what we want to see.”

Twitter

If you’re looking to create new connections and show that you know your stuff, Twitter is an ideal platform. If you use it right, it can act as a stellar covering letter and portfolio. You need to be choosy when deciding who to approach. Sometimes a company feed can be good to monitor for corporate news and jobs, but you might be better off building connections with individual people in the organization.

“It’s fine if a company just wants to publish links on Twitter, but it will take a relationship with a person at that company to reach your goals,” says Erin Brenner, an experienced copyeditor who uses social media to find jobs and for third-party recruiting.

Once you’ve started to make contact within your target sector, it’s time to impress with your knowledge. Use your Twitter stream to show potential employers that you’re bang up to date with what’s going on in your industry.

Don’t just retweet and post your own observations: take part in discussions. Employers want people who can collaborate and add value to their workplace. Twitter is an ideal platform to demonstrate this.

LinkedIn

You probably already have a LinkedIn profile, but are you getting the most out it? It’s often used as an online version of your regular CV but you can use it in a way that’s much more helpful for potential employers.

It’s easy to add examples of your work to your profile, either by embedding a link or uploading files. You could upload a presentation to Slideshare or link to case study that you worked on or a company blog.

“Looking at a candidate’s LinkedIn profile is a fairly standard part of recruiting,” says Gambler. “We notice when someone’s gone to the effort of adding examples of work.”

Choosing a few groups to contribute to is another tactic that can make you stand out. Be selective: look for groups with genuine interaction and decide what your objectives are. Do you want to just connect with people or would your portfolio benefit from speaking opportunities or contributing to an industry blog?

Pinterest

Pinterest might be better known as a home for recipes and fashion photos but it can be an excellent place to keep portfolios. As you can have a variety of different boards this gives you exceptional flexibility over how to present yourself.  A designer might have a work focused account with boards for projects in different media while a marketer looking to job hop might have a secret board featuring screen shots from successful social media campaigns, links to case studies or photos from events organized. You can also create boards targeted to specific job applications.

Just make sure that you provide context and make it easy for people to contact you.

“For example, a book cover designer might create a Pinterest board of recent covers she’s created. The audience looks, but what’s next? If they’re looking to hire a designer, they don’t want to buy the books or go to the authors’ websites. They want to know more about what it’s like to work with the designer, where she gets her ideas from, whether she does different styles of covers not displayed here, and so on,” says Brenner.

YouTube

Video gives an immediate, engaging impression of who you are, so it’s not surprising that it’s now being used by companies who are recruiting and on the new generation of job sites. If the company you’re applying at doesn’t have video as part of their process, you could still leverage it if you think it’s appropriate.

Don’t just read your resume out though. Be creative and find a way to showcase the skills and experience which make you ideal for that job, not to mention those essential personal qualities which make someone a desirable hire.

“Enthusiasm and a positive mind-set is so important in an employee but it can be hard to judge from a conventional CV,” says Gambler.

If you’re looking to standout in a crowded job market, it’s time to start thinking about your resume as far more than a Word document. Even if you work in a more conservative sector, like finance or law, featuring a post on an industry relevant blog on LinkedIn or being a thought leader on Twitter could put you above other applicants.

7 Secrets To A Successful Informational Interview

7 Secrets To A Successful Informational Interview

An informational interview is a meeting where a job seeker asks for advice rather than employment.

Rather than get a job offer, a job seeker uses informational interviews to:

1. Learn more about a company or job function
2. Inquire about job leads
3. Network

For job seekers, informational interviews can secure meetings with managers, shape positive first impressions, and develop relationships that may pay off in the future. Managers are open to informational interviews because:

1. They do not require a big time investment. Informational interviews can be done during lunch or during an afternoon coffee break.
2. They can give managers an opportunity to identify new talent, either for now or in the future, without a formal recruiting process.
3. Informational interviews allow managers to give advice. Who doesn’t like to have their ego stroked?

7 Secrets To Successful Informational Interviews

Here are my tips on how you can succeed in your informational interviews:

1. Ask For An Informational Interview

After you’ve identified who you want to meet, ask friends, family, ex-coworkers, & fellow alums if they have contacts at a certain company or a particular line of work. Utilize social networking tools, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to find contacts. In the introduction e-mail, keep it short and simple. Provide some background information on yourself and explain why you want to meet.

2. Clearly Define What You Want To Get Out Of The Meeting

If you don’t know what you want, the person on the other side of the table will have a hard time helping you. I’d recommend going for easy wins such as learning more about a company or a job function. So prepare questions such as: “What do you like working for company X?” or “When you think about successful folks in position Y, what made them successful?”

3. Getting A Job Should Not Be Your Immediate Goal

Job seekers often ask for a job at the beginning. Resist that temptation. If the manager does have a job, asking for it at the beginning is premature, especially if you haven’t proven yourself. If he or she does not have a job, you and the manager have to overcome the early letdown. Instead, focus on asking good questions and creating a good impression. Then, at the end, do ask if the manager is hiring, but don’t push it.

4. Go With The Flow

Some managers use the informational interview as an informal job interview. If the manager wants to deviate from your prepared list of questions and ask you more formal job questions, let him or her do so. Who knows? You might get a job offer at the end of the interview.

5. Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

Informational interview can range from an informal career chat to a structured interview. Prepare for any scenario. Have those general career questions ready, and at the same time, don’t be surprised if the interviewer asks tough questions like, “What’s your biggest weakness?” Remember the saying, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

6. Dress For Success

It’s always worth reminding: dress professionally.

7. Don’t Forget To Follow-Up And Send The Thank You Letter

Don’t forget to send a thank-you e-mail or letter after the informational interview. In addition, send updates every couple of weeks. The manager invested time into your career; he or she will be interested in your progress. And who knows, that manager may not have had openings a while ago, but he or she may be hiring now.

The Surprising Reason You Can’t Find The Right Job

The Surprising Reason You Can’t Find The Right Job

Do you hate your job?

Have you tried finding a new one but you haven’t had any luck?

Here’s the one thing you probably haven’t considered… It could be the reason why you can’t find the right job.

You may have to move, and not just to a new city within the metroplex. You may have to move to another state or maybe even another country.

Americans have become spoiled in opportunity.

We’re fortunate enough to have an economy that allows for opportunity in most parts of the country. However, what happens when your industry moves to another state or another country? Or what if the area you live in just doesn’t have as large an industry as you expected for your field of work?

You can get mad or you can get motivated.

We live in a global economy and people from all over the world for decades have literally risked their lives just to reach American shores for the hopes of having an opportunity to earn a better living.

So, why then do Americans expect that opportunity will naturally find them when it doesn’t find others outside of our borders?

Times have changed.

The days of graduating from college, getting the good job, and settling down in a new starter home and staying employed at the same job for 10-20 years is a thing of the past.

People must remain nimble and flexible and be prepared to get up and go at a moment’s notice when opportunity comes calling.

It’s not ideal and it certainly doesn’t sound like the American Dream, but it is what it is and you can either pretend to live in 1995 or you can accept and embrace life in 2014.

If you are unemployed or are employed and looking for a new job within your field and haven’t had any luck, consider expanding your search territory beyond your current state of residence. You just may find that opportunity lies elsewhere.

Where Does Volunteer Work Belong On A Resume?

Where Does Volunteer Work Belong On A Resume?

Most often, volunteer work appears toward the end of a resume, after work history.

However, if you have been out of the workforce for a while, are a recent college graduate or are changing careers, your volunteer activities may be the showcase for your most important skills and accomplishments.

As a recent college graduate or a career changer, you might hone new skills as a volunteer in your field, in preparation for a full-time job.

For example, if you want to work in the healthcare industry, you might volunteer at a hospital; if you want to become a graphic designer, you might lend your skills to a nonprofit in search of a logo.

If you’ve been out of the workforce for a while, volunteering may be an excellent way to keep your skills sharp. An IT professional might volunteer to help a nonprofit organization maintain its computers; develop a program to track donors or clients; or enhance their website.

In all those cases, it might be worthwhile to mention your volunteer work early in the resume.

Wherever it is placed in a resume, even a brief mention of volunteer work is important. Most companies are conscious that they need a thriving community around them in order to succeed, both as employers and as providers of products and services.

Hiring managers and recruiters know companies appreciate a spirit of “giving back” in their employees.

Your volunteer work identifies you as someone who also appreciates that spirit.

5 Ways To Bounce Back From ‘Failure’ In Your Career

5 Ways To Bounce Back From ‘Failure’ In Your Career

Can you ‘bounce back’ from a failure in your career?

Recently, a 48Days Podcast listener asked:

“Dan, How much should we risk in pursuit of our career dreams? Are there failures that are fatal?”

Great questions. I believe there really are “successful failures” in our careers and businesses. That’s not an oxymoron. Napoleon Hill once said: “Failure seems to be nature’s plan for preparing us for great responsibilities.” Peter Drucker even added this caution: “The one person to distrust is the one who never makes a mistake. Either he is a phony, or he stays with the safe, the tried, and the trivial.”

So, part of the issue is – Do you want to do something great – in any area? If you’re content with mediocrity in your life, then you’ll try to protect yourself from any failure. Just recognize the trade-off.

As an author and career coach, I’m hearing from people every day who tried and failed. One gentleman lost $3.2 million he inherited from his grandmother in a failed retail clothing business. A close friend lost $24 million in a failed real estate development. Baby Boomers are being terminated after 20 years of loyal service and Gen Y workers are often shown the door before they have time to prove their worth.

Research shows that if you are under thirty years old, there is 90% chance you will be fired sometime in the next twenty years. Bernie Marcus was fired from a job as manager of the HandyDanImprovementCenter, then went on to start Home Depot. A few years ago I experienced a horrible “failure” in business – leaving me deeply in debt and having to borrow a car to start generating income again. Should I have avoided the pain and anguish by taking a safer route, or was that experience the necessary catalyst for learning the principles that launched the success I enjoy today?

My theory is that you will be a brighter, better person for trying something big – even if you “fail.”

I have been dumbfounded recently by running into several long-time acquaintances who are struggling for too long after a career failure. I’ve seen people who were used to first class all the way – restaurants, cars, private flights, yachts and houses. One long-term friend told me he has been selling his fine clothes on eBay to pay the apartment rent, totaled his car with no insurance and is asking for donations online for food money.

Why would a guy that like get trapped in a “down” position and seem to stay there?

It’s easy to see that failures in our careers often launch us into better opportunities. In the last two years, thousands of people have lost their jobs. For many of those, that unwelcome and unexpected event was a wake-up call that prompted them to bring a dormant dream to life.

At 32 years old, Crystal was working in her chosen field of forensics, but was trapped in a toxic corporate culture (which had driven her to the emergency room for panic attacks – twice). Although feeling the sting of being a failure, while recovering from home she initiated a job search. Today she’s the director of cyber threats for a major company at nearly twice her previous salary and in an environment where co-workers encourage each other’s efforts.

Here is what I’ve observed. To come back from “failure,” a person must have:

1. Supportive Relationships

Without others who believe in us we begin to question our value and worth. If family and those closest to you find fault and criticize, find those who will encourage and cheer you on.

2. Uncompromising Integrity

Nothing destroys our credibility and opportunities more quickly than breaches of integrity. Once begun, lies, distortions and exaggerations tend to feed on themselves and require more of the same in an attempt to maintain the status quo.

3. Clear Purpose

Without a clear vision for the future we become wandering generalities. Be able to convey with confidence your strongest areas of competence. No one is attracted to someone who just “wants a job.” Know your unique value to an organization.

4. Vibrant Health

It’s tempting in times of feeling like a failure to allow ourselves pity parties and comfort food, thus deteriorating another area of our lives. Use times of rebuilding to make massive deposits of success in your health. With the guy above who lost $3.2 million I prescribed that he go to the gym every morning for two hours. The physical stamina and creative energy birthed there allowed him to very quickly bounce back with career success.

5. Optimistic Faith

Believing that we are part of a bigger plan and that there is a brighter future up ahead is critical to coming back from any failure.

Maintaining success is these areas may be more important than adding another degree on your resume.