Do you know what your interviewer’s body language communicates during a job interview?

A job interview is quite a challenge. Both for the recruit so and for the recruiters. It is important to pay attention to all the details: on the behavior, the way of communication, the words, but also on the body language, because that is a key factor here.

Facial expressions, body posture or gestures can you tell more about a candidate than their words. They are the main carrier of information. This is why recruiters pay such close attention to the behavior of the interviewee. You have to pay attention to not only the words, but also to the body language.

Anthropologist Albert Mehrabian discovered that in the process of interpersonal communication, only 7% of information is conveyed by words. In contrast, sound and tone of voice account for 38%, while nonverbal behavior accounts for as much as 55%. Studies have shown that in the process of communication, nonverbal signals are five times more powerful in influencing the interlocutor than conversation. Therefore, when the two types of communication are incompatible, words are considered untrue. Thus, it is so important to pay attention to particular behaviors in a candidate and their ability to control non-verbal communication.

The following are behaviors to watch out for when interviewing a potential employee.

Body language – what to pay attention to:

• Welcome:

The first thing you can notice right away is the way they greet you. And how a given candidate behaves when they enter a room. The important thing to pay attention to is the way they shake hands. Is it confident and energetic, or is it nervous and uncertain.

We distinguish between 3 ways of shaking hands when greeting:

– symmetrical relationship – when the interlocutor gives a firm handshake, he symmetrically shakes his hand in relation to ours.

– Asymmetrical relationship – arises when the interlocutor, when giving us their hand, turns their hand to the top. This may indicate that they are trying to show superiority and superiority over us.

• Body posture

You can tell a lot from a person’s posture, so it’s important to pay attention to it in a candidate. How he or she enters the room – whether upright and relaxed, or perhaps hunched over and unsure, though.

• Eye contact

Pay attention to whether the candidate looks you in the eye when interviewing you. Natural stares and casual eye contact is a sign of openness and honesty, as well as confidence. A lack of eye contact on the part of the candidate may indicate nervousness, uncertainty or a desire to hide something.

• Tone of voice

We already know that body language is very important when talking to an applicant, so is the tone of voice. It reveals a lot about the interviewer. People who speak faster are usually considered more competent. A slow way of speaking, on the other hand, can indicate a lack of conviction on the part of the candidate about what he or she is saying.

It is also important to remember that individual behavior depends on the situation, and it is not worth drawing conclusions based on just one encounter. Often each person has habits and behaviors developed over the years. It is necessary to look at the candidate holistically, taking into account the situation he or she is in – if it is a job interview, it is obvious that it is a stressful situation.

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