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 that 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.
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.

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 that 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 that 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.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Second Interview: What Happens After The First Interview?

Getting a second interview is typically your goal when you attend a first interview.
Unless the job you're applying for has a one-interview process to be followed by a job offer to the successful candidate, you will most likely be trying to get invited back for a second interview.
For more senior positions you might even come back for a third and subsequent interviews. Sometimes companies have processes in place that result in multiple interviews for potential employees.
What actually happens in the second interview of course largely depends on what happened in the first interview.

Often, the first interview is a Human Resources (HR) interview. This is when you get interviewed by a member of HR to determine whether or not you are someone who would fit with their company.
The HR interview might focus on what some job searchers often sarcastically refer to as "touchy-feely" questions but don't treat this interview as a joke.

You might be surprised at the power that HR wield in some companies. I've seen some HR staff turn down job candidates even when the hiring manager liked them.

Also, don't expect to be able to go into the HR interview and "wing it." In other words, make sure you prepare for this interview as you would any other interview.

If your first interview was with the hiring manager, the second interview might be a more in depth discussion with the same hiring manager and/or you might meet up with one of their peers (ie. another manager) or perhaps you'll meet up with people you'd be working with should you get the job.
In this case, the questions you face tend to be more in depth than before. At this point, the company has shown interest in you so they will want to gain more information about you and your suitability for the job.
You also need to gain more knowledge about the company and the people you'd be working with.
Some companies might hold a panel second interview where you get interviewed by several people at once. I've experienced this several times myself.

When you're leaving the first interview try to get a sense as to what the next step in the process is.
If you find out that you have been invited to a second interview try to find out who you'll be meeting with and what each person does. This will help you get a better sense of what the second interview will entail and what you will need to prepare for.

Article Source: ezinearticles.com

Top 10 Job Interview Strategies That Guarantee Success in Your Interviews

Job interviews can be a mystery. But you can find success if you follow the right job interview strategies. The following 10 tips are the best job interview strategies to follow if you want to ace your next interview.
10 Best Job Interview Strategies

1. Study the company
One of the best job interview strategies that most candidates ignore is to study the current events of the company. Knowing what the current events of the company is important so that you can ask pertinent questions. Doing so will show the interviewer that you have done your homework, and also have a genuine interest in the company. This strategy will definitely help your job interview.

2. Know your resume
As a candidate, you should be very familiar with your resume. In any job interview, anything on your resume is at the interviewer's disposal. Implementing this job interview strategy will help build credibility with your interviewer. Speaking intelligently about each of your previous positions will help do this, and is one of the best job interview strategies to follow.

3. Prepare an interview emergency kit
Many candidates don't properly prepare for a job interview. Getting together a "job interview kit" is a great job interview strategy to follow. Suggested items for the kit include extra copies of your resume, directions to the office, a bottle of water, eye drops, pens, and notepad. But you should only bring the extra copies of your resume into the office with you, preferably in a portfolio.

4. Study job description
After landing an interview, you need to study the job description to truly understand what the interviewer is looking for. If the description calls for attentiveness to detail, you will want to tailor the discussion accordingly. Knowing this, you can navigate the interview and discuss examples from previous jobs that will exemplify this trait. Do this for all significant traits or qualities that you identify in the job description. This is one of the best job interview strategies I have used, and know that it can bring you success.

5. Build rapport
You know the saying, "There's never a second chance to make a first impression/" That holds very true in the case of job interviews. That is why building rapport is such an important job interview strategy. Shake hands, make eye contact, and smile. Put those three together when you first meet your interviewer and it will set a positive tone for the rest of the interview.

6. Make eye contact
Making positive eye contact is one of the best job interview strategies to follow. Eye contact is one of the strongest forms of nonverbal communication. A person's qualities and personality can be detected simply based on eye contact. Making direct eye contact communicates confidence and high self-esteem, two key qualities employers look for in candidates.
Thus, it is very important that you make eye contact when you first meet interviewer and shake hands. And during the interview, it is important to make eye contact, not only when you talk, but also as you listen. Simply doing this job interview strategy will greatly help your chances of success in an interview.

7. Body language
Just as eye contact speaks volumes about you, so does your body language. Proper body language conveys confidence and high self-esteem. During the interview, things like sitting up straight with your chest out and keeping a pleasant demeanor on your face will project confidence. The interviewer will be aware of this, and it will help you stand out in his/her mind.

8. Display your skills with concrete examples
When it comes to discussing their skills, many candidates make the mistake of "telling" instead of "showing." One of the best job interview strategies is to use concrete examples to demonstrate their skills to the interviewer. For example, if one of your skills is successfully handling multiple tasks at once, providing an example of how you do that will help paint a picture for the interviewer. It also gives the interviewer something to "hold on to" once the interview is over, and helps him/her remember you when it comes to decision time.

9. Be yourself
A common mistake that many candidates make is not being themselves. Some feel that they need to fit a certain mold and act accordingly. This will only end up hurting both parties in the end when your "true" personality comes out. You will be surprised how easy it is to detect insincerity during an interview. Thus, it is important to be professional, but also maintain your true essence. When you do this, your sincerity will be picked up by the interviewer. This is one of the best job interview strategies to implement, and will go a long way in determining your success.

10. Follow up quickly
After the job interview, send a thank you note to the interview. These days, an email is fine, but traditionally a handwritten card is sent. Whatever method you choose, do it promptly after the interview. The correspondence should be sent the next day after the interview. Many hiring decisions are made quickly these days, so timeliness is very important.
You now have 10 of the best job interview strategies to follow. There are many aspects of a successful job interview, but if you implement these 10 best job interview strategies listed above, your chances of success will skyrocket!

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Job Interview Preparation Similar to Game Preparation

Effective preparation for a job interview starts with a lot of the same things that go into getting ready for a game, match or race. Much as an athlete studies the game film and tendencies of the opposition, wise job seekers study up on all the information available on the company that will be interviewing them.
Just as it is important for an athlete to know his or her opposition's tendencies, a good interviewee must anticipate what the company is looking for, and be prepared to show how they will fill that need. Obviously, the more you know about the company's practices and tendencies, the better able you will be to show them how hiring you will benefit them.

Obviously, a good place to start is the company's website. Make sure and read everything including press releases and all the mundane and seemingly unimportant information there. By reading all of it, you will likely begin to get a feel for the company's values and an understanding of how it operates. You never know where you will find that nugget of info that gives you the edge over the competition. Read over the website several times, for the same reason athletes and coaches review their game films repeatedly, because they don't want to miss anything and neither do you.

Another way teams and athletes gain an advantage is by studying how other teams or players were successful against their upcoming opponent. You can do this by reading articles about the company's competitors various strategies. Perhaps you will even stumble across a piece of information there that the company has overlooked, and use that to your benefit in the interview. Any advantage you can exploit is crucial in the competitive environment we live in today.

Finally, but only after you have done all your research on the company, you can begin to prepare yourself mentally for the interview. With all the knowledge you have at your disposal, begin to visualize the actual interviews you will be going through with the company. Have fun with it and try and cover every angle. Imagine the interview being conducted by a variety of different people: old, young, male, female, tall, short, fat, skinny, etc. The more situations you put yourself through in your imagination, the less likely you will be nervous or thrown by whatever ends up happening in the actual interview.

Most of my clients have had remarkable success using visual rehearsals, and the more you use them the more effective (and fun) they become for you. I have staked my professional life on the notion that preparation is the key to success. Anxiety and nervousness are what you feel when you are not properly prepared. If you focus on the fundamentals of your preparation you will more than likely end up getting the results you are hoping for a lot sooner. My most successful clients focus on the process and their preparation, not winning or losing.
So focus on getting ready for the interview, not getting the job, and you will likely experience similar success in your endeavors.

Article Source:ezinearticles.com

7 Tips For Writing Thank You Letters With Class

When I first started tracking the information preferences of people visiting my Writing Help Central Web site I was surprised to find how many folks were seeking information on how to write thank you letters. In fact, "thank you letter" information and sample templates are the fifth ranked destinations at that Web site.
In reality, thank you letters are among the most important letters we will ever write. Whether business or personal, an effective thank you letter needs to be written with sincerity, tact and sensitivity.
Following are a few tips that will help you whenever you encounter thank you letter situations in your business or personal life.

1. Make Sure It's Appropriate
One of the main issues with respect to thank you letters is to know when to send one. As a general rule, I would say "better to be safe than sorry". However, make sure there is something noteworthy about the situation. A thank you letter for a routine situation doesn't make sense and dilutes their meaning.

2. Write It Promptly
It is always best to send a thank you letter as soon as possible after the event for which you are doing the thanking. It will help with the level of sincerity in your letter if the event is still fresh in your mind. In any case, a delayed thank you letter will seem like an obligatory afterthought to the recipient.

3. Remind The Recipient
In your introductory sentence, make it very clear that it is indeed a thank you letter and that it pertains to a specific event, situation and/or person. This will eliminate any confusion on the part of the recipient as to the purpose of the letter.

4. Make It Short and Direct
Get straight to the point and never exceed one page. Thank you letters should be short, direct, sincere, and to the point. In business situations they will always type-written but personal thank you letters can be hand-written or typed, as appropriate to the situation.

5. Make It Personal
By definition, a thank you letter is a sincere personal gesture from one individual to another. It should be expressed as a heartfelt personal sentiment, even when written in a business situation. At the same time, strive to be balanced in approach and don't be overly effusive.

6. Always Write it To One Person
Always write your thank you letter to an individual, not an organization or group. Even if it's a situation where a group is involved, write your letter to the senior person in the group and/or the group spokesperson. Ask that person to please pass on your sincere appreciation to the other people in the group, and name them in your letter if possible. (Contrary to advice given by certain so-called experts online, in my experience, writing a group letter is NEVER appropriate and achieves little or nothing).

7. Check Spelling and Grammar
As when writing all letters make sure you carefully check your spelling and grammar. This is even more important for thank you letters, since they are almost always a sincere statement of appreciation from one person to another. Be sure to double check the spelling of all names used in the letter. There's no quicker way to blow your credibility and sincerity than to misspell someone's name.
The bottom line on thank you letters is "make it appropriate and sincere", or there really is no point in sending one.

Article Source:EzineArticles.com

Job Interview Preparation - Key To Success

A number of interview experts stress the importance of preparation prior to the job interview. As most of the interviews are based around competency based questions it is vital that candidates master the correct technique and learn the strategy to answer interview questions in the correct way.

Many interviewers report that candidates come for interviews unprepared, with the notion that they would do well, however when they are asked to demonstrate their skills and abilities in the form of competency based questions many of them get stuck or become very inarticulate in their responses. This may result in poor impression of their interest in the job or role they apply for and thus one could argue that their chances to get the job might be lower. However, these candidates may argue that it is impossible to prepare for the interview as it is not possible to predict questions the interviewer is likely to ask.

It must be acknowledged that one may not predict the exact questions the employer would ask the potential prospect however, it is reasonable to suggest that one may expect type of questions that interviewer would ask. That is, the interview questions that you are likely to be asked would be based around the profile of an ideal person for the job or role you applied. For example, if one would apply for technical engineering role some proportion of the questions would be based around technical engineering, skills and abilities that would be required for the job itself.

However, there are various types of interviews and for each type of interview applicant need preparation. The most popular type of interviews that individuals are likely to come across are competency based interviews. In competency based interviews candidates are asked to demonstrate their skills and abilities that are related directly to the job or role they apply. There is a specific format to answer these questions often referred to as STAR technique that is S-situation, T-task, A-action and R-results. In short, individuals need to briefly describe the situation or task and then they need to describe action they took in detail along with the result or outcome of their action.

Candidates that master this approach and prepare the answers for competency questions in the above format tend to score high and are likely to be confident in their responses and thus have great chances to leave professional impression during their interview. Therefore, one may argue that preparation is key to success.

Article Source: ezinearticles.com

Phone Interview Tips - How to Make a Good Impression During a Phone Interview

As the workplace becomes more intense, with more challenges to complete in a shorter amount of time, companies are looking for faster approaches to sifting through the volumes of resumes received for each recruited position. They have found one way to do that with the phone interview. After reviewing the resume for the minimum requirements, they set up a phone interview to eliminate additional candidates and bring the group to a manageable size. And, this is the intent...to eliminate candidates. So how do you stay in the running?
Sarah had not been in the job market for seven years when a re-organization eliminated her position. She was not prepared to begin a career search. She could not even begin to think through how to engage in an interview or sell herself to another employer. She was a bit distraught because she had been exposed to several phone interviews, but nothing seemed to be working.
At first, Sarah found phone interviews easy. She did not have to dress professionally to meet with the interviewer and she did not have to drive to their location. Also, she found that she could work on other things while she talked with the interviewer. On one occasion she even had a sick child at home, and, although that was a little distracting, she thought she handled the interview well. However, she never received a call back. Sarah knew she had to approach this important interview differently, but just did not know how to get started.
To begin, Sarah had to understand that the interviewer had already looked at her technical abilities and specific skill sets. Without meeting those minimum qualifications, Sarah would not have been invited to participate in a telephone interview. Sarah's challenge now was to tackle the interviewer's emotion and judgment about her fit to their culture. She needed to express how she fit by giving examples of her work ethic, habits and behaviors. Although it is hard to sell ourselves and get the interviewer to "like" us when we are not in front of them, it is not impossible to verbally show them charm, professionalism and how we can contribute.

Here are several tips that helped Sarah and can help you to make a good impression during the next phone interview:

Phone Interview Tip #1 - First, Sarah prepared and practiced for each interview just as she would have done for any in-person interview.
She researched the company and her strategy in answering various interview questions. She thought through how she would talk about the needs of the interviewer as well as her own needs. Sarah made sure her answers and examples were short and concise. She wanted to get right to the point since she did not always know how much time she would have to prove she was the right candidate.

Phone Interview Tip #2 - Because she was at home for a phone interview, Sarah made sure her surroundings were quiet.
She eliminated any distracting background noise such as children playing, dogs barking, or neighbors mowing their lawn by closing herself off in a quiet interior room. She also turned off her cell phone so it would not interrupt the interview.

Phone Interview Tip #3 - During the interview, Sarah kept her focus on what was being said and how she answered each question.
She listened intently to the question being asked to be sure that she addressed it without getting distracted on another subject or idea. Sarah identified work habits and characteristics that set her apart from other candidates and communicated them to the interviewer. She knew it was important to relate her relevance to the company and their needs early on.

Phone Interview Tip #4 - When Sarah communicated with the interviewer, she showed enthusiasm in her voice when talking about the job, their company or the industry.
Sometimes Sarah would walk around the room during the interview to keep her energy up. Initially, when she was too relaxed, she would talk about information that was not always relevant - about failure or weaknesses. So staying enthusiastic and keeping her focus on her contribution to the position was key. Sarah also learned to brag a little about her accomplishments and show the interviewer that she was a good fit for their culture.

Preparing for each telephone interview as you would an in-person interview will show polish and professionalism. Keeping your focus on the questions and how you fit the position will make you stand out from other candidates. Be prepared...your first impression, even if only a verbal one, is still a lasting impression.

Article Source:EzineArticles.com