Just be your normal self during a job interview

I am scheduled to attend an interview for a job I have really longed for.

As part of the preparations for the interviews one of my cousins urged me to improve on my body language and drop the casual manner in which I always approach serious matters.

What is the ideal body language expected of one during a job interview?

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It is clear that your cousin knows a number of things about you that you have not disclosed to us.

A critical link missing in your question relates to the nature of the job that you are looking for. It would also help a great deal if you had disclosed your age as well as giving us some idea as to whether this is your first job, and also if you have been to other interviews or indeed if this is the first one for you.

All these facts matter a great deal if the answer we are going to give will have any meaning to your specific concerns.

If, for example, you are looking for a job at the local theatre for the performing arts, then some evidence of the ability to act might not be a bad thing. On the other hand, at an interview for a job to the Court of Appeal, the same skills brought at the interview would be a major liability!

As you can see, each job interview has its own style and character. This then brings us to another point you may wish to consider.

Given the extent of the apprehension that is evident from your question, are you really qualified for the job that you have applied for? Are you – in your heart of hearts – sure that if you got the job you could do it? Is it possible that part of the reason your cousin is concerned is because he does not have the confidence that you are suitable for the job?

Out of the box

Related to the foregoing, but substantially different is the whole question of one’s personality and the type of job they are best suited for.

In the creative media world, for example, the personality types that seem to thrive are mostly free thinkers who are at the best of times free spirits and work best “out of the box”.

They do not allow things like dress codes to get in their way. They occupy their space with confidence and conviction and to the casual observer, seem too casual in their workplace.

If one was to go to a job interview for a position in a bank dressed other than in a dark suit, the interview panel might be excused for thinking you had gone to the wrong interview. A lady dressed in a short, brightly coloured, pink flowery dress would only have herself to blame if the interview panel for a job at the bank thought she was dressed to go to the beach!

As you can see, there are clear traditions in society that have stood the test of time that prescribe the modes of dress and body language for particular occupations.

The statement “sober as a judge” has a deeper meaning in society beyond the expectation that the judges refrain from too much drink.

It brings to mind many attributes of a judge that include the way he presents himself to the public, including his body language at the job interview. For these reasons, if the interview is for a clown at a circus, banker, or judge, then the body language must be congruent.

There are other matters that you may wish to take into consideration as you prepare for the interview.

For example, if you have applied for a job in Mombasa and you know very well that you cannot stand the heat of the Coast then you must know that you are not being truthful either to yourself or to your prospective employer.

Sadly for you, this fact might come out in your body language at the interview.

In the alternative, if you have applied for a job in information technology while your heart has always been in human resource, then you will have a real problem at the interview, a fact that could easily be detected from your lack of enthusiasm.

You might be a young person who has become a doctor because your parents insisted that you go to medical school, just like they both did. Even if you have become a doctor, and are about to be posted to Murang’a, your heart could still be in tourism where you have always wanted to be!

Your body language at the interview will tell volumes about you.

Objective testing

Psychometric testing seeks to help both the prospective employer and the candidate by bringing some of the issues we have raised to formal and objective testing. Such tests try to find a fit between the individual and a particular job.

Perhaps like you, many people try to answer the questions in psychometric tests “correctly” so that they can get the job. In the process they forget that there is no such thing as the right answer. The test is like a photograph of you in that it seeks to see you as you truly are.

Cheating in these tests is foolish in the extreme and often leads to frustration for both you and the prospective employer.

As you go to the job interview, carry your normal self and to the extent possible be your true self, including your body language.