You’ve spent a lot of time researching the company you’re about to interview with.
You are prepared to answer the difficult questions and ask the right questions yourself.
But maybe you don’t know another piece of the job interview preparation puzzle yet.
Power Pose to ace the job interview
About ten years ago, social psychologist Amy Cuddy described a simple, 2 minute preparation ritual in a TED talk to boost self-confidence before entering a stressful situation, such as a personal interview — power pose.
The ritual involved assuming postures associated with confidence, power and achievement – chest up, head up, arms up or on the hips.
You see the pose all the time, when winners of a race throw their arms in the air victoriously, smiling broadly, chin up. Without thinking, little children also take this position when they win a race or achieve something they think is very big.
In one experiment, Cuddy and her collaborator Dana Carney sent people to a high-energy or low-energy pose for two minutes.
The results showed that people are indeed more confident and feel more powerful when they perform a short power pose before facing stressful situations.
Cuddy said:
“Our non-verbal behavior determines how we think and feel about ourselves. Our bodies change our thoughts.”
Does power posing really work?
Unfortunately, Cuddy’s research was questioned and attacked by fellow social psychologists for years. Her work was called pseudoscience. Her peers said power poses didn’t work. And she faced years of ridicule and nastiness on social media.
But recently she was proven right.
As noted by Kim Elsseran expert on women’s issues as work:
“Now Cuddy can rightly claim that asserting power is science. Cuddy’s new academic paper published in March [2017] in Psychological Scienceprovides ample evidence that adopting an expansive attitude makes people feel more powerful.
Cuddy now calls the effect attitude feedback and rather power position (perhaps to appease those who claimed her research was more pop than science). Cuddy’s analysis examined more than 55 studies and clearly shows a link between expansive attitudes and feelings of power.”
Power posing in action
According to the TED article above, this is how power worked for a woman in finance in the United States:
I recently posed for my third job interview! On to the fourth and final interview on Tuesday!!! I was seriously nervous and the power posing calmed me down… Okay, there was a fifth interview today. I panicked, so while I waited, I walked outside and posed in the street. I can’t believe how much better I felt. And I did very well in the interview.”
Here’s my advice.
Determine what kind of pose works best to lift your spirits.
Then, just before the interview, take two minutes in private (find an empty room or even a bathroom) to do your power pose, and get your confidence hormones going.
If you are going to do a virtual interview at home, it is even easier to do so.
Sounds crazy? Maybe. But it could work. You have nothing to lose by trying.
The science behind body language
An article about Biospacea digital hub for news and careers in the life sciences, describes kinesics, the science of body language:
“Kinesics involves the use of posture, facial expression, movement and gestures to communicate non-verbally.”
The article provides some basics on the use and interpretation of body language during job interviews. They recommend practicing these actions before interviews, to become familiar with them:
Open and confident posture
Walk in with an upright but relaxed posture. Keep your head up with shoulders back, but relaxed. When sitting, choose a position that is ideal for making eye contact.
During the interview, show that you are listening by leaning forward slightly. Alternate between sitting upright and leaning forward to indicate that you are engaged.
Arms and hands
Do not fold your arms in front of you. You come across as defensive and closed. If your chair has armrests, use them. If you are sitting at a table, rest your forearms on it. This is what you can do with your hands:
Folded over each other: When sitting at a table or desk, placing one hand on top of the other makes you appear confident but relaxed.
Interlaced fingers: If you are restless, you can lightly interlace your fingers. But tightly folded fingers can make you look tense.
spire: Holding your hands in front of you with your fingertips touching makes you look thoughtful but relaxed. But alternate this with the other hand-holding suggestions to show that you are engaged.
Virtual interview: To avoid fidgeting, you can sit on your hands. No one will see you doing this.
Gestures
With your gestures you can convey confidence, commitment and enthusiasm.
Handshake: Offer your hand, firmly grasp your interviewer’s hand, make eye contact and smile.
Head nodding and tilting: Nod and/or tilt your head in response to what the interviewer is saying. But don’t overdo it with bobble-heading.
Hand gestures: Use subtle hand and arm gestures sparingly to make a point. Make sure these movements are natural and reserved. Jerky, flamboyant, or too frequent hand gestures can be distracting and convey nervousness or aggression.
Facial expression
Study yourself in the mirror and practice keeping your facial expression pleasant and natural. Smile at the right times. If you have trouble with this, think of something that makes you happy.
Interpreting your interviewer’s nonverbal messages
Your own body language is only half the story in job interviews. Rely on your understanding of this to interpret your interviewers’ body language.
Some signs indicate that you are doing well, so you should keep going in the same direction. Other gestures indicate that they are losing interest in you, so you need to step up a gear to win them back.
Trust your instincts and choose just a few of their signals to keep an eye on, such as:
Mirroring: When your interviewer mirrors your movements, you can assume things are going well.
Eye contact: If your interviewer stops making eye contact, this could be a warning sign. Try asking a question or providing additional information about a topic you’ve discussed.
And pay attention to your digital body language during your job interview
Because digital communication has largely become the primary form of interaction in the workplace, the way we present ourselves digitally is of great importance.
Teamwork and collaboration expert and author of Digital Body Language, Erica Dhawansaid in an interview on LinkedIn:
“We don’t do what we say. We don’t talk anymore. We write the conversation first.
We are now injecting what I call digital body language, these are all cues and signals that now form the subtext of our messages.
Everything from the choice of our communication medium, did we choose LinkedIn, email or Slack, to our response time? Did we respond to our punctuation in two minutes, two days, two weeks? How many exclamation points or emojis did we use? They are signals that make or break how others think about us in a modern market.”
Get your foot in the door with the right digital body language
Dhawan’s advice to job seekers trying to build connections and get their foot in the door:
“Remember when it’s appropriate to err on the side of formality, be short and sweet, be to the point, have a very clear subject line in an email or in an InMail that says exactly what you’re looking for. Did you get to the point quickly or did you send a long prose that no one actually wants to read in today’s world where everyone is busy?
If you don’t feel comfortable sending someone an email, make sure you think carefully about attaching the resume. Make sure you have a clear subject line that specifically addresses what you need from them so they can help you. Try sentences like, “What’s the weather like?” to avoid. Or: ‘How are you?’
I’m basically saying that respect and empathy in digital body language means respecting their time, their inboxes, and their schedules. But more than ever, it really starts with being prepared. Do your research. Understand what the recruiter or agency is looking for. Don’t have cookie cutter language. Be authentic. Tell what is unique about you, but also get to the point and be specific.”
Pay attention to your body language during a virtual job interview
And her advice for virtual interviews:
“The first impression looks different. It used to be the first seven milliseconds someone met you in person. And now it’s really about how you appear on a video screen: the first judgment or reaction of someone considering hiring you. Therefore, a few important tips.
First of all, if you haven’t already, be considerate and buy a $50 webcam and light. Remember, this is like the new dressing up at work. It can make or break the presence of executives.
Second, when you’re trying to connect with someone, especially if it’s your first time in a Zoom interview, actually look into the camera. Research shows that we make eye contact up to 60% of the time, face to face.
Make sure your positioning is set. You’re so far away that people can see some of your hand gestures, but they can still see your facial expressions.”
You can find more tips in my article: Perfect your virtual interviews – 21 things you need to know, do and master
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