Interviewing for Success

Whether you are attending an interview for a job, or meeting a prospective client for the first time, first impressions count. People make seven valued judgments of you within the first three seconds. How you present to others in the first meeting will generally determine the outcome of future meetings and communications.

The truth behind body language and words.

A resume may or may not get you an interview with a prospective employer, just as requesting an appointment might get you a meeting with a prospective client. A poll of top companies conducted in Australia recently revealed that employers are looking for long term employees and loyalty now more than ever before.

How do you convince someone of your ability based on an interview that is generally conducted without the possibility of proving your worth?

The truth is people employ or buy based on a hunch.

Do I like this person or not?

Do I think this person can work with me and become a great fit for my team?

Will this person deliver what is promised?

Body Language has been proven to be less of an effective tool in the last 10 years. What we once thought was an index into the mind of another is quite inappropriate and outdated and yet, mirroring body language will create much greater ease.

Words account for seven percent of communication, the rest is voice tone (38%) and unconscious response. Whilst many people would argue that this is not the case, the fact is that there is far more going on in an interaction, other than words than most people realize.

Overcoming the challenge is easy!

The main aim of someone when being interviewed for a prospect is to gain trust, be recognized as someone who the interviewer wants to engage with, and generally recognize that this person has similar qualities to the interviewer. In the NLP world, we call it mirroring or modelling. Regardless of the content of your discussion, this is the most powerful tool you can build in your repertoire.

Matching body language, movement and posture, without analysing actually creates an element , quite unconsciously, of the person you are in front of as one of similarity. Voice tone, the speed of speech, and similar semantic choices then cements that feeling of, “I’m sure I’ve met you before.”

Doing this when you immediately meet your interviewer puts them at ease, overcoming all that unconscious judgment and decision making that happens when you first meet.   

Emotional intelligence. 

To be able to mirror or match people does require a certain amount of emotional intelligence. Pushing aside your normal way of responding to people and literally become someone else in such a situation isn’t easy and requires practice. I can certainly attest to achieving remarkable results. Putting others at ease by creating familiarity then paves the way for much greater results when transacting.

Of course there are many other variables to any scenario where one is looking for a successful outcome, but choosing to communicate in this way with people you are not familiar with will change many an outcome for you.

Glenn Ewin.