Apr
11
Sickening Body Language
April 11, 2007 | Comments Off
You should project your best self during a job interview. This includes your body posture and body language. You may have the best experience, and the best credentials, but if the interviewer just doesn’t feel comfortable talking with you, you will not get the best evaluation.I recently interviewed a guy who just kept sticking his tongue out. I found that disgusting and distracting – almost as much as people who don’t keep their mouth shut while they are eating. I think he had dry lips or a bad habit, but every few words he stuck his tongue out. Yuck! Some other people, when handed a document to browse, moist their fingers with their saliva to turn the pages – something I put in the same category as sticking their finger in their nose so that boggers can help them turn the pages!
Some behavior is offensive or disgusting to some people while it isn’t to the rest of us. Some people don’t like people to have food bits between their teeth. Other people get disgusted or develop allergic reactions to some perfumes. Bad breath can be a concern to a few. The issue is that you never know what issue will harm your image the most.
You can’t please everyone. And you should not give more attention to these small issues than to how you present your experience. However, I believe it is a good idea to spend some time on improving your professional image: something to take care over time (old habits take time to eliminate).
Do you have bad habits? I do. I click on and off pens caps while talking (a way of masquerading uneasiness). Sometimes I yawn – I guess it is difficult to hide how easy it is to bore me. At other times I just talk too fast and unconsciously omit some letters or even words from the conversation I am trying to have. I am not perfect. Knowing about these issues and trying to improve is a good start. Eliminating them would be great.
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