Preparing for a Job Interview: Why a Job Coach will be more honest with you than your own family.

Click, click, click. I nodded my head politely as the candidate answered my first interview question.

Before I moved on to the next question, I asked him what he thought of his response and if he wanted some feedback from me. You see, it wasn’t the real interview, yet. It was the mock interview I was doing with my client a few days before the actual job interview. Normally I would make sure that the mock interview is very similar to the actual job interview, but this time I decided to interrupt. My client was happy with his answer and wasn’t aware of any issues. “Do you realise that you are clicking your pen?” I asked. He hadn’t realised.

Body language is very important in job interviews. However, feedback after interviews almost never include remarks about how the candidate in their next interview should perhaps make more eye contact. Or not move their hands in a certain way as it distracted the interviewer from listening to the candidate.

But that’s what people who conduct interviews tell me:

• “Had a candidate who had the sniffles and I found it difficult to concentrate on her answers”,
• “Had a candidate, who didn’t make eye contact”,
• “Had a really nervous candidate who was twisting and turning his pen and it came apart with the spring almost hitting one of the panel members.”

There are many good tips on the use of body language in job interviews in articles or on YouTube, and it is best to practice an interview situation in front of a mirror or ask someone to go through some practice questions with you.

But do you click your pen, touch your face or scratch your leg when you are nervous? You might have certain habits that your family or friends know about but haven’t mentioned, because they are used to it or they don’t think it might be of influence in an interview. You will find that a Job Coach will work with you so you will feel prepared in answering the questions with what you say and also what you do. The right interview training will make a significant difference to get the job you want. 

First published on LinkedIn on October 20, 2016