Getting an interview off to a good start is half the battle won.  As the interview goes on, you should think of your non-verbal conversation as an opportunity to build trust and credibility.  Trust is primarily built with open body language, focusing on the torso.  Credibility is primarily created with an authoritative voice and body language that is emotionally consistent with the role for which you’re applying. 

In other words, if you’re applying for the position of lion tamer at a circus, emotional confidence might be important, just as energy might be dominant in other jobs that don’t involve large carnivorous animals – and calm might be more important in positions involving nuclear reactors. 

The point is that you need to figure out what the emotion is and then work on evincing it.  If the interviewer is still unconsciously picking up nervousness from you well into the interview, and you’re hoping for a job at NORAD, then you’re probably not going to be hired. 

All the studies show that people aren’t very good at selecting prospective employees through job interviews, making them doubly irritating for the interviewee – stressful and not very useful to boot.  So you might as well relax and have fun. 

The interviewer is looking for reasons to eliminate people, and hoping to bond with the interviewee.  You should try to minimize the former and maximize the latter.  Obviously, in terms of content, you need to do your homework, and prepare your insightful questions and creative ideas.  But what about the non-verbal conversation?  How do you accomplish these interesting goals? 

Try mirroring the overall physical behavior of your interviewer, within limits, reasonably, and tactfully.  Mirroring signals unconscious agreement and alignment, so you’ll promote the bonding.  To avoid being eliminated, after you’ve mirrored for a while, try subtly leading the interviewer by shifting your overall body position into a new one and seeing whether or not the interviewer follows.  If he or she does, you’re doing well, and you’ve (unconsciously for 50 percent of the participants) taken control of the interview, thus minimizing the chance that you’ll be eliminated. 

That’s the point at which you should present your 3 brilliant ideas for transforming the company for the better. 

As the interview is unfolding, you should keep a close eye on the interviewer, for signs of interest and boredom, affinity and disagreement, attention and disengagement.  You need to be ready to react to each of these signals. 

Next time I’ll talk about these signs and how to know when it’s time to conclude the interview.