This is a very common behavior and yet, very often, it derails everything from the first seconds of an interview.
Whether you have revised your pitch, polished your CV or rehearsed the answers to the most classic questions, nothing guarantees a good outcome in a job interview. The study conducted by the American firm Classes and Careers in 2014, among 2,000 managers, put the finger on what candidates still underestimated too much, and it turns out that it is not what they say that seals their fate, but very often what their body expresses. In fact, a third of recruiters surveyed say they know within the first 90 seconds whether they will hire the candidate or not.
According to the data collected, 55% of the perceived impact comes from posture, clothing and the way of entering the room. Barely 7% are related to the content of the answers. The rest depends on intonation, tone and apparent confidence. It is therefore not a question of having the best formulation or of reciting one’s experiences without a hitch. What makes you tick – or not – comes down to your appearance, your behavior, your body language, what you give off. Some reflexes go wrong. Not smiling, for example, comes in the top three of mistakes. This loses points before you even sit down. Too rigid, too serious, too closed: a neutral face is not reassuring.
Another misstep? A rigid, closed, unbalanced or slouching posture. Crossed arms, rounded back, wriggling legs: everything we do without thinking about it sends back an image. Here again, the statistics are clear. 33% of employers say they are deterred by an unsuitable posture. Nothing spectacular, but enough for the recruiter’s attention to shift towards the feeling more than the speech.
And in a moment as short as the start of an interview, the brain takes shortcuts. He decides quickly. It filters, sorts, associates. What is perceived as a bad attitude can be interpreted as a lack of motivation, an absence of dynamism, or even a lack of reliability. But the criterion that weighs the most in these very first seconds is neither the smile nor the posture. According to this same study, 67% of managers reject a candidate who does not look the other person in the eye.
This behavior is perceived as a lack of trust, an absence of transparency or a form of avoidance. It distorts the exchange, blurs the relationship, prevents creating a bond, even brief. So, next time, don’t neglect the look, it could well land you the job of your dreams.
