by Lucy Maguire

Created on: May 04, 2010   Last Updated: July 10, 2011

Dressed to impress? Hungry for success? Key requirements for any type of interview. Supposedly!

In truth, your physical influence, during the first tentative steps you take into an interview room, is the factor by which you will be judged, and you may have very little conscious control over your effect. You can be dressed in designer or budget price clothes, shine your shoes until you find your reflection, and slather on as much make-up as you desire, but none of these will net you that next 'big fish'.

We have no doubt all been reminded by our peers, parents or career advisers that body language is important when attending an interview. General words of wisdom include: not crossing your arms or legs; maintaining eye contact and remembering to smile. Most of us do try to remember all three, despite those moments we feel like we have just been served the million-pound question on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?". Sadly, the success of a job interview is generally determined by one persons' interpretation of your image and influence - so there is no sure-fire way of landing a job. It's a challenge and it depends on you.

The study of body language, or kinesics as it is formally known, has long been a probed and contradicted area, with research conducted by linguists, anthropologists and behavioral experts in both the human and animal worlds. In 4th Century B. C, Greeks were renowned for their reliance, study and perception of body language as an effective communication tool. The Romans, also known for their physical gesticulation and empowered movements (such as the hand-shake) additionally studied and philosophized the subject. In the 20th Century, two key studies to note, were those of Abraham Mehrebian (1968) and Bob Birdwhistel (1970), who both conducted extensive research into physiology, and deduced (with remarkable similiarity) that communication between humans is broken down into three levels: 7% verbal, 38% tonal, and 55% physiological. Conclusively, this meant that physiology or body language as we more widely refer to it, is the dominant factor within social interaction.

These studies, along with similar conclusions, have found that sociological values such as tradition, culture, class, professional status and nurture, all have influences upon our unconscious physiology. Individuals employed as legal or medical practitioners were deemed to be more confident in terms of their stance and gait, than those employed within manual professions. In reference

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next Page >>