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You might look great, carry yourself well, and speak eloquently, but you also communicate with physical gestures and other nonverbal cues. Pay attention to how you use your body during conversations and meetings. You might find that you can’t sit still for long periods of time or that you use a lot of distracting hand gestures. You might be too still and miss opportunities to accentuate points with a nod of the head or finger movement.
Some recruiter pet peeves include the following:
- Looking over the recruiter’s shoulder. What are you staring at?
- Fidgeting constantly. How are you going to appear to clients if you can’t sit still?
- Gesticulating in an overly dramatic way. Don’t slam your hands down emphatically on the recruiter’s desk.
It looks threatening, not forceful.
- Lack of common courtesy, for example, not covering your mouth when you yawn, cough, or sneeze. How could an employer put you in front of a client with that unmannerly behavior?
- Checking cell phones during meetings or interviews. Is this job less important to you than your cell phone calls?
Start practicing good manners now so these habits are ingrained behaviors before your job search.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Poise refers to professional dress, carriage, appropriate body language, and nonverbal communication skills. Poise is critical to the job search.
- Good poise complements and supports the other good job search fundamentals, while lack of poise detracts from them.
- Prepare and practice now to incorporate poise into your regular behavior.
EXERCISES
- Review your interview clothes. Practice meeting with a friendly contact to check your handshake, eye contact, and posture. Practice interviewing with a friendly contact and ask him or her to watch for your nonverbal communication. What area of poise is your strongest and weakest in the job search?
- What will you do now to work on problem areas? If your interview clothes need tailoring or additions, where can you shop or find a tailor? If your carriage or body language is lacking, do you have additional friendly contacts, even family, with whom you can practice getting through a conversation with upright posture, good eye contact, and appropriate gestures?
- Check for resources in your school or community library, such as opportunities to practice or books specifically dedicated to professional image or style.
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