Page 131 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

Making your body language
work for you

Here is something to try and consider, even in the pressurized

setting of an interview: your facial expressions throughout the
meeting are really important. When asking a question, most
people are quite serious. If you are asking questions with a

smile, it is very warm, very interactive. There is nothing worse
than sitting there looking very serious, very intense.
While I am interviewing you and engaged in the conversa-
tion, remember that I am subconsciously scoring you. One
of the key issues for me is whether you will fit in. People who

are relaxed, warm, friendly, and who smile are much easier
to fit into an organization than somebody who is a bit tense,
who lacks personality and looks like he or she won’t be able to

integrate.
Controlling facial expressions was something I learned
from sitting in Tom O’Dwyer’s o≤ce. I noticed that in one
particular interview, every time he asked a di≤cult question
he smiled: he was self-aware enough to do that deliberately.

He was asking a tough, negative question that he knew the
candidate would struggle to answer – ‘You said in the last three
years you achieved x, but in fact that last year was a terrible

year, wasn’t it? Your numbers weren’t great. So, tell me, what
actually happened?’ – but he was asking it in such a manner
that it allowed the candidate to engage with him in a more
positive way.

119 performance