Page 144 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

ask if you can both sit there so you can get your paperwork or
presentation out – even if that’s just your C V.
Although I think you can overplay the furniture angle, the one
thing that I always do in this setting is move my chair closer, even
if it’s only very slightly, towards the other person. It is a small

gesture but I think it speaks volumes. It demonstrates that I am
very confident in myself and that I am happy to be closer to you.
It indicates that I am taking control.

Sometimes I will walk into one of those classic boardrooms
and find a table for ten people, with four chairs on two sides, and
one at either end. The interviewer is usually sitting at one end, in
the chairman’s seat. What normally happens, simply because of
human nature, is that most people choose to sit in the second or

third chair away from the interviewer. I would walk straight up
to the first chair, right next to them. You might think that is a bit
too close for comfort, but I know there is a message there.

The same thing happens when people walk into any kind of
conference. There are certain people who naturally gravitate to
the back of the hall, others who head for the middle and some
who go straight to the front. There are no signs to direct anybody
to their seat, but you will see that automatic decision being

made every single time. It is important to know which direc-
tion you would take instinctively, and if necessary change your
natural inclination for the purposes of an interview.

If you know you are deliberately being physically placed in
a di≤cult position, understand that it is nothing more than a
ploy – and a rather transparent piece of manipulation – and you
will find you can override it.

132 get the job you really want