Top interview tips for candidates

Job interviews can cause even the most confident individual to feel nervous. Here experts provide their top five tips for bossing it…

Lean forward to show you’re engaged
Liz Sebag‑Montefiore, Director and Co‑Founder of 10Eighty, suggests that leaning forward when answering a question in a job interview lets your interviewer know you’re engaged and paying attention. In a virtual interview where it can be difficult to utilise body language techniques, make sure your chair is at the right distance so that you can show you’re leaning in when talking.

Maintain good eye contact
Making good eye contact can let your interviewer know that you’re interested and engaged in the conversation. Inbaal Honigman, mystic and body language expert, says that interviewees should look intently at the interviewer when they’re talking to, but look away when you’re not speaking to each other in order to give them the space to think.

It’s also important to make sure you’re not looking away too much:

“A steady eye gaze is associated with honesty and openness, whereas liars have been shown to look slightly downwards, as they try to invent their next lie – so keep a truthful face by straightening your gaze.”

Keep facial expressions relaxed
When we’re thinking about our answers, or listening to the interviewer, it can be easy to tense our facial muscles, squint our eyes or forget to smile. Try to remember to take a breath and relax your features and smile when it seems like the right time to do so. It will make you and the interviewer feel more at ease.

Use thoughtful and open gestures
Liz Sebag‑Montefiore reveals that techniques such as holding your hand to your cheek and gesturing with open palms are useful for letting the interviewer know you’re thinking carefully about your answers, whilst tilting your head when the interviewer is speaking will show good cooperation with the conversation.

Make sure you look the part
Dressing the part is an important form of communication, so we should make sure we’re getting it right for a job interview. Inbaal Honigman suggests sticking to neutral colours such as navy, brown, khaki, and grey, which she says are powerful yet non-committal tones.

For more insight on how to ace an interview, see the full guide here: https://www.lenstore.co.uk/eyecare/body-language-in-business