Body Language & Interviews

Good morning medical residency and medical fellowship applicants!

Body language and communication styles vary from country to country and from situation to situation.  For example, pointing at the listener while you speak is considered acceptable in a few settings (like mother to a naughty child), whereas in an interview and many other social or business settings, it's a definite "no-no" and considered quite offensive.   Earlier this week I came across a good article in Arab News, which I follow in my personal Twitter account.  The author, Shaden Abdulrahman, gave some very useful advice.  I'd like to add that these tips would be great to apply in many other non-interview settings, such as when taking a patient's history, morning rounds or even in nonprofessional social settings. I have learned a thing or two myself, and plan to stop my excessive nodding when other people are talking! 
http://careers.arabnews.com/en/page/?aid=311 - (that's the link, but here is the text):

1.  Bad Posture

Leaning back is lazy or arrogant, leaning forward is aggressive and slouching is just lazy. Instead, sit tall and straighten your back as much as possible. 

2. Crossed Arms

According to psychology crossing arms often signals defensiveness and resistance. Open your arms at your sides to appear approachable and receiving. This will put your interviewer at ease and make them feel comfortable communicating with you. 

3. Hands Behind Back

Clasping hands behind the back may signal resistance and could mean to the other person that you’re hiding something. It’s important that you appear open and approachable so don’t try to control your body gestures by keeping your hands still behind your back. 

4. Pointing

Pointing and excessive hands movement results in invading the other person’s space aggressively. You certainly don’t want that to happen in an interview.

5. Breaking Eye Contact

Don't stare, but try to hold your interviewers gaze for one extra second before breaking away. Do this especially at the beginning when you introduce yourself and shake hands with the interviewer.

 6. Excessive Nodding

Many people nod a lot during interviews out of anxiety and their desire to appear agreeable and friendly. Nod once or twice with a smile of agreement but don’t over do it or you will appear nervous, silly or trying too hard.

 7. Fidgeting

Stop fidgeting. It distracts your interviewer and you definitely want them to focus on what you have to say not on your moving hands or the sound of coins jingling in your pocket.

 8. Unwanted facial expressions

It is crucial for your facial expressions to match your tone. If you want to express your enthusiasm for working at the company but your facial expressions convey that the mere idea of that is torturing you, forget about being hired.

 9. Shifty Eyes

Distracted or upward eye movements can suggest someone is lying or not sure of themselves. It's important to look someone directly in the eye to convey confidence and certainty.

 10. Staring

While it's important to be confident and look the interviewer in the eye, you have to break away. Locking eyes with someone for an extended period of time can be interpreted as aggressive, not to mention creepy.