What Do You Do With Your Hands in an Interview?

You always try to put your best foot forward in a job interview, but have you thought about your hands? Distracting mannerisms gives your interviewer the impression that you are not prepared for the interview or, worse, that you are being consciously dishonest. Where to put your hands and how to keep them from becoming a distraction during your interview is something you need to think about before your next interview.

Every actor with stage experience knows that hand gestures convey a wealth of information to the audience. Your job interview is a kind of live performance, one in which you play the role of the ideal candidate, and the body language you bring to the performance says more about you than you might think. What you do with your hands when you are meeting who could be your new boss is key to the nonverbal signals you are sending.

As a rule, keep your hand placement and gestures as natural as possible. Holding your hands perfectly still, never moving them an inch in any direction or clasping the arms of your chair, cannot help but convey extreme discomfort with the job interview. Folding your arms across your chest is usually taken as a signal of defiance and defensiveness. This is a special problem if your interviewer wants to ask you unconventional interview questions as a way of gauging your ability to think on your feet.

Fidgeting, fumbling with a pencil or tapping against surfaces shows a bad case of nerves. While it is understandable that you are feeling nervous about a promising job interview, overdoing it with erratic gestures makes you look like an unstable and high-strung person who can crack under pressure. At the opposite extreme, making broad, lazy gestures while you talk suggests that you are not taking the interview seriously. This impression can also be given by avoiding gestures altogether or dangling your hands over the arm of your chair. It goes without saying that waving your hands around maniacally creates its own problems in a job interview.

So, what should you do with those hands? Again, it is all about acting natural and appearing at ease. Rest your hands against the table for a bit, if that is comfortable, and then shift to politely folded hands in your lap. Have papers or other materials available to flip through when it is relevant to the interview, but avoid doing this at other times. Do not be afraid to emphasize a point with a wave of your hand, but keep the gesture smooth and controlled.

Of all the things you worry about before a job interview, what your hands are saying seems like a minor detail. It is important, though, and distracting mannerisms will definitely be noticed. Keep calm and use appropriate body language to convey your basic fitness for the job.

(Photo courtesy of iosphere / freedigitalphotos.net)