The following post originally appeared on the Jobipedia blog and is being shared with permission from the site.
If you only had seconds to convince a hiring manager to hire you, what would you say? What would you do? Depending upon what study you read you’ll get differing time frames of how quickly a hiring manager makes a decision to hire you or not, but it seems the general consensus is under 15 seconds. We wanted to know if that same highly publicized time table was accurate for our experts.
Stephanie from AT&T said, “An interviewer can’t know that you’re the right candidate in 15 seconds, however he or she could feel like they know you’re *not* the right candidate in that amount of time. Meaning, it’s easy to blow it early on by dressing inappropriately, being late, not being prepared with copies of your resume, failing to exude energy and interest, and overall portraying mannerisms that are not a match for the job. Assuming you’ve mastered all of those points, it should take the entire interview length (plus several more interviews in some cases) to evaluate your qualifications against other good candidates.”
(Read the full response and more on Jobipedia.org)
Here are some general rules that will help you master the first impression and set you up for a successful interview:
- Smile. When you meet the individual who is going to be hiring you smile. Smiling communicates that you are warm and personable.
- Firm Handshake. It’s cliché, but a firm handshake lets the hiring manager know you are confident.
- Eye Contact. Keeping good eye contact is also a great indicator that you are sure of yourself.
- Dress professionally. Be sure and dress the part. It’s better to show up over dressed than under dressed.
- Shower. Make sure you’ve showered recently, there’s nothing worse than smelling bad when you’re initially meeting someone.
- Speak Clearly. Articulate your greeting and don’t address the interviewer with slang. Really, avoid using any slang throughout your entire interview unless it’s somehow related to the position you’re interviewing for.
Your first impression is vital because you can ruin your chances of getting hired in the first few seconds, but you’re not going to win the job in that limited timeframe. As always, prepare thoroughly and the initial greeting will be a footnote of the interview.
Jobipedia.org is a free career advice website that was developed specifically for entry-level job seekers. The website offers unparalleled access to hiring and recruiting managers from Fortune 500 companies. Our contributing hiring experts personally write every answer to user-submitted questions. Their advice is invaluable because they interact with prospective hires on a daily basis, review resumes, conduct interviews and are involved in the process of deciding which candidates to hire.
What advice would you share for making a good first impression?