THE JOB INTERVIEWon your shoulders. An erect carriage sends a subtext of control,
a take-charge element.
Eye contact: This has been discussed in previous chapters,
but it bears repeating. Look your interviewer in the eye at the
very beginning, and maintain eye contact throughout the interview.
This does not mean a steady, unbroken, and unnerving stare.
Break eye contact frequently, but do come back to it. This is
the way to send out an honest and forthright subtext.
As for the handshake, it should be full and firm. By full, I
mean giving the entire hand in a shake, not just the fingers.
There is nothing as off-putting as a limp shake. Its subtext is "I
don't want to become involved with you." This is no message for
a job interview!
A man's handshake should be firm without being bone crushing
and macho. The point of a handshake is contact, not a battle of
wills. The macho handshake sends a subtext of an aggressive
desire to compete, and is absolutely out of place in a job interview!
Women sometimes have difficulty with the handshake—under-
standable since the shake involves body contact, and so much
subtext can be transmitted by it. A man holding a woman's hand
for too long sends a subtext of intimacy, usually a disturbing
one. Occasionally, the handshake is not offered to a woman appli-
cant, a sign that the interviewer is confused about the subtext of
the shake. Since having your hand extended with no response
from the other person gives you a feeling of humiliation, however
slight, let the interviewer initiate the handshake.
A woman's handshake should be full, firm, and brief. Inevitably,
in a job interview, you will run up against an interviewer who
violates all the rules of shaking hands, perhaps giving only the
fingers in a limp fashion or giving too hearty and heavy a shake.