How to Sit During an Interview?

Having a great body posture while sitting in an interview can leave a great impression on the interviewer. Just sitting correctly can emit a great aura of confidence from you. This will make you look like a perfect candidate for the respective job. We will present you a guide where you can learn how to sit during an interview here.

While competition is increasing with the pace of a tornado, getting a job seems a great deal every time. People going through an interview for a job can’t help but get nervous, especially the freshers. The nervousness unconsciously makes them make as simple a mistake as sitting in the wrong way, which leaves a terrible impression on the interviewer. But don’t worry, this article will help you get 50% sure of getting an interview and that too by just having great body language.

Importance of Sitting Correctly in an Interview

“The first impression is the last impression” I’m sure you all must have heard about it. When it comes to interviewing, this is very much true and important. The way you present yourself to the interviewer or the way you sit, your body posture, everything has to perfect to leave a good first impression. The way you sit in an interview shows the person sitting in the front that how much you are interested in the particular job. This could be a very crucial step in an interview.

Benefits of Sitting Posture in an Interview

The moment you correct your posture while sitting, your body language changes. You look more confident and appear motivated. Further, an interviewer wants a candidate to look:

• Alert
• Enthusiastic
• Happy
• Passionate

All of these traits can be improved by just the right posture. They say that ‘personality speaks for you before you speak for yourself. So, let us get into how you can improve the way you sit in an interview and appear more confident than ever. Bye-bye nervousness, hello confidence.

Points to Improve Your Posture – How to Sit During an Interview?

• Wait for an invite to sit: When you enter the interview room, make sure to wait for a little after you address them to invite you to sit. Don’t just grab the chair and sit. This will bring a wrong impact on the interviewer. Make sure you walk with a straight posture and not a slouched one. Keep your head up high. And walk with confidence.
  
  
• Maintain the space: Interviewers generally have a table between you and them, but sometimes, they prefer a ‘without-a-table’ interview and judge you accordingly. If this is the case, make sure you maintain at least 4 feet distance from the interviewer. This will make them as well as you comfortable and give you a great start to your dream interview. If they have a table in between then make sure, you pull your chair without a sound, sit comfortably and if the chair is a bit far away, pull your chair a bit closer to the table (as you do in the restaurant). After that make sure you never put your hands on the table. Keep it down on your thighs, even if they can’t see your hands under the table, do it. This will help you look respectful towards them.
  
  
• Take full coverage of the chair: When you sit on the chair, make sure that you sit on the whole chair, and not just hanging around the front part of the chair. Press your back to the chair and sit straight. While sitting, don’t forget to have a smile on your face. A little professional smile can add a lot to the image you want to show in front of them. If the chair you sit on has a handle on both sides, do not use them. Keep your hands on your thighs and look straight.
  
  
• Don’t cross your legs: Generally, people tend to sit and cross their legs. Many say that people who do this look professional and looks confident. This is not true. When you cross your legs, you somehow give an aura of overconfidence. Interviewers always want someone who is a leaner and not one who already know everything. Crossing your legs can give them a wrong idea of your over-knowledge. To avoid this, keep both legs on the ground and sit straight without slouching your shoulders.
  
  
• Say no to nervous hand gestures: It is ok to be nervous, it’s natural especially when it is your first interview. But please do not take that nervousness of yours inside the interview room. Many tend to have a habit of hand fidgeting and nail-biting when they are nervous, but this may look very wrong and unprofessional to the people in front of you. This will make them ask you more and more questions which will make you even more nervous and that will affect your speech and even pronunciation of few words. You don’t want that right…? Keep your hands on your thighs. When the interviewer asks you for your resume, make sure you deliver them with both of your hands. This gesture will add up to your personality. Avoid crossing your hands or touching your face or hair again and again. This will make you appear less confident, even if you are confident.
  
  
• Eye-contact and head/hand gestures: Imagine the interviewer asking you a question, you know the answer, you are confident that you will ace this question, but when you answer it, you do not maintain eye contact and boom, you lose all the interest of the interviewer towards you. You don’t want that. So, make sure that while sitting straight, you keep your head high and speak while you maintain eye contact. If there are more than a single interviewer, make sure you have eye contact with all of them while answering. Keep tilting your head a little left or right, or even nod your head while saying yes. This will make you look more human than a robot. These gestures will help you appear more natural than others. While the interviewer speaks, keep giving these slight head nods or tilts, so that the person in front knows that you are interested in whatever he or she is speaking. While doing so, have slight hand movements as well. The one we do when we speak comfortably, do that. This will make you look relaxed, confident, comfortable. The top 3 important things a person should have in them while giving an interview.

Tips for Appearing Confident in an Interview

People are generally nervous before any interview. Some even get close to anxiety. But don’t worry. It’s not just you but everyone going through the same things before any interview. So here are some tips to relax before your D-day:

1. Practice deep breathing again and again, until you feel a little relaxed.
2. Don’t byheart the answers beforehand. Keep it natural and on point.
3. Smile throughout the interview (not in a creepy way though). This will help you looked relaxed naturally.
4. Pay attention to the question asked. If you cannot hear the person properly the first time, do not panic, just politely ask them to repeat the question.
5. If you still feel social anxiety, do not worry. This century provides any solution beforehand. Take a personality development course and practice the interview with a coach. 

Having a great sitting etiquette can increase your shot at getting the job by 50%. Rest depends on your CV and the way you speak. Don’t let the word ‘Interview’ make you nervous. It’s a part of life. Don’t overthink stuff, and trust me, you will be fine. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What if you unconsciously slouch? You have to stay alert while giving an interview. You cannot afford to make even the slightest mistake. Keep making your back straight if you have a habit of slouching.
2. What if you have social anxiety? How to get rid of that? Practice makes a man perfect. Try to make small conversations with people every day. This will help you in great ways in an interview.
3. Does leaning forward gives a bad impression? NO. This is a great way to show that you are listening to the interview. Do not lean forward uncomfortably. A slight lean is enough.
4. Do we need to smile all the time? Not necessarily. It depends on the question and how serious it is. Do not try to ‘too impress’ the interviewer. Natural actions and emotions will to much better.
5. Is sitting posture important for an online interview also? Yes. There Is no way you are giving them the wrong impression of not being serious about the job, even if it is an online interview. Follow the above steps.
6. What if we don’t know the answer to a question? How do we handle that situation? Don’t let your confidence go down. Politely say that you cannot recall the right answer right now. But before that try to calm yourself and think of something to say that related to the question.