Successful Job Interviews: Attitude, First Impressions and Appearance are Everything

by Kirk W. Nobbe

The first 30 seconds count most of all in job employment interviews. Most job seekers think that their job of "selling themselves" to the employment interviewer occurs when they walk in the door. Most of your work will have been done in preparation previous to the actual interview. The first 30 seconds of any interview are the core elements of getting that job - of adding, confirming and supporting your preparation for the job interview and ultimately to be successful in "getting that job".

People often form major opinions about others within the 30 seconds of meeting them. For this reason the first 30 seconds of an employment interview or indeed any personal introduction will make or break you. To make it worse, once an initial impression is made, it is almost impossible to shake off.

It is a well known fact, in the human resources field and industry that professional interviewers will state that in most cases of job employment interviews that in the time period that it takes to applicant to walk across the room to introduce themselves and say "Hello" that the decision of "yes" or "no" to hire or "not hire" the applicant is almost there and is almost made. The rest is just corroboration, documentation and support and basically filler.

Interview and interpersonal communications experts have repeatedly and thoroughly studied hat applicants can do to make a most favorable first impassion and project professionalism and competence during interviews. The attitude, image and appearance that a job or employment applicant projects during interviews are as influential as or even more influential than their very skills that they have acquired in their education or on the job training careers. Projecting strength in these areas gives job applicants a decided edge over their competition.

In terms of actual percentages it has been researched that attitude has a 40 percent impact on interviews and their outcomes, image and appearance 25 percent, communication (both verbal and non-verbal) 25 percent. Amazingly all in all, job qualifications themselves only account for 10 percent of the approximate impact of the real power and effect on interviews and interviewers.

It is very important to recognize that applicants are screened on paper first. One very successful individual learnt this lesson early in life. As a lad he had applied for a job at a them major department store. The standard procedure was to fill out the standard application at the human resources department. The lad did this simply, being both well dressed and groomed and as well polite to the secretary and receptionist.

This to him was a standard and basic approach to both life and job seeking. It was only after he had received the job and was on his way to the department of his employment did he find out that the note to the department head included a short notation on the application from the receptionist of "looks good and ok". The receptionist turned out to be the major initial screening mechanism of the employment process.