First impression

- I want to say some things about first impressions. And this is incredibly important. The interview will almost certainly be decided in the first minute. So first impressions really do count. And in fact there was some amazing research done on interviews where they asked the interviewer after the first minute to write a few notes down about the candidate. And then they did the interview and half an hour later, at the end of the interview, they asked the interviewer to write down what they thought of the candidate. And guess what? They hadn't changed their mind. So they either thought, "I like this person," and then they would look for good things during the interview. "Yes indeed, I think they're good." Or they took a dislike to them in the first minute and then they would look for problems. And at the end, "Yes, I knew they were no good." And amazingly, they had already decided in the first minute. I mean, that's just a crazy thing to do, isn't it? For a start, why bother to do an interview for half an hour? Why not just think, "I either like them or I don't." But also your first impressions could well be wrong if you're interviewing people. So you really don't want to just try to confirm them. So I teach people, when I'm teaching people to do interviews, that if you like the person try to look for faults and if you don't like the person try to look for good things because maybe your first impression is wrong. So what it means is if you're being interviewed you've really got to make sure that first minute is good. So I've got some thoughts about that. First of all, if it's an internal interview then the interview starts now. So if you're applying for an internal job they're interviewing you all the time. So be on the best behavior all the time at work. You know, you can't just be lazy and rude and then on the day of the interview suddenly be brilliant. So they're looking at you all the time. So every day make sure that you're perfect for the job. Remember, I've got a thing called PEAR. I've talked about PEAR in other courses I've done. But they're judging you on are you positive? That's what the P is. Are you positive? Are you easy to work with rather than high maintenance and difficult and negative and argumentative? Do you appear in control, which means having a tidy desk and turning up on time to meetings and things? And are you reliable? Do you always keep your promises? So for internal jobs it's all about how you appear right now. The next thing I just want to say is body language is huge. We judge people in the first 10 seconds and we do it on body language. So when you walk into the interview, the first thing is to smile and walk in in a confident way. Now, how can you do that if you're dreading the interview and you're terrified? And the answer is tell yourself it's going to be great. Before you go in just say to yourself, "This is going to be brilliant. "I'm going to love the person. "They're bound to offer me the job." And then it's easier to go in with a genuine smile. Walk in in a confident way. Make eye contact with the person. Give 'em a good, firm handshake. So don't go, "Oh, pleased to meet you," 'cause they'll think that you're shifty or there's something wrong with you. Good, firm handshake. What's the worst handshake of all? It's the dead fish handshake. Why do people do the dead fish handshake? Do they know they're doing it? Do they think, "Oh, I'm going to give him the dead fish. "That will mess with his mind." Because surely their hand isn't really that feeble. I mean, how can they pick things up if their hand's that weak? I just don't understand the dead fish handshake. A nice, firm handshake. But almost as bad is the bone crusher, okay? There's no macho competition between them and you. You don't have to crush their hand. If you're a big, strong person or perhaps if you're being interviewed by, if you're a man, you're being interviewed by a lady who is perhaps much smaller than you, don't crush their hand. So just a nice, firm handshake. Worst handshake of all, by the way, is no handshake 'cause if you don't do one at all then you're saying that you don't like the look of them and you don't want to commit. So you must do a handshake. It's got to be a good, firm handshake. And test yours on a friend. If you're not quite sure or even if you think yours is good, just shake hands with a friend and say, "What did you think of my handshake?" And if in doubt, go for firmer rather than softer. Next I just want to say clothes. What should you wear to an interview? Well, pretty much what I'm wearing. Smart and boring. Ties are difficult. Some people think you should wear a tie. Some people don't. I think I would try to work out the culture of the place I was going to. If it's a pretty funky IT-type place you wouldn't wear a tie. But estate agents quite often wear ties in the UK. The city of London, they wear ties. So for some places you should wear a tie. I think if in doubt actually for an interview I would wear a tie because it's probably the most formal situation you're ever going to get. But the main thing with your clothes is smart and boring. Don't go for anything wacky or memorable. Don't go for anything really sexy. So you know, don't have a few extra buttons undone. For women, smart and boring. Some people say you should put your hair up. It's more professional. I don't know, maybe that's true. Some people say that women shouldn't have toes visible in their shoes. They shouldn't have open-toed shoes. Now, I don't know about that. But you know, if in doubt I guess just wear really smart power shoes. Men obviously should wear suits. But don't look like a footballer. You know, don't have a sort of like a white suit or a white shirt and a white tie or something. Just don't look too wedding-y. Just a sensible, boring tie. I'm quite obsessed about shoes actually. I think you can judge a person by their shoes. So if their shoes are for example not clean, that's bad. The thing about shoes is that some people don't notice their own shoes. They don't think about their own shoes. So it gives you a little window into the person's real personality. I'm a bit suspicious about men with buckles on their shoes or even square-ended, very trendy shoes. I just want boring, serious, trustworthy shoes. Piercings are out. Some people may like piercings or those earrings that have holes, big circles in. Some people may like those but the trouble is you're into a high-risk game there. So don't have anything like that that the interviewer may not like. And obviously have a reasonably smart haircut just before the interview. Don't go in with sort of, you know, hair that's a mess. Remember, they're looking for ways to filter you out. So don't make it easy for them. Don't have anything unusual. Don't have a crazy tie or weird shoes or dirty fingernails or anything like that. Just play safe, simple, trustworthy, and boring. That's what we want.