27 amazing factors that influence when chosen in a job interview

There are many components in a job interview.

First is obvious: Have you done your research on the company? Are you educated with the interviewer and show your interest in joining the workforce?

But there are also things less obvious: how do you treat the receptionist? Do you smile too much?

Below you can see a list of apparently trivial details that can affect your chances of getting employment, and only some are under your control.

1. The time and day of the interview

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Tuesday at 10:30 is the best time to schedule an interview, according to Glassdoor.And, although his recommendations are not backed by science, they follow common sense.People are more productive on Tuesdays and the interviewer will dedicate more time.The time also influences, because that means that the person who is in charge of asking you the questions has already had time to check your email, take a cup of coffee and prepare for your arrival.

Nor is it good to be the last candidate to go through the interview, according to a study by Psychology Today.It is very likely that the interviewer's attention does not focus solely on you.They could be thinking about the priorities they have after work, such as their plans for dinner, children's duties, etc.

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Also, avoid interviews before or after lunch because the time you spend with the interviewers could be short or you could stay waiting for a while.

2. The time I do on the interview day

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The researchers at the University of Toronto, Donald Redelmeier and Simon D. Baxter, discovered that the candidates of the Faculty of Medicine were worse if they were interviewed in a rainy day than the applicants who did it on a sunny day.

The experts said that: "In general, the interviewees on rainy days received a score 1% lower than those who did it on sunny days. This pattern was the same for both the senior aspiring and for the junior applicants. We also compared itthen with the admission to the position. The difference was 10%. That is to say, that having an interview on a sunny day can help you. "

The data were collected from almost 3,000 employment applicants over a period of 6 years.

3. The time you get to the interview

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You may think that if you arrive early it will be valued positively, but if you arrive excessively early, you could be putting obstacles to your options.

"Of course arriving a few minutes before is a good idea and the truth is that it is better than being late, but you don't arrive half an hour before your interview," says Lynn Taylor, an expert in the field and author of the book Tame Your TerribleOffice Tyrant.

"You can cause you to seem too anxious or feel like a kind of pressure on the interviewer. If you have extra time, review the key issues before entering or walk to release energy and nerves."

4. Make the interview on the same day as other candidates

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Yes, it may be difficult to know when they will interview the rest of the candidates, but if you know, your interview program on a different day.Studies suggest that the fact that you are considered qualified for a position depends on who is most presented for it.

"People are reluctant to judge too many applicants in a single day, which creates a prejudice against people who submit in days with especially strong applicants," according to a study by Psychological Science magazine, which focuses on candidates in the candidates ofBusiness schools.

However, this comparison only lasts one day, which means that you are only compared to people who interview the same day as you, not the previous or later day.

5. What you do while waiting in the lobby

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"Drinking coffee, eating or talking on the mobile is not the first impression that you must give to the Human Resources or the receptionist," says Taylor."You don't know exactly when the interviewer will appear, so be prepared."

Taylor suggests that you have a free hand to quickly strengthen the interviewer's hand without having to click all your personal objects in a chair or on the ground."You must seem organized and attentive."

"While you wait, talk to the receptionist (if available to speak), check the notes of your notebook, or check any material that the company makes available to the guests. Keep a pleasant smile and optimistic behavior."

6. How do you treat the receptionist or the rest of the staff

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Employers want to know how you interact with others, so a common tactic is to ask the receptionist some things.

27 sorprendentes factores que influyen a la hora de ser elegido en una entrevista de trabajo

The CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh, indicated in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that used to ask the driver if the candidates had been educated and friendly.

"Many of our candidates are from outside the city and we pick them up at the airport in a Zappos vehicle, we take a tour of the city and then spend the rest of the day doing interviews," says Hsieh.

"At the end of the day of interviews, the hiring head usually asked the driver of the vehicle how he was treated by the candidate. No matter how well the day of the interviews, since if he did not treat our driver well, we will not hire to that person".

7. Your handshake says a lot about you

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"As at any time in life, a weak and shy handshake conveys a lack of trust," Taylor concrete."And this gesture is a key part of your first impression."

Be sure to transmit your self -confidence with a firm handshake and a smile on your face, and do not be afraid to take the initiative to hold your hand."However, some people pass from the line. It is not necessary to be very launched."

8. Accept an invitation to drink coffee

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If the interviewer offers you something to drink in addition to water, especially coffee, do not accept it.

Your interviewer does not want to spend 10 minutes preparing a cup of coffee, specialists say John B. Molidor and Barbara Parus in his book Crazy Good Interviewing: How to act a little crazy can get your job.

This increases even more if they have an occupied day ahead, since they would use more time than they had initially planned to prepare the coffee.

9. Be a bit narcissistic

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A study at the Journal of Apply Social Psychology suggests that narcissists obtain a much higher score than other candidates in work interviews, and the reason is because they feel comfortable with self -promotion.

As narcissists usually think they are fantastic, the interviewer can think the same.

10. The color of your clothes

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According to 2,099 managers and human resources professionals who participated in a Careerbuilder survey, blue and black are the best colors to use in a job interview, while orange is the worst.

Conservative colors, such as black, blue, gray and brown, seem to be the safest bet when someone is known for the first time in a professional environment, while colors that induce greater creativity, such as orange, they can be too strong to do an interview.

Red is the most powerful color, but think if you want to eclipse your interviewer.This, of course, depends on the position for which it is the interview and culture of the company.

Unlike most men, women tend to wear more colorful clothes, which makes our judgments about color and interview candidates biased by gender.

11. Look at the phone or watch

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As common as it may seem, people realize when you look at your clock or your phone, and if you do it seems that you are not paying as much attention, Taylor explains.

"Even having the mobile in sight is a disrespect. You are not going to send text messages or receive calls, so that you and keep it. Make sure the interviewer has all your attention."

12. Ask before sitting

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Respect your interviewer's space waiting for a seat to offer you, or wait for you to feel first.

After sitting, Millor and Parus advise the following: "Sit straight with square shoulders and try to occupy as much space as possible in the chair. You are not like a violet shrumbered with your head inclined, without visual contact and the hunched shoulders."

13. Adapt the answers depending on the age of the interviewer

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People have different values depending on the generation to which they belong.Being aware of your interviewer's age, you can adapt your answers to what you think they are looking for, according to Molidor and Parus.

"With a little practice, you can understand the values that each generation values more. You can shape your answer using the language of their values," they write.

According to the authors, these tactics do not always work, since each interviewer can have a different set of values, so it is important to arrive prepared for the position, regardless of the interviewer.

14. Maintain visual contact

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Keep the attention of all those present in a job interview by maintaining visual contact with different people at specific times during your answers, say Molidor and Parus.

"In a job interview, your answer begins by maintaining visual contact with the person who asked you the question. Then keep random and soft visual contact with each of the other interviewers. At the end of your answer, he looked back to the person youHe asked the question. He did not cut the interviewers either maintaining aggressive visual contact. Establishing soft and random visual contact is the key. "

15. Your posture

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"When you are in the interview, your default option must be straight and maintain a pleasant smile on your face," says Taylor.

"Avoid falling into the chair and remember to bow forward, showing interest in the interviewer. Even if you feel that the interview is going wrong, keep your poise, posture and inflection. That can sometimes help you turn things around."

16. What you do with your hands

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Millor and Parus recommend:

1. Show the palms of the hands indicates sincerity.

2. Keeping palms down is a sign of domain.Do not shake hands with the palms down.

3. Pressing the tips of the fingers of the hands is a sample of confidence.

4. Hide your hands, as if you put them in your pockets, it is a sign that you have something to hide.

5. Tipped with your fingers is a sign of impatience.

6. Crossing your arms is a very defensive position, which indicates disappointment or disagreement.

7. Use gestures too much with your hands to the point of distracted.

However, body language science can be quite subjective.The interviewer may not notice these small signs, even subconsciously, especially if they focus on the words you are saying instead of your gestures.

17. The questions you ask

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You may be able to answer all the questions that are asked successfully, but you also have to leave a good feeling by making intelligent and reflective questions at the end.

Below are two questions from Vicky Oliver's book, called 301 intelligent answers to difficult questions in an interview, which can help you:

- What are some of the problems facing your company at this time?And what is your apartment doing to solve them?

- What kind of employee tends to succeed?What qualities are the most important to do well and advance in the company?

18. Where have you lived and grown up

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If you spent your childhood in Valladolid and your interviewer also did, you can have a greater opportunity to get the job.

This is something totally unfair (and is out of your control), but your interviewer may not even be aware that you have preferences towards the Valladolid.It is called the hypothesis of attraction for similarity: people simply opt for those who are similar to them in a specific field.

There are some potential explanations for this phenomenon.One is that people with a decent level of self -esteem are satisfied with their personality, so when they see their qualities reflected in someone else, they also like that person.

Another idea is that humans have evolved to like other people and act unconsciously to do so.At a time in the history of mankind, the safer bet was to trust only the people of his small social group.

19. How competent you seem

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It seems too competent, in some cases, it can harm success in an interview, because your interviewer could worry about you.And that is especially true in organizations with highly competitive cultures.

However, some interviewers have gender prejudices.In a study on science -related job applicants, interviewers were more likely to hire a male candidate to perform a mathematical task, even if it was shown that the woman's candidate had equal performance.

Of course, you must do your best in any job interview.If the company does not hire you because it feels threatened or is partial, you may not want to work there.

20. The tone of your voice

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In the near future, some companies could begin to analyze the voices of the candidates to determine if they would fit well, according to a report by the NPR.

Essentially, an algorithm would determine if your voice is attractive, calm or reliable, which could be especially important in industries such as hospitality and retail trade.

Humans would have, yes, the last word in hiring.

21. Your smile

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It is common sense to know that a smile makes you seem more friendly and accessible.

But research suggests that, for certain professions, smiling too much can undermine your success in a job interview.

In a study, published in the Journal of Social Psychology, the researchers asked university students to make a role -playing role interviews.They discovered that those who played candidates for the journalist position were less likely to achieve hypothetical work when they smiled, especially during half of the interviews.

22. Your accent

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Studies published in the Journal of Applied Psychology suggest that some employers can discriminate against candidates for executive positions when they have foreign accent.Specifically, they can believe they have less political ability.

This is another example of completely unfair discrimination, and researchers who support the study say that companies should add training for awareness about the accent to existing training programs for hiring managers.

23. Your weight

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Recent experiments suggest that we are less willing to hire candidates when they are overweight.

In the study, published in the Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process, Men and Women magazine, they described as different from digital curricula that included photographs of non -obese people and digitally altered photographs of those same people.It turns out that obese candidates were qualified as less competent than candidates without excess weight.

24. Your tattoos and piercings

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A Salary.com survey shows that 76% of people say that tattoos and piercings harm a candidate's options to be hired.

However, his body art could highlight more in certain fields.For example, the survey showed that only 8% of officials have tattoos, compared to 20% of those of the hospitality, tourism and leisure industries.

25. Your body language

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Experts say that when people like each other, they reflect it in posture and body movements.In a way, it seems that the two people are "dancing."

If you do not reflect your interviewer's body language, it may seem that you are not interested in what they say or even lying.

Obviously, it is not necessary to reach the extremes, such as scratching his nose every time the interviewer does.But if they are tilted forward in their chair or sitting with your legs, you can subtly imitate these behaviors.

26. Sudr

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That sweats your hand before narrowing it with the interviewer is the greatest fear of many candidates for a job.

And for a good reason: sweat suggests that you are nervous and can undermine the image of trust you try to project.

A human resources manager told US News that he recommends asking for a glass of cold water while waiting for you to call you for your interview.That way, you will lower the temperature of your body and stop sweating a little.

On the other hand, you can accept that sweat and nervousness are normal in a stressful situation and expect your interviewer to feel in the same way.

27. GRANGE NOTES

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We all know how important the process is to follow after a job interview and send a thank you note.However, not everyone realizes that when they do it can be as important as the interview.

If you expect too much, the person responsible for hiring can forget you or assume that you are not interested in work.You can also make you look like a lazy.

"The best deadline for sending an email of thanks is within 24 hours after the interview," says Whitney Purcell, former Deputy Director of Professional Development of the University of Susquehanna, to Business Insider."It must be sent during the work schedule, since it is out of place to send that morning mail."