Having interviewed thousands of candidates over the years, I used to recon that I could tell someone’s personality from their handshake.
To me it was very important, as I was interviewing people for sales roles and I looked for signs of confidence and control, so a damp weak handshake just put me of straight away.
What I wanted to see was a candidate introduce themselves and take my hand with a firm dry handshake, nothing would be worse than seeing the candidate dry his or her hand on their jacket before they took mine. The same goes for recruitment consultants.
So when I saw Andy’s post “The Top Ten Handshake types and what they reveal about you” I realised I knew something after all!
To be honest it was those first few seconds when I decided whether they were good or bad, the rest of the interview was to confirm my initial gut feeling.
How consultants select candidates for sales roles these days, without meeting them I will never know.
The handshake tip is right on. For several years I taught and coached people in job hunting. The first training exercise was how to look a person in the eye, introduce themselfs and shake the persons hand. Most couldn’t believe we started at such a basic level but they learned they could have the best experience and a well written resume but skip the basics and you normally don’t win in the job hunting game.
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Thank you for sharing that post. With the shift to online networking, the ways of making a first impression are changing as well. More and more companies and recruiters are looking at candidates’ profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other such sites to see if they would be good for the team. I wouldn’t be surprised if soon I start seeing articles like Your Face, What It Says About You.
I agree with an article from Focus Management, a food recruitment consultancy, that “Networking has always played a role in the job game. There’s truth to the old saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. With online networks such as Myspace and Facebook and intermediaries like oDesk and Elance, building a talent network has never been easier.†But at the same time I have to ask myself how reliable the first impressions received are. Granted, physical impressions aren’t necessarily 100% guaranteed, but will cyber impressions be any better or worse?
Wow if this is the case, I’d better brush up on my handshakes. Some of the new job boards allow candidates to make video resumes. So you think that this is a good representation of a person or do you think a handshake is better.