What’s the best way to project a completely professional image in job interviews? According to Debra Benton, one of America’s leading executive coaches, you need to pay close attention to all the small things that add up to create your image.
“Little things mean a lot when it comes to making important impressions,” Benton tells Medical Billing and Coding Blog. “A traditionally professional bearing shows respect to people in the company and the organization as a whole.”
Debra Benton’s advice for interviewing women . . .
- Dress in a dress, slacks or a jacketed skirt.
- Don’t wear jeans, even designer ones.
- Wear close-toed, low-heeled shoes or flats, not today’s sexy, popular platforms.
- Pull your hair off your face and out of your eyes, and don’t play with it during the interview.
- Show no cleavage or upper thighs, because your clothes shouldn’t be more interesting than you are.
- Don’t wear noisy bracelets or distractingly dangly earrings, despite today’s fashions.
- Cross your legs at the ankle rather than at your knee to avoid a nervous or a flirty-looking swinging of the leg.
- Laugh, but don’t girlishly giggle.
Debra Benton’s advice for interviewing men . . .
- Wear a collared sport jacket, suit jacket, or suit.
- Wear a collared shirt.
- Don’t wear jeans, even designer ones.
- Wear close-toed shoes, not sandals or sneakers.
- Your shoes and belt color should match.
- Have a reasonable hair cut.
- Be well groomed, which means checking out your fingernails, nose and ear hair too.
Debra Benton’s advice for both men and women . . .
- Arrive with an attitude that says, “I really want to be here!”
- Sport no tattoos – unless you’re part of the Maori tribe.
- Show no visible body piercing – your ear lobe is okay, but pass on nose, lip, and eyebrow.
- Stand up straight and carry yourself with control.
- Firmly shake hands.
- Slow down your walk, talk, and gestures, so that you will look more confident.
- Refrain from using sexual expressions like “we’re screwed” or, “turned on.”
- Keep a game face, with a relaxed expression of lips apart and corner of the mouth turned up.
- Never drink alcoholic beverages before interviews.
- Be good-humored – it makes the interview pleasant for you and your interviewer.
- Speak in complete sentences.
- Turn off your cell phone – don’t text, talk or have it buzzing in your pocket.
- Don’t smoke before the interview. You might think you can hide it with Altoids – but you can’t!
Medical Billing and Coding Blog interviewed Debra Benton, who has been called “America’s top executive coach.” Ms. Benton is author of the new book, CEO Material: How to Be a Leader in Any Organization (McGraw-Hill, 2009). Her client list reads like a “Who’s Who” of top executives from such companies as Campbell’s Soup, Dell Computer, McDonald’s and Time Warner. She has been featured in Business Week, Fortune, the New York Times and Time, and has appeared on Today, Good Morning America, and CNN. Her other bestselling books include Executive Charisma and How to Think Like a CEO. She is founder and CEO of Benton Management Resources in Livermore, Colorado.
Medical Billing and Coding Blog is sponsored by Ultimate Medical Academy (UMA), a healthcare career school. UMA has campus locations in Tampa and Clearwater, Florida, as well as a national online program. For more information about UMA please visit our website at www.ultimatemedical.edu
This article is very informative. Going into job interviews are intimidating enough, its nice to know that there are little things that a person can do to make themselves look and feel more successful.
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Posted by jumper's knee treatment | June 26, 2011, 10:49 pmMany good points here to remember while your at your interview. Many people don’t make it to the interview, if you have, don’t blow it. For those people who are not getting called for an interview, the problem may be with the information that is easily available once an employer google’s your name.. Is your facebook page something that you want your future employer to know about? It’s very easy and fast way of weeding out the people who a company does not want working for them. Google your own name and see how you can clean up your profile and make it appealing to a future employer..
Posted by Get A Job Today | July 24, 2011, 11:08 amNice post.
Good reminder for people interviewing for their job!
Posted by Dell Latop Parts | July 26, 2011, 1:01 pmGreat article – I’m forwarding this to my cousin who is simply terrified about the interview process. With our economy being in shambles, it is always a good idea to brush up on interview tips as you may only get a handful of chances to give an outstanding impression of yourself to potential employers.
Posted by Custom Sneakers | August 4, 2011, 6:15 amGreat reminder checklist, it’s funny how the most obvious and simple things are overlooked when you’re feeling nervous and overwhelmed in an interview
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