Job Interviews: Part 7—Sitting Down

Today's installment of The Small Essentials of Interviewing may surprise you. But we think it's just another example of making a gesture that might feel subtle but actually speaks volumes. 

After discussing cell phones, perfume, accessories, personal space, hands, and shoes, we're really going to talk about it. Chairs! Or, more precisely...

Part seven: Sitting down.

As in, sitting down in the chair in which you will spend the interview. We do not recommend that you dash into a room and make a beeline for the chair. In fact, if you keep just one word in your head in regards to sitting, it should be this: Wait.

Wait to sit down after you have entered the office, even if your intended chair is obvious. Wait until your interviewer invites you to sit. If they do not offer that invitation, certainly feel free to sit in that obvious chair—but wait until the interviewer is being seated, too.

In a nutshell: patience! It will serve you well in many things, not just when to take your seat. Next time, we'll bring our series to a close by focusing on something that's usually the first big question mark in your mind: your resume. See you then!