Fast forward to the interview, you’ve made eye contact, smiled in the right places and answered all of the questions confidently and with vigor.
Then from nowhere comes the sucker Punch.

So MR Bloggs what would you say were your weaknesses?

Boom there is it. you thought you had dodged it but no such luck.

your heart race quickens, your palms are sweaty and your brain has turned to mush.

quick what should I say?

Well here are the top 10 things that you should not say!

1. I don’t have any

2. I’m a perfectionists

3. I’m slightly ocd

4. My friends say I can be annoying

5. I can be quite loud

6. I figit

7. I snore

8. I grind my teeth

9. I bite my nails

and my personal favorite

10. I sweat alot

and our survey says FAILED!

Come on people where do these come from?

You are a clever, sharp and a worldly wise member of the human race and the only reply you can come up with is “I sweat alot” REALLY?

So the next time your dream job is on the line. add this to your to do list ” Top things I should say when a prospective employer asks what my weak points are!”

The first step in listing your jobs and positions with us may seem a tad obvious, but is possibly the most important. We currently have completely free access for recruiters (this is subject to change, sign up now), where you can sign up for free, with no membership fees.

2:  Free Job Listings

The chances are, if you are reading this, that you are a recruiter or work within the recruitment and HR sector, so you will be familiar with posting jobs. Submitting your jobs and posts with us is not only fast and easy, it is also completely free. 

3: Putting a Job Listing Together

With our simple job listing formula, you can post your open position in minutes, and have over 5,000 (July 2011 figures) candidates searching immediately. All you need to do is to write an accurate and detailed advert, remember, the more detailed your job listing is, the more chances of it being found by the right job hunters.

4: The Jobs Vitae CV Sift

We use an excellent candidate sifting process here at JV, only candidates that answer your pre-selected questions will make it onto your shortlist, so you know that you are only receiving relevant, targeted job seekers.

5: Relevant Candidate Search

As our unique CV search system has been written with recruiters in mind, you can search using specific keywords without getting results that have no relevance. And our free CV search also gives you the opportunity to find candidates suited to your job roles, a much faster method for the more pro-active recruitment agents.

6: Pricing Structure

Although posting your jobs is free, we still have to cover the costs of marketing to thousands of candidates across the UK. With you in mind, we have created an easy to understand pricing structure, which only comes into play when you find the ideal candidates CV or you have received enquiries to your job posting (remembering that you can set up questions to ensure you only get the right candidates replying). To find out more about our prices structures, click here.

Visual communication accounts for around 90% of face to face conversations, and especially relevant on first impressions (in this case, job interviews). Almost 55% of this comes from your body language and around 35% is the way you speak, or the intonation of your voice. Jobs Vitae have come up with some excellent interview techniques to make sure you are communicating the right message with your body.

Posture

Sit upright but in a relaxed fashion, leaning slightly forward at about a 10 to 15 degree angle towards the interviewer. This helps to send a message that you are interested and are an involved interviewee. Slouching or leaning to the side gives an illusion of nervousness. A sloppy sitting position and/or leaning back appears far too casual and disinterested, sitting on the edge of your seat projects uncertainty or tenseness.

Your Hands

Rest your hands in front of you, or on the table (if there is one), whilst remembering not to cross your body with them. Playing with your buttons, hair or neck sends a message of anxiety and uncertainty. And touching your nose or ears, indicates lying, if your ear itches, leave it! Show your palms, this shows honesty, and whatever you do, do not leave your hands in your pockets, as this indicates secrecy.

Do Not Cover Your Body

Folding your arms in front of you suggests you are being defensive. Shutting the interviewer out will not get you the second interview! It can also indicates that you do not agree with or buy into what your interviewer is talking about. If you usually talk with your arms, try not too, arms flapping about is deemed immature, not something you want to show on an interview.

Both Feet on the Floor

This is very often ignored in job interviews, but is one of the most important parts, keep both feet on the floor, if you do need to cross your legs, do it at the ankles. Resting an ankle on your knee indicates arrogance, crossing your legs is defensive. Remember that most people will look at your shoes, make sure they are clean and on the floor.

Direct Eye Contact

The easiest way to show interest and your attention, is direct eye contact, practice in a mirror if you are not used to it, some people are not. Looking down a lot indicates a lack of self confidence, and eyes constantly flitting around shows dishonesty. So if you do look away, do it briefly, move your head from time to time, so that you do not seem to be staring to intently, but with interest, cock your head to the side, people love to be listened too, and so will your interviewer!

Facial Expression

Ahh, the good old facial expressions, these speak louder than words! Twisting your lips to the side or pouting, shows disinterest or disagreement. Nervous people bite their lips, relax your mouth. And a frown just looks confused or over your head, get in front of your mirror if you do these things naturally, and practice, practice, practice.

Your Head

Your heads position is very important, keeping it straight shows assurance and confidence, tipping it to the side from time to time indicates your interest in what your interviewer is telling you. And the greatest thing you can do with your head, is to nod, not too much, but just a little here and there, agreement and suggestive nods go an awful long way in job interviews.

Your Heart

This is a very strong interview technique, taken originally from NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), tapping your heart at the right times shows sincerity and that you are the right person for the job, pat your chest (heart) when you mention the job role, this sends a subconscious message to the interviewer that you are the right person for the job.

Practice makes perfect, so keep trying these methods out in a mirror, or you could try them out with a friend or family member.

To find your ideal job, visit our Job Search page now

Recruiter? List your jobs with Jobs Vitae today, for free!

what a great helpful and easy to use service thank-you so much would defo recommend your site to my friends

Chris Adams

just like to say that i have received a brilliant service from the team.

I found that it was very easy to use and that the hints and tips were really helpful.

since using this  and producing my cv I have had people view my cv and have had 2 interviews from else where.

Well worth taking the time to follow the hints and tips and producing a great cv and covering letter

good luck all whom produce cv’s with Jobsvitae.

Venetia King

I will put my cards on the table before I commence writing. I own a Job board so I am negatively biased towards the merits of recruiting via Linked in. but I am going to try and write this article with a balanced perspective.

Over the last 15 or so years of employment I have engaged in many types of job hunting methods.

• Jobs Boards
• Word of Mouth
• CV mail shot
• Referrals
• Direct application
• Search engines

Writing that list made me feel old as I utilised some of these strategies prior to the web that we know and love today.

Anyway each and everyone of the methods above are an active means of seeking employment on the candidates part.

Since the advent of Linkedin recruiters are actively seeking out candidates, whilst this is just another form of head hunting that has been around for years. Do the salary that these packages dictate have the margin built in to justify the recruiters chargeable time scouring Linkedin to source candidates that may not be available for work or may not even be interested plus the additional costs that Linkedin charge

You also need to bring in to question dare I say it SPAM. I have been contacted by multiples recruiters on linked in asking me if I am available for work, I personally see this as spam. WHY? due to the fact that being a member of Linkedin is a passive experience on my part.

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this Article so please post below.

Authored By Leon Hunt MD of JobsVitae.co.uk.

What I am trying to achieve with JobsVitae?

I am trying to build a recruitment site that has an equal balance of candidate and recruiter features.

So we took the rule book threw it out of the window and started with a new perspective on what our users actually want and I hope we are achieving it. I hate the cheesy anecdote we operate an open door policy but we do. if you ever have any feedback or comments on how we can improve the site then please contact us, we are always ready to listen.

Moving into the new year we are adding even more features and content so please check in from time to time and see what’s new.

It has been a stressful but rewarding roller coaster of a year and I hope the next year will yield even more rewards.

I wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year and I look forward to the new year.

Authored By Leon Hunt MD of www.JobsVitae.co.uk

As a startup recruitment website I know what a difficult industry it is to master and the guys over at Jobsite keep raising the bar.

Well done and keep up the hard work.

Authored by Leon Hunt MD of www.JobsVitae.co.uk

( you have all done it, I would not be a good business man if I did not keep an eye on my competition.)

To say that I was shocked and horrified by the results is an understatement, many of my competitors (No names will be mentioned for legal reasons) are advertising there Free CV service as (well) Free but once you have completed the wizard you are then asked you for an extortionate fee to download the CV, I checked out a few of the sites that my guys had analysed and I was totally aghast,  frustrated and infuriated by the entire situation, I did a bit of digging and these guys are even using Google AdWords and advertising using the word Free CV.

I designed our Free CV wizard to aid unemployed people in the recruitment process. I enlisted the assistance of a number of local recruitment firms and designed the CV layout around there requirements, giving  job hunters a greater chance of getting there CV in front of the right people and not ending up in the bin.

I could not sleep at night thinking that I had charged an unemployed person a fee for trying to improve there chances of  securing employment.

Rest assured that our FREE CV wizard will never become a paid for service and next time you do click on to one of our competitors links just think is a Free CV really Free?

This Blog Article was brought to you by Leon Hunt MD of JobsVitae.co.uk