What takes 10 seconds and tells an interviewer that '); document.writeln('you're open to new experiences? What says "I am '); document.writeln('someone who is conscientious, agreeable, emotionally '); document.writeln('stable, open, and outgoing?"
'); document.writeln('It's a firm, warm, confident handshake, according to a report'); document.writeln(' published in the Journal of Applied '); document.writeln('Psychology. And if you look the other person '); document.writeln('squarely in the eye at the same time, give yourself '); document.writeln('another five points.
'); document.writeln('The report, Exploring the Handshake in Employment Interviews,'); document.writeln(' followed 98 graduate students who went through mock '); document.writeln('interviews and rated them on their handshakes and '); document.writeln('interview skills. The report concludes that that people '); document.writeln('who follow common recommendations—have a firm, '); document.writeln('confident handshake and look the other person in the '); document.writeln('eye—receive higher ratings of employment '); document.writeln('suitability than do those who offer a limp, cold '); document.writeln('handshake with little or no eye contact.
'); document.writeln('What does a good handshake look like? The exact '); document.writeln('description, according to the study, is this: Your'); document.writeln(' hand is extended straight out from the waist with the '); document.writeln('palm facing to the left and the thumb raised at a '); document.writeln('45-degree angle. On contact with another person's '); document.writeln('hand, close your hand around the other hand, but then '); document.writeln('hesitate, giving the other person a chance to initiate '); document.writeln('the strength of the grip and the upward and downward '); document.writeln('shaking. Release your grip only when the other person '); document.writeln('begins to relax his or her grip (or you risk showing a '); document.writeln('sign that you want to terminate the handshake).
'); document.writeln('Researchers assessed eight handshake characteristics '); document.writeln('on a 5-point rating scale. Those characteristics '); document.writeln('included:
'); document.writeln('The study found men are more adept at handshaking '); document.writeln('while women excel in nonverbal communication, such as '); document.writeln('facial expression and good posture, two positives that'); document.writeln(' overcome a less firm handshake. Women who offer firm '); document.writeln('handshakes received higher scores than men with equally '); document.writeln('firm handshakes.
'); document.writeln('A good handshake, researchers concluded, seems to be '); document.writeln('linked to such personality traits as extraversion, '); document.writeln('openness, assertiveness, and positive behaviors. '); document.writeln('Further, the study reports "more open women are '); document.writeln('perceived more favorably than less open women, while '); document.writeln('more open men are perceived slightly less favorably '); document.writeln('than less open men," and "women who are more '); document.writeln('liberal, intellectual, and open to new experiences have'); document.writeln(' a firmer handshake and make a more favorable'); document.writeln(' impression than women who are less open and '); document.writeln('have a less firm handshake."
'); document.writeln('');