You cannot text an interview
This morning on my way to work I heard some updated statistics on how much we all have increasingly switched our communication from in person and phone to texting. In younger generations, this is more pronounced. It caught my ear because I was preparing to do some sessions on communication styles for some campus staff and students.
Later, while talking to one of my training colleagues who now lives in Washington D.C., she mentioned how well her twenty-something son had done on job interviews. He attributed his success to training by his mother. I think my daughters do well in interviews for much the same reason…those communication skills were ingrained in them. Yes, we text, but whenever possible, I prefer to pick up the phone and talk, or to have conversations with them, in person.
Which lead me to making the statement which I think I’ll copyright…..”You cannot text an interview.” Think about it. If you are young and are communicating with people via text, you aren’t learning good written communication skills (good for writing cover letters and resumes, forexample). You aren’t developing good phone conversation skills using proper tone (good for customer service, sales, and phone interviews). And you certainly aren’t developing a sense for what effective body language, facial expressions, and gestures all mean.
I probably came out of the womb talking. I talk, and listen, all the time. I’m at an advantage over people who aren’t similarly conversant…you know…in CONVERSATIONS. I also find things like neurolinguistic programming, studying and even emulating tone, gestures, and body language gives me rich information about people I associate with.
People watching is endlessly fascinating. How can you watch people if your nose is always buried in some electronic device? It is said that in face-to-face conversations, only 7% of what we say conveys the message we are sending. Tone accounts for 38% and body language for the majority, 55%.
On the phone, all of that rich physical information is lost and you rely more heavily on tone. In email, you only have the words, fonts, grammar, and punctuation. In texting, you have even less because it is informal and abbreviated. Which may be fine when conversing with people who know you well. And also good for getting painfully shy people conversing at all. But it won’t prepare you to deal with real people, in real time, in face-to-face situations…like interviews.
Next time you have a choice of texting / emailing, or phoning, or just getting up and talking to someone face-to-face, just remember: having a real conversation is a rich experience and it will better prepare you for interviews.
You cannot text an interview.
