This week I was the proud Dad watching his daughter at her graduation ceremony. She was one of many that graduated from a
Gold rated university, She gained a first class honours degree. Won the faculty prize. To top it all in one of the most difficult subjects at University – Physics.
Whilst at the ceremony something very strange struck me. Each graduate entered the stage, they walked across the stage to the centre.
Shook hands with the Vice Chancellor. Then walked further across the stage and shook hands again with a second person, and left the stage. On the surface a simple process. So why did this simple process show to me that many of these young people were not ready for the world of work?
Universities prepare people academically but what about for the world of work?
Being able to reason, research and think critically is a wonderful set of skills. But if people cannot build relationships. If they cannot build trust. If they cannot show respect, in the first few seconds of meeting someone for the first time, how will they get to use these learnt skills in the world of work?
It’s all in the hand shake
How to do a great handshake – open, strong eye contact and smile
All these graduates had to do was shake hands with two people. Two people, most of them had never met before. Something that every graduate will have to do 1000s of times in their professional life time. Many appeared to be focused on what to do next rather than greeting the person in front of them. The result looked uncomfortable. If that were the start of an interview, they would not have been successful.
How to lose a job offer before the interview
Research shows that recruitment decisions are often made in the first 10 seconds. If as a qualified person you cannot build a simple relationship when greeting people, what hope do you have of getting the best job?
Put simply, the greeting or handshake can make or break a job interview. We can all say that is not the case. But the science of unconscious bias says otherwise. it is how we are wired. It is how we make decisions. If we cannot trust the person to have a good handshake what else might we not trust them to do?
Is it a male advantage?
From what I saw at the graduation ceremony, no. In fact, many of the women were much better than the men. It is more a respect thing.
Shaking hands with your friends is one thing. Building a relationship with a stranger is quite another.
What were the common mistakes?
I’m not interested in you
I’m too scared to look at you
Typically the biggest mistake was not making eye contact with the person they were shaking hands with. Lacking respect for the person they were greeting.
The next was trying to let go too quickly. Indeed many people did not even pause for half a second to shake hands, but shook hands ‘on the fly’.
Please do not take a lesson from Donald Trump. His power game of – who will let go first, is just the powerplay of a child’s mind. Research suggests a good handshake should be 2-3 seconds in length – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1294962/Scientists-perfect-handshake-formula-Firm-squeeze-shakes.html
Now, of course, I was not shaking hands, so I do not know how many shakes were “wet fish” like. But from an observers point of view, there were clearly those that were more confident and those that were not.
One person even took the out reach of the hand not to shake, but to walk around the person. This was after watching over 100 people before they shake the person’s hand!
Nerves. Nerves were part of the process. After shaking the hand of the first person, many almost missed shaking the hand of the second person. Maybe the message playing in their head was “Thank goodness that is over”.
The second person was presenting the award to those that got it. In several cases, the person presenting this almost had to block the individual to give them the award!
Universities prepare people academically – Lessons to take away for the world of work
Whilst I saw this at one university, I am 100% sure this is a universal issue. Something all of the careers units in the universities could easily resolve with no cost.
That first impressions count. It does not matter if you got a 2nd class degree or first class honours, if you cannot find something in common with the person on the other side of the interview table, you won’t get the job!
Remember practice makes permanant, so make practice right!