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What Your Interviewer’s Seating Arrangement Is TellingYou…
 
You walk into the interview
, and by god, this time they’ve given you choices!
There is not onechair to sit at but a whole table of them! There are eveninterviewing techniques to deal with situations like this so you are less likely to have a panic attack when your new boss gives youyour first decision to make. After all, seating positions have a lot more psychological influenceon social dynamics than you might think.
Don’t go i
nto the office and start playing musicalchairs before you understand the atmosphere your decisions will create.Here are 6 ways for you to make the most out of your seating options:
1. 
The Una-Bomber Position
 
This is how you don’t want to sit.
Ted Kaczynski, the Una-Bomber, used to do this in libraries
while planning out his acts of “justice.”
Hood pulled over his head, his back to intruders, ahunched withdrawn position turning all would-be conversations away. Not really conducive toanswering tough interview questions, or making friends for that matter.If your potential employers
leave you in a room alone, you’d be better off putting on a dunce capand taking a stool to the corner than doing this (at least you’d g
et a laugh). Turning away fromeveryone who enters and withdrawing into your own little world sends the message that you
don’t want to talk or have something to hide.
If you are left to sit alone, sit on the side of the
table where you’ll face people as
they enter or turn your chair around.
 2. 
The I’ll Give You Back Your Son Alive For $1,000,000 Position
 Two opponents sit across from each other. Dead eyes locked. Faces set firm. Unless
you’re in
the World Series of Poker or negotiating a ransom, it just feels wrong, even if it is often thenorm.
If you have a choice, don’t choose to sit like this in an interview.
People meeting in this positionare a lot more likely to start debating or arguing. It creates an air of competition, and the table
dividing the “debaters” makes it easier to hold fast to an opinion because of the psychological
attachment to the table as a protective divider. You might find yourself raising an uproar overcompany protocol before you even fill out your W-2.This type of head to head positioning is confrontational and imitates animals in the wild squaringoff for a brutal bout of head-butting.
It’s our nature to get aggressive in this situations— 
thin howdogs flip out if you stare at them too long. Save the negotiation position for when someonereally does steal your firstborn.We can understand your frustration though, because some power-hungry subordinates get their jollies creating this kind of atmosphere. In one experiment, 76% of senior managers were shown
 
to prefer a desk between them and someone lower in status. They get off on their power, the sick bastards. Or maybe they just like it for protection from disgruntled employees.Us staff-workers notice all this power-mongering too. The studies went on to show that whenthe desk is taken away we view the manager as a pretty cool dude who is open to new ideas.This is simply the best position for getting on the level.
 3. 
The There’s No “I” in Team Positio
n
 This is when you and the interviewer are sitting next to each other at a table and have turnedslightly to talk.
“We’re in this together, Man.”
 
Putting your arm over the manager’s shoulder and repeatedly referring to him as “Tiger” is probably over 
-kill, but this position is great forrapport.
It’s up close and personal and you will often find your gestures mirror each other 
because psychological cooperation is so intense.Studies show that in business situations 71% of people think someone who is sitting next to themis engaged and participating.
Awww…isn’t that cute?
Your new best friend. When two people
are seated in a There’s No “I” in Team position, the one on the left side will be the less
cooperative of the two.
Just in case you’re still havi
ng trouble with your lefts and rights, thatmeans you should try to get the manager on your right.However, this can be dangerous too.
If the level of comfort you’re shooting for just isn’t there,
you might make things a little awkward by sliding up a seat and getting personal. If the big boss
is particularly old school and thinks you’re getting fresh, you might have a fistfight on your 
hands.
 4. 
Cozy Corner
 This is what you want
 — 
get them in your corner. This is when you and the interviewer aresitting at the corner of a table on adjacent edges. It is the best seating arrangement forcooperation.
There’s good eye contact and you’re on an equal level.
Not confrontational.
And there’s still a
tiny bit of table in there so the one with zero socia
l intelligence doesn’t start having a panic
attack and bolt for the bathroom to throw up their breakfast. Someone who interviews like thismay have a natural sense of human psychology.If the interview seems more informal and the interviewer sits at a corner without gesturing whichchair you should take, pick the corner one close to them and put them at ease
 — 
you will besurprised how quick they lighten up.
 5. 
The Circle Jerk
 On round tables, the person directly across the table is often seen as the opposition, so if oneindividual in a group of interviewers seems to be glaring, they probably just hate you because of 
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