As stated in a previous post, the process of communicating is very complicated. It involves verbal and non-verbal communication. While we speak we are listening, processing how the other person is responding to what we are saying. This is constantly occurring because communication is more than just topical, it is relational.

There is too much occurring during face-to-face talk for the rational mind to process and keep up with. It is too slow, working at about 40 bits per second. But the cognitive unconscious is very fast, operating at about 11 million bits per second. It organizes information into patterns called schema. It senses what is going on before our conscious mind does, and it communicates to us through our bodies, through increased sweating, faster heart beat, a sense of uneasiness. The following study shows this process in action.

In this study the subjects were required to choose between a deck of blue cards and a deck of red cards. The red cards produced big gains, but more big losses. The blue cards produced smaller gains, but fewer small losses. By card 50 the subjects had a hunch about the red cards but couldn’t explain it. By card 80 they knew the problem with the red cards explicitly. But by card 10 the cognitive unconscious had solved the problem. This was indicated by an increase in sweating and behavior modification (a slight decrease in red card choices).

The cognitive unconscious is much faster than our rational minds. It recognizes patterns. It anticipates future outcomes and probabilities, because these patterns suggest what might happen next. It is at work in every communication experience including job interviews. This is why our non-verbal behaviors are so powerful. They trigger responses from the cognitive unconscious of the interviewer that can overpower or sway their rational thought process. For example, on paper you may be the ideal candidate for a position, but because you came in looking tense and nervous the interviewer felt you were a poor fit and not up to the task, even though everything in your work history indicated otherwise.

We are always communicating even when we do not say a word. The classic illustration of this is love at first sight. This strange phenomenon has been known for millennia, and the subject was even found in the writings of the Greek philosopher Plato. It was depicted as being shot in the heart by Cupid’s arrow. Love at first sight was not the result of rational processing of information. Instead, it was the result of the cognitive unconscious responding to what it saw.

What non-verbal messages are you sending during an interview? How can you possibly know? A mock interview that is videotaped is one way of discovering what sort of non-verbals characterize your interviewing style and taking part in mock interviews is highly recommended, because modifying our non-verbal communication is an essential part of the job search process.