Reflections on Recruiting:
Body Language

JR BECHTLE & Co.

Tom Kennedy Reflections on Recruiting

JR BECHTLE & Co. | February 2026 | Blogs

Reflections on Recruiting: Body Language

For some time now I’ve considered sharing reflections on the recruiting field drawn from my close to 30 years in this sometimes crazy but never boring business. My hope is that the one or the other of these reflections, in the form of anecdotes – humorous and serious – will give rise to ideas and tips that will be of use to those seeking new roles as well as those interviewing those persons.

By the way, I’m relying only on my memory of actual events and modest writing ability, without the use of AI, so bear with me. Of course some details have been changed to protect the guilty and innocent.

I’ll start with an anecdote that illustrates the importance of body language and posture and how it can lead to a yes or a no for a candidate.

This is the case of a President candidate for a U.S. subsidiary who after an extensive interview process by company management had only one last hurdle to jump through. That was the visit at the parent company in Europe to get the final blessing of the parent company CEO whom he hadn’t yet met. The company, important to note, was a major supplier of complex and expensive machinery, the kind that ‘requires explanation’ as the German expression goes, which is typical of JR Bechtle clientele.

The candidate arrives in Europe for a full program that includes a plant tour. As fate would have it the CEO of the company observed the tour from his window overlooking the shopfloor. What he saw disturbed him: More than once the Plant Manager was bending down on his knees and pointing to a feature of the machinery while animatedly explaining it. The candidate, instead of stooping down to the Plant Manager’s eye-level, each time stood above him while leaning backwards with his hands folded behind his back.

The CEO drew the conclusion from this posture that the candidate was either not interested in learning about the machines he’d be in charge of selling or simply wasn’t hands-on enough to want to see up close what the Plant Manager was so keen to show him. All signals indicated a less than ideal fit from the CEO’s perspective. Accordingly no blessing was given an]d the candidate returned home empty-handed.

Moral of the story: Have interest in your potential employer’s products and show this interest. The simple reciprocal gesture of leaning down would have indicated engagement, interest, and respect, and earned the candidate the job.

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