"Good eye contact, a firm handshake and self confidence can pave the way to a good interview. Turns out, that's the case even if the applicant is 4 or 5 years old. Herve Leger skirtsIn the frenzy to get kindergarteners into the top private schools, parents are now hiring consultants to coach their children on the art of the interview. For years, such preparations have been the norm for the standardized tests children must take to get into private schools, the so-called ERBs, which measure IQ and are administered by the Educational Records Bureau. But after a cottage industry devoted to test-prep materials and classes developed, parents say scoring in the top percentile or two became the norm rather than the exception; schools such as Horace Mann, Dalton and Collegiate began placing more emphasis on the interview and getting more granular in their assessments. herve leger seamSince New York parents have a tendency to exaggerate their sons' and daughters' piano or French skills, admissions directors say they like to see any special talents with their own eyes. ""Scores on the ERBs went up because kids were preparing and parents began thinking, 'My kid got a 99 but so did my neighbor's kids, what else can we do to better our chances in this market?' "" says Suzanne Rheault, a 40-year-old mother of two who left Wall Street last year to start New York test-prep company, Aristotle Circle. Enter the mock playdate Herve Leger Loop around neck. On a recent morning in Manhattan, former Horace Mann admissions director Dana Haddad asked a group of 4- and 5-year-olds: ""Do you have your marching shoes on?"" The children began marching, left their parents behind and followed after Ms. Haddad, as she led them into a Midtown office turned preschool playroom, the new headquarters of Aristotle Circle. Christian LouboutinAs the children followed tasks such as identifying their name tags, putting together a puzzle or drawing a series of shapes, Ms. Haddad and two educational consultants took copious notes. One 4-year-old ""appeared slightly shy at the beginning of the playgroup,"" requiring the moderator ""to occasionally need to repeat a question,"" read a six-page assessment provided to her parents within a few days of the playgroup. "