When you are in the interview that is a hot seat. Your palms are sweaty, your voice is shaky, your mouth is dry and you are talking all too fast. Perhaps your heart is racing and you’re nervous.
Why does this actually happen?
When we perceive that we are in a high-stakes situation, the brain doesn’t distinguish the high stakes of a job interview – where it would help to be calm, cool and collected – from the high stakes of being under threat from attack, says Dr. Tamar Chan sky, author of Freeing Yourself from Anxiety.
Job interviews are not a good place to have the jitters. You can banish these jitters with a few easy steps. In order to remain calm, cool and composed during interviews we need to prepare well to handle the situation. No matter how well prepared we may be, often the nerves and pressure of an interview situation can make us act differently.
To stop getting nervous, here are some tips
Analyze things and observe how do things usually work when you are normal, cool and compose
- You will talk moderately – neither too fast nor too slow
- You will not shake, and neither your voice would,
- You will use our original voice and
- You will sit in a relaxed posture.
The situation totally reverses when we are in an interview. In order to overcome these here are a few hacks to help you sail your interview well.
1. Background work/Homework:
Some homework has to be done to set ourselves apart from the crowd. The best way, to go about for an interview is with a strong resume and an unforgettable cover letter. Interviewers are impressed by candidates who have knowledge of the company, the position they are applying for, etc. so make it your job to acquire necessary knowledge about these things. When there is a sorted and perfect preparation, the confidence that comes out of that preparation makes us being cool.
2. Do a mock interview for yourself:
Do test yourself preferably in front of a mirror, and interview yourself. Assume an interviewer before you asking questions and start answering them. You may notice some questions for which you don’t have answers. Make necessary note of those questions and find answers. Make a note of your facial expressions in order to note if and when you are not staying calm. Job interviews, being a time of stress, can cause people to show a little more stress than they’d like to show. So by doing these practice multiple times you are almost ready to attend an interview.
3. Analyse your strong areas before itself.
Is it your communications skills or Project management skills or Knowledge, that you are good? Once you are aware of your strong areas, prepare yourself to do the best in those areas. And that is what helps to crack the interview
4. Don’t over-prepare:
Remember your interview is a conversation, and too much of rehearsal makes the conversation appear like a speech or like reading a paragraph. Trust that you know what you know and that the interview will take on a flow of its own.
5. Exactly on the day of interview:
Arrive early, but don’t go inside. Always arrive early in order to avoid the stress of being late. However, be sure to wait in nearby place, as being too early can place unnecessary pressure on your interviewer and start the meeting off on the wrong foot
Just Breathe and Be Positive!
Finally, calm your nerves by reminding yourself that you deserve to be there. You wouldn’t have been invited to interview if you weren’t being seriously considered as a candidate! Use this knowledge to your advantage to mentally pump yourself up before the interview.
