Blogs

Preparing for an interview can quickly turn into a daunting and intimidating task, especially if it is a role you’ve been working so hard to get. For most people, the prospect of sitting inside a mangers office is very stressful, interviewing is no exception. Having nerves is actually a good thing. It means you care about the job and your performance in order to secure the position. Fortunately, there are ways to help reduce the level of anxiety when going into interviews. Here’s how;

Prepare for success

A great way to help you feel more calm and confident leading up to an interview is to be organized.

One of the best ways to prepare is by practicing answers to common interview questions! To help you further, check out our top 6 interview questions to see the different types of questions that employers tend to ask. Using friends and family to bounce answers off never goes astray, either!

Research

You need to have a game plan going into the interview. It’s best to do as much research about the hiring company as possible. Understand their values and objectives and ensure yours align. How well do you know their products and services? What are current and former employees saying about the organization? All of these factors play an important role in how well you go into your interview. Firstly, these factors will help evaluate if the interview is worth pursuing. The main goal for researching the hiring company is to show you’re a good fit. It is critical that you are prepared and have a game plan going into that interview. It’s also an opportunity to understand if the employer is a good fit for you.

Breathe

Sounds obvious, right? People tend to forget this allowing anxiety to build up. Before you step into that interview, just stop and take a deep breath. Take more if you need to. Breathing deeply helps slow down your thoughts, it will also help reduce the intensity and quieten your nervous system. It pays off just to take a breath.

Pace yourself

Talking too fast can make you stumble on your words and can be perceived as someone who isn’t confident. Take a deep breath and go at the questions one word at a time. Try and articulate yourself and don’t rush. It’s important to be understood. The slower approach and helps regulate your emotions if you’re feeling any stress in the interview.

Show confidence in your body language

If you’re still feeling nervous during your interview, it’s time to adjust and ensure your body language shows confidence. During your interview, sit with confidence. Your physical stance can affect your mind and have a calming and relaxing effect. Smiling can also help trick your mind into feeling happy as opposed to nervous and or anxious. This will allow you to relax a little more.

~

Remember you’re worth it. You deserve to be at that interview. Sometimes anxiety stems from self disbelief. That you feel that you don’t deserve to be there, which is never the case. Believe in yourself even if you don’t have the experience for that specific role. We believe attitude comes before skill, check out our message to employers when hiring – Why you should hire attitude over and train for skills. Just remember that nerves are completely normal, and in many scenarios, nerves come from excitement. Try to subtract your nerves to be sheer excitement of interviewing for a job you truly care about.

On behalf of ConnektUs, good luck with your next interview! You’re going to smash it!