April 17th 2007 
Work 
1 comment
I had a job interview this morning and it gave me an idea to discuss a few pointers on how to deal with something I was feeling a lot of - nerves. There is a lot of advice out there about how to conduct an interview but what about before the interview? Everyone suffers from anxiety when it comes to them and I will tell you here and now that you can’t magically make it disappear. Instead I’ve compiled some thoughts and ideas on how to manage those nerves and ease your anxieties a little for the next time you have an interview.
- You have nothing to lose (other than the job). If you just happen to make a fool of yourself, or not come across as you would have wanted to, so what? You won’t see your interviewers ever again and at the very worst you have just wasted a few hours.
- Prepare! If you know what you want to say, what points you want to get across, where you are going, what the company is about and what the job entails, then that’s a big weight off your shoulders because as far as you’re concerned, you are prepared for whatever they throw at you.
- Take, for instance, that your interview is at 10.30 and it goes on for 30 minutes. Hold onto the thought that by 11.00 it will be all over. However the interview goes, remind yourself that in 2 hours time, 1 hours time, etc it will be done with and you can take a huge sigh of relief.
- Cope with your nerves at a physical level. Take deep, slow breaths. Also, body parts like your shoulders and jaw tense up too so loosen them up. Shake your limbs. Roll your shoulders and wriggle your jaw about.
- Get there on time. While this usually means sitting there dwelling on all that anxiety you are feeling, it is much more preferable to rushing around and panicing about being late. You can use the time to do some relaxation exercises and more preparation.
- Interviewers know interviews can be stressful, and if they have been trained at all properly, they will take measures to calm you and ease you into proceedings with casual conversation and breaker questions. Keep in mind that they want you to be relaxed as they get a better overall picture of you. Tell yourself that you aren’t going in to be interviewed by monsters
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