3 Ways to Overcome Job Interview Nerves?
To be the king of the job interview you need killer job interview answers, but…and this is more important you need to be seen as confident, charismatic and charming
The 3 C’s are the packing to the job interview answer. Why is this important I hear you ask????
Think about it, packing has influence. When you are buying your weekly shopping the packaging on the product, even if the same product is produced by the same supplier but labeled differently, is key to your purchasing habits. There is a whole sector on sales psychology that you can research.
The job interview is the same – the only difference is that you are selling you skills, qualities and experience. People are influenced more by how you come across, your rapport, the way you express your answers with stories, humor and anecdotes. But this is where the problem is…..most interviewees are too nervous to be confident, charismatic and charming. This article will teach you 3 simple and easy to implement techniques to increase your interview confidence, helping you to influence the job interview.
Practice and Strategies
Most people only spend around 45 minutes preparing for a job interview
Whereas interview professionals spend around 4-5 hours preparing, as they know that a successful job interview can be life-changing – how long do you, on average, spend preparing for your job interview?
The first way to increase your interview confidence is to use job interview answer strategies. Having a strategy is like having a plan, with a plan you feel more in control and control equals confidence.
A job interview strategy allows you to answer those curveball interview questions with ease. Imagine you get asked one of the most common asked questions in interviews.
Job Interview Question:
“Tell me about your sales management experience?”
This question, normally asked at the beginning of an interview, gives you the opportunity to deliver a short statement about your experiences and skills relevant to the job position you are applying for. But most people struggle to answer this question with confidence (which makes the rest of the interview go downhill) because they have no strategy.
But with a simple strategy, you can answer with ease, as you focus on the strategy not what you are saying.
The strategy for most interview questions is ADS
Answer, Detail, Summary – you answer the question straight away, give detail (often in the form of a story/experience) and summaries your answer (making a clear ending)
With all interview questions the employer is looking for a key skill or experience (to check if you are suitable for the position in their organisation) The interviewer with opening job interview questions want to know if you have the generic experience and skills for this role, the following questions will help undercover specific required skills.
- Answer – give the duration of time in this industry “I have worked in X sector for 15 years…” then state several achievements to highlight your competency “….during this time I have achieved Y and Z…”
- Detail – give a story or state an experience to create an emotional-based interview answer “….I did by (add story)…”
- Summaries – sum up the whole interview answer “….This is why I’m applying for the position, with my 15 years of experience and my ability to Y and Z, I know I will be an asset to your organisation”
Remember a strategy gives you confidence, a platform and plan to rely on when feeling nervous
Simple Nerve Destroying Technique
Science made simple
When you are nervous, your heart beats erratically, this erratic heart beat sends a signal to the amygdala part of your brain. This signal fires of the flight, fight or freeze response. In this state your mind works differently, your logical part of your brain shuts down and you respond automatically – this is why you forget your well-planned job interview answers during the job interview.
For more information on how you can control your mind read this book Evolve the Mind
To control this reaction all you need to do is control your breathing – as this sends the opposite signal to your brain. To be in control you need to breathe rhythmically
- Breath in for 4 seconds
- Hold the breath for 3 seconds
- Breath out for 8 seconds (a long strong breath)
- Repeat until you feel relaxed
Rhythmic breathing changes your heart rate and sends more oxygen to your brain helping you to create a state of relaxation. This is key, because most charismatic people are those who come across as controlled and relaxed
Power Game
People become afraid when intimidated by others
The job interview is often, unintentionally (with some high powered job interviews – intentionally) a power play. In a one to one situation, there is always a power game where one person is more in control than the other; we often take our lead from this power person without being aware of it
In the job interview, you need to be in charge. To become more powerful you can show your authority for your sector by stating information about the sector that other people aren’t aware of (a quick google search can help you uncover some interesting facts about your niche)
But there is the person power play, where we react differently to different people in the same situation. If you see someone s intimidating you will feel intimidated
First, you need to dress to impress, everything about you has to shout power. Secondly and more importantly you need to look for those little things that will show you at the interview is human. Look for scuffed shoes, dandruff, loose buttons on shirts or a dirty office. By finding things that diminish the feeling of power from the interviewer you will feel more relaxed – the best state for a job interview
The power game is simple but has a massive psychological impact on your job interview and the job interview outcome
Conclusion
Many people are afraid of job interviews. The truth is if you prepare for your job interview, by predicting the job interview questions, you can easily prepare your job interview answers. If your job interview answers highlight your unique selling point, are stated in the positive and are said in a confident manner, then you can influence the job interview to increase job offer.
The techniques stated above are simple and easy to implement. They will help you to control your state creating a state of confidence that allows you to sell yourself while remembering your key selling points
