The ability to confidently communicate competencies during the job interview will give the interviewee a significant advantage over other, less confident, applicants.
Highly skilled and highly experienced career professionals often fail job interviews due to stress created by wanting to be viewed as knowledgeable.
It is the fear of being rejected by the hiring manager that creates job interview anxiety. Anxiety, sometimes at a subtle level, changes the candidate’s behavior which in turn creates a weak interview identity.
This article will explain how to reduce anxiety during the recruitment process to help answer job interview questions confidently.
Are you worried about the hiring manager’s opinion?
Humans worry about employers’ opinions as they don’t want to be seen as incompetent. Someone who consistently worries about other people’s opinions can become depressed.
Belonging is hardwired in the human psychic, to belong is to be safe. The desire to belong comes from our ancestors, the hunter, and gathers. Back in time when humans roamed the earth competing for food with wild animals, humans needed to be part of a tribe to survive.
A group of hunter and gathers were stronger together, but if one of the tribe rejected their survival rate diminished. Tribes were created on shared beliefs, values and through the individual skills, each person brought to the tribe.
In the job interview, how an interviewee thinks affects their behavior.
Research into the recruitment of staff has shown how applicants with low self-esteem have an internal focus, worrying about the hiring manager’s opinion. Whereas, a confident candidate is externally focused – giving the same quality of answers no matter how the employer acts in the job interview.
The research shows how the more confident a person the less they care about the opinions of others because self-worth out powers the self-worry.
Eggs in One Basket
Caring about a hiring manager’s opinion increases depending on context.
The advice that an interview coach would give, is to apply for new roles while in a position you are happy with.
Being employed in a good job takes the pressure off during the recruitment process, as the belief that ‘if I’m not successful I still have a job I like’ creates a win-win situation.
The increased confidence gained from the win-win scenario has a slight change in the candidate’s interview behavior. Confident interviewees will:
- Give detail examples
- Share their opinions rather then looking to agree with the interviewee panel
- Stand up for themselves
- Be a self-promoter
- Have an open conversation
- Tell the employer what they want from a job
In most cases though, career professionals look for new positions because their current job role is one they now detest. Many interviewees are desperate to leave their current employer and/or are highly stressed.
The new job role is viewed as a ‘last chance’ with applicants saying ‘if I’m not successful i don’t what I will do!’
A last chance mind-frame has an effect on the candidate’s attitude, as they focus more on the employer’s opinions than focusing on showcasing their skills and experiences.
Employers hiring decisions are emotionally led, which means the psychology of a job interview plays an important part in the recruitment of new staff. This includes:
- Unconscious Bias
- The power of likeability
- Prejudices
- Commonality and rapport
- The applicants language and word choice
Action – apply for jobs while in a position you love
Answering Interview Questions Confidently
The first task then is to have an external focus – a focus on the delivery of high-scoring job interview answers.
Low confident interviewees use generic statements:
- ‘I’m not good enough’
- ‘Others are better skilled then I am?
- ‘I have less sector knowledge than other people’
Limiting beliefs limit the possibilities of a successful job interview outcome.
To change a limiting belief requires challenge. Question the belief, look for evidence to the contrary, request specifics.
Ask specifics:
- ‘Not good enough of what specifically?’
- ‘Good enough compared to whom?’
- ‘Who are these other people?’
- ‘Which skills in particular?’
- ‘Name your own strengths’
Language shapes our reality. Challenging oneself (a technique used by career and interview coaches) changes perception. Perception creates confidence. Confidence creates a stronger interview performance. A stronger interview performance increases job offers.
The language used to describe an interview also influences an applicant’s interview confidence.
Some confident career professionals view the job interview as a:
- Meeting
- Discussion about their experience
- An opportunity to find more out about the employer
The frame of an interview, a life or death situation (if I don’t succeed in this job interview I will have failed), or an opportunity (a chance to develop my career), changes the candidate’s approach to the recruitment process.
Interview Questions and Answers
Repetition is the key to mastering a skill.
A job interview – communicating high-scoring answers confidently, is just another skill. A job interview is essentially a public speaking engagement. Many people initially fear public speaking but become more confident once they practice their oration skills.
One of the biggest barriers to a successful job interview is the lack of practice. The fear of rejection creates procrastination, which can increase anxiety if the applicant suffers from imposter syndrome.
First-choice applicants – career professionals who receive a high number of job offers, will follow the three rules for passing a job interview.
- Identifying the job criteria
- Being a self-promoter
- Communicating confidently
The more an interviewee predicts the job interview questions, craft high-scoring job interview answers, and practices the delivery style of those answers, the more they are likely to feel confident throughout a hiring process.
5 Steps for Practicing Job Interview Answers
Step 1 – Turn each essential job criteria into an interview question
Step 2 – Draft an interview answer for each question
Step 3 – Rewrite the answer by adding an example
Step 4 – Tweak the answer 3-4 more times embedding positive language
Step 5 – Practice, out loud, saying the answer as you would in a job interview
Feeling Confident
The more an applicant feels confident, the more confident their interview answers will be.
Pre-interview preparation can help to increase confidence. Some basic advice includes:
- Stay hydrated drink lots of water prior to the job interview
- Exercise on the morning of the interview
- Use mindfulness or a positive visualization to feel more relaxed
The candidate’s mindset is key to building confidence. Self-worth increases self-promotion. Become aware of your skills, qualities, and experiences by:
- Re-read passed appraisals and make a list of all the skills, strengths and qualities a passed employer has stated
- List of the key project you have been part of – focus on what you did to make the project a success
- Breakdown your personality – What are you naturally gifted at? How do you work best? What are your natural strengths?
It is important to remember the power play of a job interview.
In the main, the job applicants frame is that the employer has something they want (the job role) rather than the realization that the candidate has what the employer needs (that is why the employer is currently recruiting).
The candidate’s frame – how they view the job interview, changes how they perceive the power balance themselves and the employer.
The Formula for a Confident Job Interview
Confidence, therefore, is created by perception – how the candidates view the job interview and the number of hours of interview preparation.
Mindset x Practice = a confident job interview
If we summarize the above advice, to answer job interview questions confidently:
- Create an external focus – a focus on the delivery of high-scoring job interview answers
- Decrease the internal focus – worrying about the hiring managers opinion
- Apply for jobs while in a position you currently enjoy as this releases stress
- Challenge limiting beliefs by asking for specifics
- View the interview as a conversation or meeting
- Follow the three rules for a successful job interview and practice answering interview questions
- Identify your own skills, strengths and qualities
- Use meditation, exercise and staying hydrated to increase confidence
- Remember the employer needs you more then you need them – be in charge of the power play of the recruitment process
