Preparing yourself for a new role can be an exciting time in your life, but it can also leave you with lots of nervousness leading up to an interview. Having anxiety surrounding an interview is extremely normal but it doesn’t have to be debilitating. Below are some tips to help you deal with and lessen your interview jitters.
Practice with a Mock Interview
Practice, practice, practice. Search online for some common interview questions online. Go through and practice outloud your answers for each question that you think would be helpful to the industry you are applying to. Having a friend or mentor to practice going through interview questions is also helpful. They can give you feedback and areas to improve upon.
Interview questions will mostly likely be centered around previous roles or life situations you have had. It’s good practice thinking about challenges you have overcome at previous jobs, moments you are most proud of in your previous careers, and other relevant experiences to really expand upon in your interviews. Try to weave those experiences into the interview questions to really showcase your strengths and expertise for the role you are applying for.
Breathing Techniques & Exercise
Before your interview try learning breathing techniques to help calm yourself and lower your heart rate. Slow and deep breathing can help calm both your mind and your body. Deep and slow breathing also allows more oxygen into your bloodstream and will help you in thinking more clearly during your interview. Before your scheduled interview, take slow and deep breaths to really ground yourself
The day before your interview try working out. By going on a walk or doing another mild exercise, you can burn off your extra energy. Exercise helps release chemicals into your body that will keep your stress levels down, keep you happy, and increase your confidence. Professionals do recommend that you don’t workout the day OF your interview as you don’t want to exhaust yourself and not have enough energy to really showcase your personality.
Try Your Best to Be Prepared
Encompassing all the above, one of our most important tips is to simply be prepared. Practicing driving the route to the interview destination or logging in to Zoom to troubleshoot any issues is one of the simplest ways to lessen anxiety leading up to an interview. Have any answers or questions prepared for the interview portion of the interview. Make sure you know about the company you are interviewing for and what the company does. Even simply having an outfit prepared the day before the interview can be one less thing to be worried about the day of. Anything you can do to be prepared for your interview will effectively lessen anxiety.
The day of your interview, try to relax and rely on all the preparation that you did leading up to the interview. You can be confident in knowing you prepared to the best of your abilities, you are a hard worker who cares a lot about the role you are interviewing in, and that your preparation and level of care will likely be very evident the day of your interview. With anything in life, you can also rest assured that with time and experience, your interviewing skills will sharpen. Using the tips and tricks above can help lessen any anxiety and allow you to approach your interview with courage.