Think About Managing Anxiety Rather Than Trying To Eliminate It
When we recognize that anxiety is a natural reaction to a stressful situation, like an interview, then the experience no longer seems as out-of-control. To manage anxiety reactions in your body, focus on taking slow, abdominal breaths, and recognize that the feelings may be uncomfortable but they are not dangerous . To manage anxious thoughts, consider the situation as a challenge, rather than an insurmountable threat. Together, these approaches can normalize the experience of anxiety and make it feel less catastrophic. Bethany A. Teachman, Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia
Tips For Staying Calm During A Job Interview
Youre in the hot seat. Your palms are sweaty voice is shaky face is flushed and mouth is dry. Maybe youre bouncing your knees and talking too fast. Perhaps your heart is racing or your stomach is turning.
Youre nervous.
Why does this happen to so many job candidates?
When we perceive that we are in a high stakes situation, the brain doesn’t distinguish the high stakes of a job interview–where it would help to be calm, cool and collected–from the high stakes of being under threat from attack , says Dr. Tamar Chansky, author of Freeing Yourself from Anxiety. The body responds the same way–gearing up to run or fight for our lives. We experience a myriad of highly inconvenient and uncomfortable reactions which would make complete sense if there really were a tiger there.
In most cases, it may be the first time that the interviewer has met you and they will be making some initial judgments or first impressions, says Nichole Lefelhoc, associate director of career development and internships at Mansfield University. We want them to be good, of course, which makes us nervous. There could be some outlying issues that make us even more nervous for example, being unemployed or having little experience with interviews.
Lack of preparation is another common culprit.
This kind of anxiety can make it difficult to think clearly, Chansky says. Our focus is on hiding our anxiety and so our attention is divided.
Plan.
Know Where Youre Going
Another worry that interviewees have is being late. Address that fear head-on by knowing where you need to go.
Confirm the address and get directions. Were blessed to have GPS technology at our fingertips at all times. While you should undoubtedly take advantage of it on interview day, dont wait until youre about to leave to look at the route.
Spot any potential traffic risks and find the easiest route. If possible, find the location before your interview day. That way, youre not pressed for time and stressing out trying to find the building.
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Close Your Eyes And Clear Your Mind
Research All You Can About The Company
Dont just read about the company profile. Read about their values, their mission statement, their aspirations, their corporate social responsibility programs etc. By doing that, you can relate your answers to the values that are being highlighted in the company activities. If you know your interviewers name, try to look them up on Linkedin. Check their job description and try to incorporate their action words in their job description in your answers. Joe Wilson, Senior Employment Advisor at MintResume
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Start Giving Yourself Pep Talks Early
A pep talk addressed to yourself seemed helpful for me when I had my own job interview. It helped me clear out my anxiety days before my interview. Try to calm your nerves to avoid coming in with a clouded mind. Feeling confident will calm your nerves and in return, you can answer their questions properly and overall improve your performance. You can also show up wearing your best corporate attire. Looking good can boost your confidence. Dress for success, as some might say. William Taylor, Senior Recruitment Advisor at VelvetJobs
Don’t Succumb To Pressure
Once in a while, you may be interviewed by someone who grills you to see how you handle stress. It may be tempting to spiral into negative automatic thinking, such as “They know I can’t handle this job I should never have applied” or “They don’t really like me I’ll never get the job.”
Stop. If you find yourself in this situation, realize what the interviewer is trying to accomplish and don’t let them upset you. Know that the other candidates have been treated the same way and that it is not a reflection of you or your capabilities.
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Interview Anxiety: How To Calm Nerves Before An Interview
Interview anxiety is normal, but it shouldn’t stop you from doing your best. So how do you calm your nerves before an interview? Pick up solid tips here.
Interview anxiety is an almost universal feeling. Even the most well-prepared people can get the jitters before facing an interviewer. Thats why youand a ton of other peoplewant to learn how to calm nerves before an interview.
To help, we have tons of practical tips to overcome or minimize job interview anxiety.
Heres what we will discuss in this blog post:
Aside from learning tips to manage your interview anxiety, youll also learn ways to build up your confidence in this post. One interesting way to boost your confidence is through an apprenticeship. Youll gain confidence as you build in-demand skills under the tutelage of a mentor who can explain what they look for in job interviews.
Acadium Apprenticeships
Eat Well And Exercise
In the days leading up to your interview, try to take care of yourself physically so that you do not have to worry about canceling your interview due to illness. Several hours before your interview, consider going for a run, getting outdoors or taking a bike ride to help release nervous energy. Avoid caffeine and other triggers just before your interview. Instead, consider drinking water or green tea to help you relax.
Eat something light before your interview, so you dont have a dip in your blood sugar and your stomach doesnt growl. A heavy meal can make you tired, so eat moderately.
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Interview Nerves: How To Cope With Anxiety About Your Interview Or Assessment Centre
Download our Ultimate Assessment Day & Interview Guide 2022 here.
This article will tell you how to deal with interview nerves that awful feeling of anxiety that can affect us all at important moments in our career and life. Dont worry! As always weve got you covered theres tons of expert advice here and elsewhere in the Personal and Wellbeing section.
Turn Anxiety Into Excitement
You can turn you anxiety into excitement with the help of cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive reappraisal is a technique where you reinterpret a situation to change its emotional impact on you.
Lets take a look at this study by Harvard Business School assistant professor Dr. Alison Woods Brooks. In her study, she discovered that telling people to calm down before an exam makes them less likely to do that.
Instead, its easier for an anxious person to change anxiety to excitement. Your bodys response to anxiety and excitement is the same, but their effect on your performance is different. They both make your heart beat faster, but anxiety makes you perform worse, while excitement helps you do better.
So when youre thinking, I dont want to continue because I might make a mistake, try to reform your thoughts as, Im thrilled to proceed with this opportunity. Consciously telling yourself something helps your brain believe it, so something as simple as Im excited! can help you out.
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Know Your Resume And Predict Questions
Read through it many times over and imagine you are the interviewer scrutinizing it. This will help you to predict the questions, and allow you to prepare answers. If its a professional resume with gaps, be prepared to explain them. Learning how to prepare for your job interview using your resume will help you not to be nervous in a job interview.
Wear The Right Clothes
If youre someone who gets nervous easily, then wearing the right clothes can provide a small boost in helping you stay calm, comfortable, and not get too hot/anxious once the interview starts.
Wear professional-looking clothes but nothing too tight/constricting, and youll feel less nervous throughout the interview.
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How To Calm Nerves Before An Interview
- / By Biron Clark
Its normal to feel nervous before an interview, but you dont have to stay that way.
Taking steps to calm your nerves before an interview wont just help you feel better and more relaxed itll also help you show more confidence and deliver better answers.
In this article, well look at the best ways to calm nervousness before an interview so you can land the job!
Prepare For The Worst
Whatever your biggest fear is, theres always an answer for it. Lettuce in your teeth? Pack a compact mirror and floss in your bag . Worried about not having a good response to a tricky question? Be proactive and learn how to cover your tracks when you dont know an answer. By thinking ahead, you can truly rest assured knowing that even if the worst happens, youre more than ready to handle it.
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How To Relax Before A Graduate Job Interview
Youve secured a graduate job interview, and got stuck in to the preparation and research, but what happens when all the groundwork is done?
Nervousness the night before, along with the gnawing feelings and racing thoughts can be hard to shake, so here are some tips and advice to help you relax before your next graduate job interview.
Talk To Yourself Like You Would To A Friend
Feeling nervous or worried before a job interview is completely normal and to be expected. Its a high-stress situation, and you want to do your best. Take a deep breath. What would you say to a friend in a similar situation? Whats stopping you from saying and believing those things about yourself? How can you channel your nervous energy/ anxiety into preparedness? Focus on the things that are within your control and practice and rehearse thoughts that you believe about yourself and the job, like, I am highly qualified for this position, or I am prepared to do my best in this interview. Tricia Johnson, LCSW
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Research Your Position And Company
Dont fall victim to this easily avoidable problem! Before your interview, you should re-read the job post you applied for, or the information sent to you about the position if you were scouted. Read up on whats expected of that position, and find ways to relate your experiences to that.
Then, use websites such as Glassdoor, Monster, and to research the company youre applying to. Look up their companys website, learn about their accomplishments, products and services, and goals. On the flip side, you should look for any negative press about the company. You can assess if you want to proceed with the interview, or form a mental checklist about which topics to avoid or carefully approach.
Transform Nervous Energy Into Enthusiasm
One more strategy you can use to combat job interview nerves is to transform those nervous feelings into excitement and enthusiasm in the interview.
Hiring managers love someone who has positive energy and shows interest and excitement about the position.
So if you feel yourself getting a bit nervous, sit up straight, make good eye contact, and use that energy to show your best self to this potential employer.
Employers get excited when they see someone engaged, interested, sitting up straight in their chair, maintaining good eye contact and body language, etc.
And this is true whether its an in-person or remote interview.
Beyond this, you can say things like, This role sounds like it offers the type of work that Im genuinely interested in.
Or, The role sounds like it may be a nice step to build upon what Ive been doing in my last two positions. Im excited to discuss it further.
Turn that anxiety into excitement and enthusiasm both in body language and verbal cues, and youll build rapport with the hiring manager, show confidence, and feel less nervous.
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Take A Practice Trip To The Location
If the interview is in person and you’re driving to a location, take a practice drive there before the big day. Find the best route, parking and which entrance to use . That way you can estimate the time it will take and ensure you arrive on time. Being late to an interview causes stress right from the start. If you are not driving yourself, be sure to have the exact address and clear directions to share with the driver.
Divert From Interview Preparation
It may be tempting to spend the day rehearsing answers to the common interview questions, researching the employer, and otherwise cramming for your job interview.
Dont do that. Researchers from the University of Illinois found that getting too intensely forced on a single task leads to a reduction in performance, plus pump up your stress levels. So when you are obsessively preparing for the interview, you are sabotaging your cognitive controls, eventually leading to higher anxiety.
How do you battle this? Take timely breaks and let your mind switch to another simple task.
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Have A Cheat Sheet Of Positive Thoughts
Taking control of your thoughts can help with job interviewing anxiety. Our thoughts can create our feelings and by choosing to focus on more positive thoughts, we can shift our emotions.
For example, say your fear is, Im not going to know what to say. You could address that by saying to yourself, Ive practiced my responses to different types of interview questions and am prepared to ask a few good questions. In this way, youre challenging your anxious thoughts with evidence to the contrary. To reduce your anxiety, create a cheat sheet of positive thoughts to keep in mind whenever negative thoughts pop in your mind by jotting down your fears along with a few helpful coping statements. Dorlee Michaeli, MBA, LCSW
Put Cold Water On Your Wrists
Heres a lesser-known tip to calm your job interview nerves:
Run a bit of cold water across your wrists , or across the back of your neck.
These are areas of your body where blood flows near the surface of the skin, so you can cool your entire body quickly by placing cold water or a cold towel on these targeted spots.
Your whole body will cool down as the blood circulates, helping you feel more relaxed.
You can also wet a paper towel with cold water and lay it across the back of your neck for a few seconds, instead of dripping water directly.
However you do it, this can be a great last-minute trick to feel less nervous before an interview.
So keep this in mind as a way to calm interview nerves before leaving your home, or if you have access to a bathroom while waiting for the interview to start.
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What Is Freelance Writing
Freelance writing can be a great way to make money on the side, or even as a full-time career. But what is freelance writing, exactly? Freelance writing is when you write for clients, rather than for an employer. As a freelance writer, you can choose your own hours and work from anywhere you want. Want to start freelance writing? Here are nine tips to help you get started!
Come Up With Answers To Common Interview Questions
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Rationalize Your Fears And Your Perspective
Most of the time, your perception of the interview process and its outcome is whats causing you to be anxious. So as much as possible, before the interview, remind yourself that you wouldnt have been invited by the employer if you were not fit for the role. Remember that the company is already considering you as someone eligible for the position. Sam Nabil, LPC, CEO & Lead Therapist of Naya Clinics
Options For Anxiety Treatment
Talk Therapy Get help from a licensed therapist. Betterhelp offers online therapy starting at $60 per week. Get matched With A Therapist
Medication Find out if anxiety medication is a good fit for you. Brightside offers a free assessment. Treatments start at $95 per month. Free Assessment
Meditation & Mindfulness Developing mindfulness and practice can lower anxiety. Get started with a Free Trial of Mindfulness.com
Choosing Therapy partners with leading mental health companies and is compensated for marketing by BetterHelp, Brightside, and Mindfulness.com.
