Ways To Calm Interview Nerves

Perform Research On The Company

5 Ways to Calm Your Pre-Interview Nerves & Be Prepared! | Indeed Career Tips

Check a company’s website, job advert and social media page so that you have a good understanding of the company and the role. Employers often look for candidates who have taken the time to learn about their organisation and the open position. The research you perform on the company can also give you extra details that can help you think of additional questions to ask the hiring manager during your interview.

Consider important pieces of information about the company and the job. For instance, consider any challenges the company faces and how your skills and talents can contribute to overcoming or solving these challenges. During your interview, you can discuss what you know about the company and how your qualifications are a fit for the job.

Answer Like A Politician

Heres another in-interview trick for the advanced interviewee.

Are you worried about the hiring manager asking a question you dont know how to answer?

Just answer like a politician.

Have you ever noticed how politicians rarely answer difficult questions in a debate or interview? They instead tactfully reply with humor, deflection or redirection.

Quick disclaimer here I am not encouraging you to use this trick often. Its merely a safety net should you find yourself in the proverbial weeds.

The easiest way to do this is by answering a question with a question.

For example, if youre asked salary expectations, instead of replying with a number, you could simply turn the question around on the interviewer by asking: Do you have a number in mind?

Or, use a bit of deflection to showcase your knowledge on a different but related subject.

For example, as a graphic designer, I am constantly asked about whether I prefer InDesign, Photoshop or Illustrator. To which I normally reply something like: A professional graphic designer understands that different jobs require different tools. I then begin a mini-speech about what each tool is important and how each can be used most effectively.

Leverage Your Nervousness For Higher Performance

It’s possible to trick your mind into turning stress and nervousness into excitement and energy. When you’re anxious and your heart is beating fast, your body is producing higher levels of adrenaline, which is the hormone the body secretes when it senses danger. If you can reframe your mind to think of your uneasiness as excitement, you can use it to boost your motivation levels and make an excellent impression on the interviewer.

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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.

Start The Day Like You Mean It

Get up early on the day of your interview. Leave more than enough time to get ready: rushing around will only put you on edge. Go for a quick run or other exercise to help you burn off any excess tension.

Have a good breakfast something that will sustain you without making you feel sluggish, such as porridge or a poached egg on wholemeal toast. If youve lost your appetite, take a couple of bananas with you and eat a mouthful when you can. Avoid too much caffeine if possible: it can make you feel jittery and on edge.

Leave with plenty of time to get to the interview and on your way listen to some relaxing or motivational music to get you feeling calm or pumped up whatever works best for you!

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Be Accepting Of Unknown Answers

When you go into the interview, there’s always a chance the interviewer can ask a question for which you may have no answer. Instead of guessing an answer or saying something irrelevant to the job, stay calm and remind yourself it’s alright if you don’t have an answer for every interview question.

Be honest and explain that you’re not sure about the answer. Then, demonstrate your willingness to learn new skills, improve on weaker areas and build the knowledge you need for the job. Interviewers are more likely to appreciate your honesty and motivation to learn rather than answers that seem vague or unrelated to the position.

Accepting Your Anxiety Helps

Research has found that strategies involving reappraisal and acceptance were more effective than suppression to regulate anxiety during a simulated job interview. This indicates that learning to accept that you will be anxious, and reframing anxiety in your mind, will be more helpful than trying to ignore your anxiety.

How To Not Be Nervous In A Job Interview

It is normal to feel a certain degree of job interview nerves before and during a job interview. You may really want the job and know you have to perform under pressure, or you may be naturally shy.

You all know that the interviewer will be in control of the conversation and you do not know what questions will be asked. This can lead to anxiety and make you feel nervous in a job interview.

Dont worry. There are a number of tips for staying calm during a job interview which can help to reduce and manage your anxiety.

Try and keep positive and not put too much pressure on yourself. Youve probably read guides on how to write a resume and spent time applying for jobs. Youve made it through to the interview stage which is fantastic. At the same time, there are other jobs out there so its not the end of the world if you dont get the job.

Preparation is the key to overcoming job interview nerves. There are a number of steps you can take during the days leading up to the big day, and other job interview tips to help you calm on the day of the interview.

Anxiety Relief Technique No : The Peace Begins With Me Practice

5 Tips to *Calm* Interview Anxiety and Interview Nerves!

This is a practice I love doing throughout the day, and I even taught it to my son. Its very simple and powerful.

Tap your thumb to your pointer finger, then tap your thumb to your middle finger, then tap your thumb to your ring finger, and finally tap your thumb to your pinkie finger. That is your mudra. And as you do this, repeat the mantra Peace begins with me.

So, as you tap your thumb to your pointer finger, youll say peace. As you tap your thumb to your middle finger, say begins. As you tap your thumb to your ring finger, say with. And as you tap your thumb to your pinkie finger, say me.

Peace begins with me. Peace begins with me.

As you listen to me talk about how I learned to ease my anxiety in this episode of Dear Gabby, youll learn:

Why it took me three decades to remember my traumaand what I did when it came back to me
The specific techniques I turn to when I feel anxiety and fear creeping to the forefront of my mind and body
A simple mudra and mantra that I practice with my son to help both of us calm down
My personal tip for moving from a place of fear to a place of love

Trust that these practices will help you move from a place of anxiety, fear and struggle to a place of deep and lasting healing. Trust that your body will be your guide along the way, revealing to you what needs to be resolved. And know that freeing yourself from whatever it is that needs to be healed will be the catalyst for emotional and physical relief.

While It’s Completely Normal To Be Nervous About A Job Interview Following These Steps Can Help You Feel More At Ease And Confident So You Can Get That Job

Odds are, at some point in your life, you will get nervous as you prepare for a job interview. While it’s completely natural to find yourself anxious before the interview, being prepared and possessing the right attitude can go a long way in controlling your pre-interview nerves. Following these 10 tips can help you avoid this common predicament.

Breathe Deep And Slow

When we are stressed our breathing patterns change: the breath gets shallower, the rate quickens, and our hearts start to race. Breathing techniques can help to reduce your heart rate and make you feel calmer.

There are many different breathing techniques out there, but one of the simplest centres on slow breathing: breathe in normally but focus on exhaling slowly and steadily until your lungs are completely empty. Extending your exhalation will naturally deepen your inhalation. Keep doing this for a few minutes until you feel more relaxed.

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Challenge Negative Thoughtsand Emotions

Oftentimes, when we are experiencing nervousness, our brains tend to focus on negative thoughts and outcomes.

Dont get me wrong, in some ways, carefully considering things that could go wrong can help us be better prepared.

But hyper-focusing on bad scenarios can cause more harm than good.

So try challenging some of those bad thoughts by making a list of each concern and then asking yourself the following questions:

Is this bad thing really that likely to happen?
Has this ever actually happened in the past?
Is this a rational concern?
Is this really a big deal?
Will I care about this next week? Next year? In the next 5 years?

Fans of the TV show This Is Us will recall how Randall and Beth a married couple on the show often played the Worst Case Scenario game.

In the game, they speak every possible negative outcome out loud to one another no matter how outlandish. And in the process, they usually help each other realize that those negative thoughts are, for the most part, rather unlikely. Or at least not that bad.

But it turns out, that this practice doesnt just make for an endearing TV moment challenging negative thoughts and emotions can be an effective tool for reducing stress in real life too. In fact, its a thought exercise that therapists often ask their patients to practice as a means of reducing anxiety.

Anxiety Relief Technique No : The Heart Hold

Place one hand on your heart and the other hand on your belly. This may seem like a small movement, but it is miraculous. It enables you to send a message of relaxation, safety and connection to your entire body.

When your hands are in place, you might close your eyes. Then, notice where your anxiety lives in your body and extend even more love to it, just letting it know youre here and that you have so much compassion for this anxiety and want to connect to it.

Then Talk To A Supportive Friend

Talking to a friend who believes in you is a great way to calm last-minute nerves and give you confidence. If you have a few minutes to spare before the interview, give your best friend or mentor a quick call. You can ask them to provide specific input about your positive traits or other job qualifications.

Practice The Stop Method

According to executive coach Chris Charyk, this is the ultimate mental trick to tackle any stressful situation. It goes like this:

Stop what youre doing and focus on your thoughts.
Take a few deep breaths.
Observe whats going on in your body, emotions, and mind, and why youre feeling them.
Proceed with an intention to incorporate what you observed in your actions.

The importance of this technique is to slow down and be deliberate not just in the things you do, but the feelings you let take over. It reminds you that you have the power to banish your own fears, doubts, and nerves in even the most pressure-cooker situations.

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What Can I Take To Calm My Nerves

Now you must have heard instances where people take certain types of drugs to help manage their nerves and anxiety for their interviews, however this is not something I personally recommend unless your nerves and anxiety is so severe that it does actually require medical intervention which would then require professional medical help. So below I have gone through a number of ways of how to calm nerves and anxiety.

Give Yourself Enough Time

5 Tips to OVERCOME Interview NERVES! (How to NOT be NERVOUS in a Job Interview!)

Hopefully, you know exactly where you’re meeting your interviewer. The last thing you want to do is arrive late. By arriving early, you can run to the bathroom and double-check that you look presentable. If you’re feeling too hot, run some cold water over your wrists and dab some behind your ears to cool yourself down. Take deep breaths to slow down your heart rate.

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Visualising Yourself Has Been Confident Within The Interview

Its a well-known fact that some of the best athletes in the world use visualisation to help them perform better in a big game. What this means is that one visualises themselves performing optimally and brilliantly in the game and the same would apply with a job interview. To visualise yourself from the moment you greet the interview and make eye contact to seeing yourself sitting down in the chair demonstrating positive body language and when youre speaking and answering the question. Youre applying the STAR interview technique with ease and oozing confidence. Youll find that when youre in the interview that it now doesnt seem as daunting and youre able to actualise some of the positive and confident behaviours that you visualised.

How To Calm Anxiety With Prayer

Prayer is a powerful spiritual tool for calming anxiety.

Like meditation, prayer allows us a few sacred moments to simply breathe and communicate with the most high.

When performed correctly, prayer establishes a relationship with God that fosters adoration, faith, and gratitude. We draw nearer to God through prayer and learn more of His will for our lives, discovering perfect peace through His grace.

To experience this yourself, try our 21-day prayer plan, specifically designed to calm anxiety and worry.

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Secondly Boost Your Confidence With A Pep Talk

Giving yourself a pep talk is one of the most effective ways to calm your nerves and boost your confidence. Consider telling yourself that you deserve this job and that you are qualified for it. Some people find it more effective to say these encouraging statements out loud. If you can hear it, the more likely you may be to believe it.

Make Small Talk With The Receptionist

This Revelation Will Calm Your Interview Nerves

If youre going for a face-to-face job interview its very likely that the nerves are beginning to kick in soon after you arrive. As the nerves and anxiety increase, naturally that results in you feeling less calm. Therefore, one of the ways to stay calm is to keep yourself engaged and normalise the whole situation and an easy way to do this is to make small talk with the person on reception. They are usually very friendly and will always respond to you with a smile. What you talk about with them isnt important. You can talk about the weather for your journey to the job interview but just having a normal interaction with someone minutes after going in for your interview can really make a huge difference. Through this approach your nerves will reduce and will humanise the whole interview process for you.

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Listen To Calming Music

Listening to music is another great way to feel less nervous before an interview.

A few hours before your interview, sit down in a space without too many distractions and listen to calm, slow music.

I recommend music without words, and something calming like classical music.

Slowly breathe in and out, shut your eyes, and try not to think about much of anything over the course of a few minutes .

And steer clear of fast, intense music when youre on the way to your interview!

Listening to tranquil music will slow your breathing and heart rate and relax your mind so that you can feel confident when entering the interview room or online meeting.

Treat The Interview As One Of Many

One of the easiest things to do when searching for a job is to focus on one job interview. Putting too much pressure on yourself to succeed can cause nervousness during the interview. Instead of focusing on a single meeting, remind yourself of the other opportunities you can find, should the present interview have an outcome opposite to your expectations. Another benefit to considering multiple interviews is the opportunity you have to practise and develop your interviewing techniques. This can support your advancement in future interviews, too.

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How To Conquer Interview Anxiety

The Indeed Editorial Team comprises a diverse and talented team of writers, researchers and subject matter experts equipped with Indeed’s data and insights to deliver useful tips to help guide your career journey.

Video: 5 Ways to Calm Your Pre-Interview Nerves & Be Prepared!

In this video, our host Sinead offers five tips to help calm your interview nerves and feel more confident.

Interviews are a necessary part of the job-seeking process. They give you an opportunity to discuss your qualifications, background and skills with an interviewer or hiring manager. You may feel nervous or anxious as you prepare for or go through an interview. Learning tips to reduce anxiety can help you show your best self to the interviewer.

In this article, we discuss interview anxiety and offer 12 ways to help you overcome this anxiety.

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