How To Control Your Nerves For A Job Interview: 5 Tips
Job interviews are often stressful situations by their very nature.
In most cases, as candidates for a position, we do not go to them simply to test the waters and obtain information about a company that is interesting to us, but even before it begins we already think about the possible alternative futures that we find. They wait if they are accepted. In other words, they are contexts that we perceive as if each one of them could radically change the course of our lives.
However… How to control your nerves in a job interview? Although we cannot completely control our levels of anxiety and stress, it is indirectly possible to influence them to reduce them.
Nerves in a job interview: what to do and how to control them
The expectations we create during job interviews make our nervous system go into a state of alert when the time approaches to enter the office where the recruiters will evaluate us. Subconsciously, we try to be aware of everything that is happening around us to maximize our chances of success.
It is clear that a certain level of nervousness is positive, because it leads us to think about something that is important to us and, in this way, makes it more likely that we do not leave anything out when planning how to approach that issue. However, if the level of stress and anxiety is very high, it is also more likely that we will get stuck trying to respond to many things at the same time. EITHER that, in general, we give the image of not being prepared to face a challenge
The latter is especially relevant in the case of job interviews, since in them the superficial and more “automatic” assessment of people counts a lot as a mechanism for discarding candidates. The idea that if we appear too weak and imperfect when interviewed by Human Resources recruiters, it in turn makes us feel more nervous, so that it becomes the perfect breeding ground for the self-fulfilling prophecy to appear. Believing that we can be too anxious causes anxiety levels to rise.
Therefore, combating nerves in a job interview is a challenge, given that not only do we have to present our candidacy in the most appealing way possible, but we also have to try not to involve our emotions too much… which is somewhat more difficult if we do not have many job offers to choose from. That said, and taking into account that each case is unique, let’s see what they are. the strategies we can adopt to cushion the effects of stress
1. Sleep well
Although it may seem counterintuitive, not getting enough sleep makes it more likely that we will feel nervous and restless before situations in which we notice that we do not have control Yes, for most of the day we are sleepy and everything in us seems to work more slowly, but when situations arise that demand a lot from us, we feel less prepared to deal with them. As a result, our entire nervous system invests more energy in remaining generally alert, even though this leads us to be more imprecise in each of the specific tasks to be performed.
So, something as simple as sleeping well and regularly is one way to reduce the chances of being too nervous in a job interview.
2. Don’t fantasize
There are many people who tend to fantasize a lot, imagining the best of possible futures starting from a key milestone which, in the case at hand, may be the job interview itself. This is stimulating, but it also makes us prone to obsessing over a selection process that does not have to be so decisive, nor does it have to require so much attention and care from us to go through it satisfactorily
In this case, the fear of frustration is what leads us to do everything possible to make that ideal life that we have imagined become a reality. To prevent this type of problem, everything involves trying to be realistic and combining the excitement of a potential new job with taking into account the more than likely imperfections of the position we aspire to fill.
3. Prepare for the interview
Obviously, the better prepared we are for the interview, the more likely it is that we will feel prepared ourselves to go through this stage of the selection, leaving a good taste in the interviewers’ mouths.
Therefore, the ideal is to make a list of objective needs that must be met in order to go to the interview in conditions, ordering them by priority and importance , and fulfill them before the indicated day arrives. For example: buy a suitable wardrobe if we don’t already have it, think about what we will say when they ask us why we are interested in the position, know how to get to the offices where the interviews are held, do a little research on the company we are interested in. has the vacancies, etc.
Leaving with plenty of time for the job interview is highly recommended to control your nerves, since allows us not to sweat or get tired and, with this, we go through the unpleasant experience of arriving at the office appearing to be exhausted and disheveled. Additionally, this will allow us to carry out the following advice.
5. Do relaxation exercises
If possible, do relaxation exercises in the waiting room. They should be very simple and basic, focused on breathing and muscle relaxation , since you obviously can’t do things like stretch on the floor or adopt strange postures. This way, just before presenting yourself to the HR staff, your stress levels will be lower.
