Benchmark

Managing Interview Stress

Here are some tips to put your mind at ease and equalize the playing field so you don’t feel as though you are in the glare of the spotlight.

1. Wear Your Favorite Clothes

The outfits that fits well and shows off your professional sense of style. The one you like best. Your lucky outfits or the one in which you are most comfortable.

 

Same with shoes. Go for comfort. The next thing you know, you are getting a lengthy tour of the facilities while breaking in a new pair of wingtips. Ouch!
Be as comfortable as you can in the clothes you choose for an interview. Its probably not a good time to experiment with a new look.

2. Start Preparations Early

Your interview is at 11:00 AM. Get up at 8:00 and give yourself some slow motion time. You don’t want to be rushed this morning. You want to be relaxed.

Try meditating for 20 minutes. Get in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and block out the world. Let your mind go blank and give yourself a few positive affirmations. There is something to be said for this power of positive thinking thing.

Keep your pace slow from wake up to arrival at the interview location. The stress of rushing to get there on time will have you vibrating like a tuning fork, and a good interviewer is looking for signs of stress. A hectic morning is not a good start for a job interview.

3. Put Your Materials Together

Bring a copy of your cover letter, resume, recommendations, licenses, certifications, awards and other information that might be useful during an interview.

Place these materials in an organized fashion in an attaché case, even if you have to borrow one from your brother-in-law.

4. Skip the Caffeine.

Or at least cut down. If you are a five-cup-a-day latte junkie, try cutting back to one on the morning of your interview. Caffeine is a stimulant. It gets youjagged and, remember, you are presenting the cool, calm and collected you to the interviewer so get comfortable and show them the real, decaf you.

5. Use the Interview as a Give and Take.

OThis kind of equalizes the playing field and takes the spotlight off of you. An interview isn’t an interrogation (though it may feel that way at times); its an exchange of information.

Asking appropriate questions shows you are interested in the company, it gives the interviewer an opportunity to talk and it gives the both of you an opportunity to connect on some level. Thats important especially if the HR interviewer is doing 20 different interviews that day. You will stick out as the one who asked some good questions and told a funny joke.