Feeling nervous before an interview is completely natural. But through preparation as well as adopting a positive attitude you can have more control over your nerves and thus, more control in the interview.
Recruit Ireland spoke with psychologist and Managing Director of People Performance Neil O’Brien on how to manage the stress that interviews can sometimes trigger. He said;
“Stress is driven by a sense of loss of control. By following the steps below, we give ourselves more control and thus, lower stress.”
Neil’s top tips to calm pre-interview nerves:
Do your homework: Find out what type of interview it will be. Will it be general or competency-based? If competency-based, find out what competencies they will be focusing on. Once you know this, practice the hell out of your answers and get some second opinions on them!
- Know the job: Most adverts will have a job spec. Look at each point individually and give yourself a score of one out of five. In areas where you score lower, do your research so as to shore up any gaps. If you really understand the job, you will reduce the feeling of knowledge gaps.
- Who will be there: Find out who will be interviewing you. Surprises can cause stress so if you know in advance who you will be meeting, you reduce this.
- Know where you are going: Sounds simple but if you have to physically be there, work out how long it is going to take and plan to be there early. (Even if it’s a zoom, make sure you know where the link is and that’s it’s working).
- Focus on yourself: Get a good night’s sleep the night before and eat well on the day. By ensuring your body is physiologically well, it will cause less of a distraction in the brain so you can focus.
For more information on professional development visit www.peopleperformance.ie