What You Need to Do to Improve Your Pre-Interview Anxiety

Do you get pre-interview jitters? Well, if you didn’t it would be surprising. In fact, most people worry before they go into any job interview. And, it doesn’t always even matter if they want the job or not.

Interviews are scary because you know you’re walking into a situation where you’re about to be judged. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but any prospective employer needs to make some judgment calls about whether you’re a good fit for the company and the job.

But even if you don’t want the job, being judged can cause anxiety. And that anxiety can increase exponentially if there’s a lot riding on the interview. What’s worse is that there are inadvertent psychological effects of worrying that will only make things more difficult. When you’re interviewing for your dream job, you might struggle to get your anxiety under control.

And no matter why you might be anxious, it’s a good idea to improve your pre-interview anxiety before you walk into the building for your interview.

You’ll be more likely to get the job if you can prove you’re able to handle high-pressure situations with grace.

Here are some tips for handling your pre-interview anxiety.

1.    Prepare the night before

Much like a bad mood, anxiety has a tendency to snowball and get worse with each trigger you face. That’s why it’s important to remove any triggers for which you have control. This means laying out your clothes the night before and maybe brushing up on some interview tricks from successful business people so you know what may be coming at you. Another great idea is mapping your commute and allowing plenty of time to get ready on the morning of your interview.

When you map your commute make sure you check the traffic for the time of your drive. Depending on where you live, your commute could double in rush hour traffic, and that would really throw a wrench into your day. There’s nothing that’ll spike your anxiety like showing up late for an interview.

2.    Dress appropriately

As you’re planning what to wear for your interview, know that it’s better to be overdressed than underdressed. But you’ll want to keep your outfit in the same ballpark as the employees. So, if everyone wears jeans to work, business casual may be appropriate. Never wear jeans to an interview, though.

If you’re going with business casual, you’ll want to keep it on the more formal side. If employees wear suits, it’s easy. Just wear a suit to your interview. If you show up to your interview underdressed or massively overdressed, the mismatch may call attention to yourself and worsen your first-day jitters.

3.      Run practice interviews

Get a list of common interview questions for your industry, and ask a friend or family member to run through practice interviews with you. Not only will you get used to coming up with answers to common questions on-the-fly, but you’ll feel a lot more prepared and less anxious when you’re faced with a real interviewer.

It’s going to feel a lot scarier if it’s been a long time since your last interview. Practicing with a friend will help for now. For future, keep in mind that it’s always a good idea to keep your interview skills fresh. You can interview for jobs you don’t want before scheduling any big interviews. It may still feel scary, but there’s a lot less pressure when you don’t want the job you’re interviewing for.

4.      Keep focusing on the present moment

As you sit in the waiting room, patiently waiting for your turn, your anxiety is going to go into hyperdrive. To combat the inevitable, remind yourself to focus on the moment. Set your focus on something in the room and analyze it. Maybe it’s a picture or a plant. Force yourself to focus on the colors and textures in front of you.

In a few minutes, someone will call your name and you’ll have to meet your interviewer. But right now, it’s just you and the plant. Anxiety has a way of snowballing, so if you can clear your mind and focus on the present before the interview, you’ll keep that snowball small instead of feeding it.

5.      Prepare a list of questions

Going into the interview, you know you’re going to be asked if you have questions. Not only is it polite, but it’s a way for the interviewer to gauge your level of interest in the company and the job. Use this time to impress your potential employer with how much you actually know.

Before the interview, research a few things about company culture and ask questions about what you’ve read. If you can’t find anything and are at a loss for other questions, a good tactic is to turn the question around on the interviewer. Ask him or her about their experience working for the company. What’s her favorite part?

Interviews are always going to be intense, but you can reduce your interview anxiety a great deal by arriving prepared. Understand that any job is just a job. And if you don’t nail this interview, there will be another.

Good luck!

Author Bio:

Britney Johnson is a Digital strategist of Backlinks Media. She has good knowledge about digital marketing.  She can help any website to get rank within couple of months.