One of the most intimidating stages of getting a new job is surviving the interview. It may be a group interview, a one-on-one interview, or my personal worst nightmare, an interview panel.
We’ve all been told the standard methods on how to prepare for a job interview – you know, the whole “research the company, practice your interviewing skills, have your clothes and questions prepared” and so forth.
And don’t get me wrong, these steps are crucial when it comes to going for a job interview. However, preparation is about more than just jotting down a few words or finding out the main goal of a company.
Here are 5 tips to help you prepare for a job interview:
1. Try power posing
Power posing is a hypothesis in psychology that claims if that by taking on a ‘powerful’ posture, they can produce positive hormonal and behavioural changes.
By adopting a more dominant posture, this body language can help reduce anxiety, reduce stress, and enhance your confidence.
Immediately before you go into your job interview, hold the ‘superwoman’ pose in the bathroom: put your hands on your hips, keep your back straight and head held high. This sends messages to the mind that you’re calm, confident and in control.
Talk about faking it ’til you make it!
2. Recite self-affirmations
Here’s one you can do while you’re doing your power posing, although you might want to do it in the privacy of your own home.
Affirmations are positive statements that can help you elevate your self-confidence and master any self-doubt, as well as negative beliefs. The more you rehearse these affirmations, the more you start accepting them as truth.
Before the interview throw yourself some positive, uplifting statements. We all behave in the way we see ourselves – the trick is to deliberately instil empowering beliefs about yourself.
Take a long, hard look in the mirror and tell yourself that YOU’VE GOT THIS, GIRL!
3. Visualise and conquer
Visualisation is a mental rehearsal commonly practiced by athletes. It is a very underrated yet incredibly powerful psychological strategy that can help you achieve what you want.
Before your interview, maybe even the night before, close your eyes and visualise yourself walking into that job interview and absolutely smashing it.
Don’t rush this — try to picture every little detail of the interview including your surroundings, your posture and your clothing. Try to feel those positive emotions, too.
Using this technique will help boost your confidence and allow you to perform with a more positive mindset. It can also help you calm your nerves and prepare you for the real thing.
4. Turn the interview into a conversation
A good interview often turns into an engaging conversation between the interviewer and the interviewee. In order for this to occur, you need to be completely present within the interview and not leave all your questions until the end.
Let your voice be heard during the discussion and ask questions after answering theirs. The questions should flow naturally and in context of the discussion. Then, whatever other questions you have left that haven’t been addressed can be asked at the end.
Of course, you shouldn’t be asking your interviewer what they got up to on the weekend – you still need to keep it professional. But treating it like a conversation can also help take the pressure off during the interview.
5. Just relax
During this stressful period, with all the note taking, self-affirmations and power posing, it’s important to just take a step back and relax.
Take slow, deep breaths or other breathing techniques, listen to calm music or even practice meditation – anything that will keep your mind relaxed!
Staying calm and confident can help you control the outcome of the situation.
This article was written by Simran Popal and originally published on A Girl In Progress.
