Know What Your Scared of to Interview Your Best

When I do interview coaching with job candidates they often tell me they are nervous about the interview. As soon as I hear that statement I respond by asking them “what are you scared of”. This is an important question and I work with the candidate to get a specific and detailed answer.

First it is important to change the word “nervous” or “anxious” to “scared”. Nervousness or anxiety is generalized fear which is not anchored to a specific concern. By using the word “scared” the fear can be anchored to a specific concern and then the concern can be addressed.

Typical interview fears
Not being able to answer a question: Candidates often state they are scared they will be asked questions they cannot answer. Many candidates try to prepare for this by studying the most frequently asked interview questions. A good tactic, but it is impossible to prepare to answer all of the possible 2000+ interview questions. More importantly, understand your fear of not answering a question. What is your fear of what happens if you are asked a question and you do not know the answer? Does that mean you blow the interview and lose the job? Does it mean that you are not qualified for the job? Does it mean you have to feel stupid and inadequate? Does it mean you will never get a job? Identify these, often irrational, fears and decide if they are true. When you discover they are not, the fear will diminish.

Getting nervous and rambling:
Many candidates are aware of a tendency to ramble and go on tangents when nervous. To avoid this, never speak for more than two minutes at any one time and use a specific format like STAR (situation, task, action, result) to stay focused.

Not being qualified for the job:
On occasion a candidate does not understand why they were invited for an interview and they doubt their match with the position. The fear here is of not being qualified and performing poorly in the interview. To combat this fear realize that a company rarely wastes interview time on unqualified candidates. They must see something in your background and experience that interests them. A perfectly reasonable question for you to ask in the interview is ‘What is it about my background and experience  interests you in relation to this position?”

Ultimately, not getting the job:
The ultimate fear is doing poorly in the interview, not being offered a desirable position and feeling terrible about it. This is exacerbated when a person is unemployed and desperate to get back to work. Every interview has tremendous importance and a high price for failure. The best way to combat this fear is to have a active job search with multiple opportunities. If all your eggs are in one interview basket the interview becomes far more scary. If you have multiple interviews and the possibility of more, each interview is less important and less scary. Maintain an active job search!

Fear of being judged and rejected
Adults do not like to be in the position of being evaluated or judged by another person who has the ability to dramatically influence our lives. This feels powerless and scary. The reality is you are judging them as well. Do you want to work at that company and for that person?I understand you may be desperate for a job, however a bad job is worse than no job at all. You will be unhappy and then out of the job looking for another job with a short term job to explain on your resume.

The general strategy to dealing with interview fear is to state specifically what you are scared of and then understand the rationality of your fear.  Interviews are very subjective and are not definitive statements of your experience, qualification, or worth as an employee or person. Prepare for your interview, perform your best, keep active in your search and don’t be scared.

Use an InterviewBest Presentation to reduce your interview fears

How to Kick it Up a Notch to Interview Your Best

Which One Are You?

You are competing against 12-15 other interviewees, are you different?

If you read about job interviews every day like I do you would quickly realize that most of the advice is really elementary including:

• Good handshake
• Eye contact
• Be on time
• Dress right
• Don’t chew gum
• Be ready to answer questions

All good suggestions,  but way too elementary to win an interview in this competitive environment. So here are some things you can do to really improve your interviewing.

Your interview is a sales call be prepared to sell
An interview is a sales call; be a sales person. Like any good sales person, do a needs analysis (research) about the company and hiring manager, understand the value you will contribute to the company, and be assertive about selling yourself in the interview. An interview will only be a question and answer interrogation if you let it happen. Go in with the mindset of any good sales person, you have important information to communicate and you won’t leave without telling your story. There is no reason to be pushy or arrogant, but being assertive is a great quality in any employee.

Pay attention to how sales people sell things to you. What works what does not? Read information and books about selling. You don’t need to be a professional sales person, but you should develop a sales orientation to kick your interviews up a notch.

Be a Presenter
When is the last time you were in a sales situation and the sales person did not have a prepared sales presentation? Be prepared to do a brief focused presentation in your interview, even if you have not been asked to prepare a presentation for the interview. Your presentation should focus on how you meet the job requirements and why you are an excellent candidate. (Go to www.interviewbest.com for comprehensive interview presentation information). Just preparing to present will kick your interview up a notch.

Communicate your personal brand
Personal branding has become important for career management. What is your personal brand? Your brand is what people think and feel about you and it is what  makes you successful on the job. Determine what it is and be sure to talk about your brand in the interview. If you have successfully communicated your brand, when you leave the interview the interviewers will have your brand words in their mind. “That guy Joe is a really analytical team leader who is persistent and customer focused. We could use a person like him.”

Prepare a Strategic Action Plan
Companies are all about performance. Tell them what you will achieve in the first 30 and 60 days to provide value to the company. A Strategic Action Plan displays knowledge about the company, the industry, the job and communicates interest and motivation. Think of it as the implementation part of your sales presentation. Don’t worry about being 100% accuarate just presenting a plan will kick your performance up a notch.

Prepare success stories
People love to hear stories. Stories capture the imagination and stir emotions. Prepare stories of when you were at your best in you career and your life. Use these stories as responses to the questions you are asked in the interview. Question “Have you ever had to work with a challenging client?” Tell a story including what was the situation, what did you have to overcome, what actions did you take and what was the outcome. Don’t take more than two minutes to tell your story.

Many people ask me, “Are many job candidates doing these things?” My answer is “absolutely not” However, the candidates that are find themselves impressing hiring managers, acing interviews, and landing jobs!

Kick Your Interview Up a Notch