It starts with shortness of breath. Then, the sweaty palms. Next, the blood rushes to your face, and all you want to do is run away and escape. But this is no horror movie – it is a job interview. A mere 30 -60 minute meeting that could determine the course of your career FOREVER.

Between the pressure to make a strong first impression and the fears around public speaking, it is no wonder that most job seekers struggle with interviews. However, mastering these stressful situations comes down to overcoming both the internal and external factors that impact the job interview process.

Internal and external factors

Internal factors are those that the job seeker can actually control. These can be technical issues, such as guaranteeing that their Zoom setup is working properly or that they won’t be interrupted during the interview itself. Additionally, the internal factors relate to their attitude, including fears, overall anxiety, and even impostor syndrome.

External factors are beyond the candidate’s direct control, such as how many people will be on a panel interview or the company’s hiring procedures.

Internal factors

 We have all seen horror movies where we wish the characters would make smart choices. Why do they always run upstairs to get away from the killer instead of out the door? Sure, fear may be clouding their vision, which leads to these bad – and often fatal – decisions.

Job seekers often do the same thing. However, by addressing these concerns head-on, they can come across as the hero instead of another victim.

Fears

Interviews are a form of public speaking, which is consistently ranked as one of the most common fears that people possess – even more than death!

With that being said, preparation will save you in the same way that preparing for a speech will:

• Review your resume so that you can speak fluidly about your accomplishments.
• Practice your answers to difficult questions, especially the most common ones. Ideally, you should write out your answers as well as run the questions with a partner or career coach.

Anxiety

It’s no surprise that many job seekers experience a lot of anxiety around interviews. After all, a lot is hanging in the balance for every interview.

Some of the best ways to overcome anxiety are to get physically centered in your body:

• Conduct deliberate breathing exercises.
• Stretch before the interview.
• Do some tongue twisters to warm up your voice and get your mind and mouth working smoothly.

Don’t forget that your interviewers are (usually) humans, too! While they are judging your performance, mentioning that you are nervous because the interview matters to you can be a good way to connect with your interviewer.

Work history challenges

Most companies value a solid work history. So, the average job-seeker may think that blemishes on their background may knock them back in the interview. Some of these perceived issues include gaps in the work history, missing skills, lack of education, layoffs, terminations, lack of experience, or ageism.

If you possess any of these potential challenges, be prepared to confront them with confidence and point out some of the advantages of these perceived weaknesses:

• Employment gaps: Since the pandemic, employers are more understanding about gaps in work history, although you still want to emphasize transferrable skills, especially through ongoing education, volunteer work, or special projects.
• Missing skills: Stress any professional development or online courses you have taken to overcome the skills gaps.
• Layoffs: Many people have been laid off; it is not a reflection of your worth as an employee. Simply mention that the company had to downsize their staff due to circumstances beyond your control.
• Terminations: If you were let go for cause, briefly cover it IF YOU ARE ASKED. Then, state how much you learned from this.
• Lack of experience: One advantage for entry-level people is that you are very trainable. After all, you don’t have too many preconceived notions!
• Ageism: Employers do value experience; with older workers, however, their concerns are that they may not be as trainable or adaptable. Stress how your experience offers unique perspectives to old challenges while still being eager to learn new things.

A “do or die” attitude

The biggest pressure cooker for a candidate doesn’t even come from the company; It comes from the stress that they must nail this interview NO MATTER WHAT.

For example, if a job seeker gets only a handful of interviews despite applying to over 100 jobs, they adopt the “do or die” attitude. If they don’t land this job, it may be weeks before another opportunity presents itself.

 The solution has nothing to do with interviewing. Instead, they need to do a better job of applying to positions.

• It is more effective to do a perfect job of applying to fewer positions vs. slamming our applications to play the ‘numbers game.”
• Take 30-45 minutes to tweak your resume to your top-choice jobs to survive the screening computers (a.k.a., the applicant tracking system or ATS).

Your Goal:

You should land between 1 to 3 initial interviews for every 10 applications. If you aren’t reaching those numbers, there is something wrong with your resume or LinkedIn profile – or both.

But this is my dream job!

Very similar to the do-or-die attitude, only focusing on one job can be a problem in the interview. Hopefully, this position is your dream job, and the interviewers love to pieces. Then, it’s only the formality of negotiating your lucrative contract and setting your starting date!

Listen, I hope that happens. I really do. But the reality is rarely that glowing.

Instead, the enamored job seeker puts all their efforts into pursuing this one job. Then, as the interview process stretches over weeks or months, they stop applying to other positions. If they don’t get the job offer, they actually have to start their job search from scratch.

• Never stop applying to jobs until you have a firm offer in hand.
• When you DO get to interview for your dream job, review our other tips for handling your fears or anxiety to make a strong impression on the employers.

Up next…

In our next article, we will dive into the external factors that could impact your job interviews.

Do you have a burning question about interview skills? Please schedule a complimentary consultation with our career coaches at the Personal Touch Career Services to learn more about our online courses and interview coaching options:

https://www.personaltouchcareerservices.com/contact