Job interviews can be daunting, often causing even the most confident individuals to freeze up. Let's delve into expert advice on overcoming this common hurdle, transforming nerves into confidence and hesitation into articulate responses.
What should you do if you freeze up during a job interview?
You want to do a good job, so you put pressure on yourself
- That pressure only makes you more anxious, as a result, you start doubting…
- Cherry-pick what makes sense to you and ignore any aspect of my answer that doesn’t fit right
Experiment to figure out what works best
Think about how you will keep your tone open, curious, and competent
- You don’t need to show you know it all, only that you’re clear-headed and responsible
- Experiment with a few different types of practice, or a combination of practices, to find out what helps you most
Treat managing anxiety seriously, but not personally
Practice, practice, practice
- The more you practice, the easier you will find it to put yourself in anxiety-provoking situations, and the more you will improve your ability to disrupt any rumination or harsh self-criticism that occurs after them
5 strategies to overcome anxiety:
Recognize how anxiety affects cognition.
- Over-prepare for your next interview by about 25%.
- Even if you unexpectedly become caught in a spiral, find solace in the fact that you’ll still remember 75% of what you know.
Draw on your strengths and history of solving problems
People don’t easily make connections between their past accomplishments, how they reached them, and how similar self-improvement strategies can be applied in new situations, and even address their current problems.
- Consider how approaches you’ve applied to solve problems in the past can help you improve your interview performance.
Ask for an outside perspective
Whenever we analyze our strengths and weaknesses, there will inevitably be aspects we get wrong
- The more anxious you are, the more this pattern will be skewed negative
- To gain a little clarity, practice and get unbiased feedback
- Find mentors, peers, friends, or family members – anyone you trust – who are willing to do a mock interview with you
