Effective tricks to combat job interview anxiety

Many of us dread job interviews. The way the interviewer puts you on the spot by asking all those tricky questions and carefully looking for a reason to eliminate you from the hiring process. What is more, it happens to be not so hard to give them one: under all the pressure of preceding rejection, not to mention interview anxiety, something wrong just slips out of your mouth...

Over the years of conducting job interviews and assisting job hunters with interview preparation, I have found that overcoming interview fright is not an impossible task. Let me share with you a short list of techniques that have proven effective even for the shyest and least confident job seekers.

1. Preparation is key

Imagine yourself back at school. When you had an exam, what did you fear most? Uncertainty. That you come across a question you are unable to answer.

What would have happened, if you had known the answers to all the questions that could have possibly appeared in your exam? You would have had nothing to dread, because you would have had all the answers ready.

Same idea can be applied to job interviews. Luckily, with the range of all available resources, it is not so hard to predict the absolute majority of possible interview questions. If you put yourself in the mindset of the prospective employer, you can think of so many things you would want to hear from your ideal job candidate.

Master your content, and you will not have to fear the uncertainty of being asked something particularly challenging. When preparing for your next interview, cover the widest range of relevant interview questions. Create an imaginary "information cloud" in your head, and enjoy pulling out relevant ideas and combining various information chunks. This will help you develop a state of mind when you get comfortable improvising with your content.

2. Practice makes perfect

The more you practice, the better. At home, at dinner with friends, before going to bed - use any chance you have. Practice your answers out loud and to yourself, alone and with someone, in front of a mirror and while walking. Record your answers on your phone and play them later to yourself in order to reevaluate what you improve.

The ideal way is to set daily practice goals, and you will start noticing your progress in no time. You will improvise more confidently with no memorization and much less hesitation.

3. Rehearse your body language

Research shows that by exercising confident body language we trigger a positive cycle that impacts our mental state and makes us behave and feel more confident. Work on your posture, facial expressions, eye contact and hand gestures. Eliminate any unnecessary movements, such as fidgeting.

Focus on exhibiting presence: pay attention to everything that is going on around you rather than get caught up in your thoughts. You can practice this skill during any of your daily interactions. When you display presence, people around you feel listened to and valued.

Here you can find out more about confident body language tricks and charisma exercises.

4. Neutralize your discomfort

Focus on the big picture. Everything you may be dreading is only part of your perception of reality that may not be accurate.

Remind yourself of previous times when you felt similar fear and anxiety, yet you survived, and most likely already forgot what happened then. Imagine the worst-case outcome of the upcoming job interview, and realize that it will not be the end of the world.

Instead of dreading the interview, think of it as a great chance to have an enjoyable real conversation with interesting people. Experiment and have fun with it! Trust me, the process becomes enjoyable once you feel fully prepared.