The reason behind this may be because we want to get the job we are applying for and realizing that there are hundreds of applications for the same post makes a person lose his confidence and get nervous.
Also what makes us more nervous is, an interview isn't just a casual interaction between potential employers and candidates.
It's also a formal meeting where the interviewer keeps observing the body language and gestures are being closely scrutinized, and every comment is taken into account. Even the most qualified candidates can lose their cool and spoil the interview if they are unable to handle such a difficult situation that puts their fate in jeopardy. Nervousness interferes with the brain's ability to operate properly, which explains why some people struggle to stay focused during an interview.
But that doesn't mean you should lose your chance of getting selected by getting nervous.
Getting prepared to attend an interview is more crucial than wasting time waiting for a response from the company. Because if not for the current vacancy then the preparation you are doing is going to help you in future for another vacancy.
So, here are ten tips that I have drawn based on the opinion of Senior level HRs. Practicing them every day will really help you in gaining confidence and getting comfortable while attending the personal interview with various companies.
1. Smile
Imagine you are conducting an interview and the candidate enters your cabin with an expressionless face. What will be your thought? you will lose interest in having a conversation and will conduct the interview for the namesake. isn't it?
Smiling when entering the HR's cabin not just shows your interest in meeting with the interviewer but also depicts that you have the confidence to meet unknown people and get well going with them (which is very important for getting along in the team).
Smiling creates a pleasant atmosphere which is important for you to get comfortable while facing the interview.
Make a habit of smiling at unknown people when you meet them. This will help you to gain confidence and you won't hesitate while initiating an interaction.
2. Slow down the pace of talking
The normal speed of talking includes 140 to 170 words per minute. Speed higher than that or lower than 140 words can really affect your interview.
Studies show that we tend to speak faster when we are stressed or excited.
Events such as personal interview do create a stressful situation in mind and often leads to creating a psychological disturbance that affects our speed of the speech.
Speed of talking plays a very important role. It is the process where we convey our thoughts to the other person. In short, our speech should help us to let the listener understand what we're saying and should be able to grasp the message that we are communicating.
Along with that, we should also be able to keep the interviewer's interest alive in us through the mode of communication.
Increased speed of speech can make the listener lose understanding of what you are saying and all this can create an adverse effect in conveying your thoughts. Ultimately, you fail to express yourself clearly.
A personal interview is one of the important events in everyone's life. Hence trying to give a flawless interview is everyone's wish. Therefore concentrating on the speed of speech is also important.
Practicing reading at home can really help in improving and controlling the speed of speech.
3. Avoid getting distracted
Getting too many unnecessary thoughts about insignificant things before attending the interview can lead you to lose focus and get distracted.
Distraction often leads you to behave in a cringe way which can affect the chances of you getting selected for the position. So, no matter how much your candidature fits for the vacant position if you can't gather your focus towards the interviewer and reply in the most suitable way. Hence avoiding distraction is a must during the interview.
Mobiles are the primary source of distraction. The notification you receive can divert your mind from something important you were discussing.
Secondly, the posture that you are carrying in front of the interview panel. You won't feel relaxed and calm if you don't get yourself seated with the most comfortable posture. Wrong posture can lead you to repeatedly move your body to make yourself comfortable.
The next thing you should watch out for is nail-biting, touching your own skin, pulling the skin. This may give you satisfactory feeling but it may draw all attention and thereby you losing concentration.
In such scenarios, meditation can really help you to be focused all the time.
Being focused during an interview helps you to stay calm, alert, and attentive towards the recruiter.
4. Eye Contact
Eye contact is one of the important gestures or body language that helps you to connect with people and making people feel your nature as more pleasant.
During an interview, eye contact with an interviewer conveys the level of confidence and self-esteem, which are necessary for getting selected.
Making eye contact does not mean you should stare at the interviewer. Staring continuously can make the interviewer uncomfortable. Normal eye contact should aim at making eye contact slightly higher than normally you would. Eye contact while in conversation is more important.
Eye contact is the kind of ability that keeps the listener engaged and interested in the conversation that they are having with you. Hence, following this tip can really help you in real life.
5. Posture while sitting
Choosing the right posture while facing the interview impacts a lot on your overall interview remark. Sitting straight in your seat during an interview sends out a message that you are trustworthy and can be dependable on you.
Slouching while sitting creates a bad impression of you on the interviewer. It shows that you have careless behavior. Such sitting postures should be avoided when you are in a very important meeting.
Try maintaining a steady balance in your upper body while facing the interviewer.
6. Be relaxed
Just like posture and eye contact are important, the same way being relaxed is also important. We have faced many of the interviews by now but what we forget while facing the interview is, to be relaxed and keep the body loose without holding ourselves. This is important as it keeps your confidence alive.
It is that ability that helps to stay calm and thereby helps to concentrate more on thinking while answering the questions.
Whether you are appearing for an interview online or face to face in real, being relaxed helps in both ways by keeping you calm and composed.
It is interesting to note how it works? When you keep yourself relaxed, your heart rate slows down and your stress level which is very high during such events like interview gets lower and you get the safe feeling and behave the same way as you at your home. This helps in increasing the thinking level.
By practicing yoga and carrying exercises that promote calmness and relaxation in the body can help you to become an expert in it.
7. Breathing pattern
Getting anxious during an interview is common. Seeing the panel of interviewers looking at you when you enter the room itself makes you feel the environment is very challenging and thereby getting anxious is common.
Getting anxious during interview impacts the breathing pattern.
Anxiety can make you breathe fast which causes discomfort and distraction.
To avoid this, practice deep breathing. This helps when you get nervous. Also, practice taking a pause before taking a deep breath. This habit will help you to control the rhythm of breathing. and thereby you'll be able to respond comfortably.
The advantage of making a habit of adopting a breathing pattern is it will make you calm and in getting confident while talking without getting nervous.
8. Never byheart
Every interview is different. You cannot predict the questions that will be asked by the interviewer.
The sets of questions that will be asked by the interviewer entirely depend upon his mood and his interest in conducting the interview.
Many times it happens that, the interviewer wants to test your IQ hence he asks questions that can put stress on your brain or some interviewer may want to know your opinion on a particular issue. Whereas some are like those who directly ask you the questions that you expect.
So, here you'll simply waste your time if you try memorizing the answers. That may give your satisfaction that you're ready for the interview but your entire interview process will get messy if you miss a single line from it.
Hence, the best you can do is make the main point of your experience. And understand the role you are performing in detail. There are many sites that also elaborate the role of positions, so make a study on it and understand it well.
Reading on current affairs will also be an added advantage for you because it can keep you prepared if any questions related to current issues are asked.
In short, understand the experience you have received from your past and present job and how you performed there, and how your presence in the team helped the company. If you study all this well, no one can stop you from getting succeeded in grabbing the post you are appearing.
9. Know more about the interviewer
One of the main reasons why we get nervous during interviews is that during preparation time we stress more on thinking about the interviewer. We become a kind of anxious thinking about how that interviewer will be, what will be his personality etc. In short, being anxious to know about the interviewer leads to more nervousness and wasting our time unnecessary.
So here, what best you can do is once you receive the details of the interview schedule and interviewer's details, try finding more about him.
Thanks to the internet, we can search for a lot of information with one tap.
So, once you get the name of the interviewer, you can try finding him on social sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. Facebook will give you a glimpse of how his personal life is or how he's personally. Whereas, LinkedIn will give you information about his professional life and you can get an idea about his overall personality.
This will help you to get prepared accordingly and you know the looks of the person with whom you'll be interacting and thereby you not getting anxious on this topic.
10. Try personality matching
This is one of the secret that can help you get succeed in passing the interview. All you'll have to do is pay attention to the interviewer while he's meeting you in the interview.
Try to meet the same level as his and follow the same way of expression as he's following, also try to match your speaking pitch with his. In short, try matching your personality with him. This will create a positive impression and a good rapport with him.
You can find about the interviewer from social sites that can help you get an idea about his overall personality and you can use it as a tool to make yourself overall ready to appear for the interview the way he mostly prefers to.
In short, this will help you to get attention from the interviewer and a positive impression of you in his mind.
Conclusion
As the world is getting more advanced, qualifications and experience are not just enough to get selected. Employers lookout for a candidate who has a high level of energy and personality that matches the environment of the workplace.
Hence, concentrating on self-improvement is also equally important while getting ready for an interview because it is self-improvement that will ultimately help you to gain confidence to face any type of interview with any level of an interviewer.
Practicing these ten tips will really help you in gaining confidence.
We missing out any point? do share with us in the comment box.
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