Tips on How to Cope With Anxiety During a Job Interview

How To Cope With Anxiety During a Job Interview

Mental Health Awareness Week serves as an important reminder of the many mental health challenges we can all face on a daily basis, including the theme of this year’s week – anxiety.

Anxiety can affect all of us during high-stress situations, such as job interviews. At Quorum, we prefer to keep our interviews informal and relaxed. However, it’s natural for interviewees to feel nervous. Therefore, the following tips can hopefully help alleviate this anxiety, enabling our interviewees to relax, feel more confident, and contribute more effectively during the interview itself.

Let’s be honest here, interviews are scary. Interviewees want to make a good impression, and there is also the fear of the unknown—what questions am I going to be asked?—coupled with the fear of rejection.

Feeling anxiety and nerves is a common experience before an interview. In fact, our recruitment manager has often said that if you don’t feel a little nervous before an interview, then you probably don’t want the job that much!

For some, these feelings can be overwhelming. They can cause your mind to go blank, and suddenly you forget all your wonderful skills and experience. Most importantly, you don’t relax enough to let your personality shine through.

However, there are ways to help manage interview anxiety:

Be as prepared as possible. Research us via our website and company LinkedIn page. We don’t expect you to memorise and recite our whole website, but get a general feeling of our company and what we do so you don’t feel blindsided by questions or information.

Go over the job requirements and treat this like an exam. Write down a strong working example of each requirement in advance. This way, if you are asked a question about that element of the job requirements in the interview, the answer will come easier to mind.

If you fear your mind will go blank in the interview, then take a minute and take a deep breath. Have a drink of water (always have a bottle of water in the interview for this purpose!) and repeat the question back to the interviewers to clarify it in your own mind… “Ah, so you would like me to tell you about…”.

This often gives your brain enough time to kick back into gear. Don’t worry if it doesn’t. Just be honest and say, “My mind has gone totally blank, can we please come back to this question?”

Practice common interview questions in advance. You can even ask a family member or friend to go over these with you.

The day before the interview, whether it’s a Team’s interview or a face-to-face interview, get your outfit ready, iron that shirt, and polish those shoes so you don’t panic in the morning because your lucky shirt is in the wash.

Self-care is essential, not only in everyday life but especially before an interview, as it can help manage anxiety levels. Get a good night’s sleep, try meditation to help you remain present and calm, take a bath or read a book the night before to ensure you are relaxed or even do some exercise to work out some of that nervous energy.

The day before your interview, if it’s a Team’s interview, ensure you have Teams downloaded on whatever device you are using for the interview. If it’s a face-to-face interview, check the location. Which bus are you going to take to get there? Are you driving? Where will you park?

Navigating the process of logging into that Teams call or even ringing the doorbell at Quorum Towers can be nerve-wracking on the day, so try some deep breathing exercises to calm your mind and body beforehand. Deep breathing helps regulate your heart rate and relaxes your muscles.

Visualisation is a powerful technique that can help reduce anxiety. Close your eyes and visualise yourself entering the interview room with confidence. Imagine answering questions with ease and leaving a positive impression. By mentally rehearsing a successful interview, you can build self-assurance and diminish anxiety.

Replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations. Remind yourself of your accomplishments, skills, and qualifications that make you a strong candidate. Don’t dwell on failures; instead, focus on the opportunity ahead. The same applies during the interview itself. Don’t focus on the negative aspects, such as lacking a particular skill or not having prior experience with a certain technology. Yes, be truthful about your abilities, but emphasise the skills you do have.

If you have any specific concerns regarding interviews, don’t hesitate to reach out to friends, family members, or even the Quorum recruitment team. Share your concerns with them, as verbalising your feelings can help alleviate anxiety. Their reassurance and insights can provide valuable perspective and boost your confidence. For example, feel free to contact the Quorum recruitment team if you would like clarity on the interview format.

Final Thoughts

Remember, we genuinely want you to do well. We are invested in your success throughout the interview process, and the Quorum recruitment team will be your personal cheerleaders in the background, rooting for your success.

Are you interested in joining Quorum? – If you want to work with the industry’s best problem solvers, enhance business capabilities with technology, and create long-term impact, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to view all our current vacancies.