How to be More Confident in Job Interviews

Does your heart rate increase at the thought of giving an interview? If you are a part of the working population or are anticipating joining the workforce you cannot escape appearing for interviews. However, what you can do is be confident in them.

Believe us everyone gets quite nervous before interviews. It’s not just you and there is nothing wrong with you. It’s the interview anxiety that disrupts your normal confident self.

Confidence is a vital element in getting selected for a job. Hence, appearing confident during interviews is absolutely essential.

Here, we at lensa.com are going to give you some tips that will help you to be confident in your next interview.

Top 10 tips to appear more confident in job interviews:

• Have a confident body language

As it turns out power posing is not only important to appear confident it is also important to actually be confident. Body language is that part of our persona that communicates both to others as well as us. The way we sit, walk and use hand gestures also signals within us how we feel. Therefore, power posing or maintaining a power body language is essential for boosting our self-confidence.

A powerful body language signals our brain that we are confident even if we are not. This plays a role in the secretions of testosterone and cortisol that makes us feel confident.

• Do not aim to impress interviewers

A big reason for being nervous in interviews is because we aim to impress the interviewers. But the thing that is more important than impressing interviewers is connecting with them and communicating your thoughts to them with ease. When you think like this, it will reduce your nervousness and increase your confidence.

The main aim of interviews is to come across as likable. You need to be able to connect with the interviewers for this. When you focus more on connecting with your interviewers rather than your performance it will help with your anxiety.

• Use breathing techniques

To be confident, first, you need to relax. To achieve calmness and relaxation choose to make use of breathing techniques. Deep breathing and mindfulness force your mind to focus on the present rather than future outcomes.

Engaging in breathing exercises just before an interview can calm your nerves. When we become anxious our body goes in a ‘Fight or flight’ mode. In this mode, the blood flow to our brain is disrupted. This leads to low cognitive abilities.

To avoid this, deep breathing exercises should be done. Practicing mindfulness and breathing techniques can bring our brain to the present.

• Pretend to be confident

Shy people have a really hard time at interviews. For them, it’s best to pretend to be confident. A senior research associate and an IT industry leader, Dr. Sue Black who is shy herself had confessed that she used to pretend to be her more confident friend at interviews. According to her, this trick has worked for her.

If you are usually not confident in interviews you can follow Dr. Sue’s advice. The aim is to be relaxed enough to show interviewers how you are as a person (minus the shyness) and what you can offer the organization. If pretending to be someone else can achieve this feat then there is no harm in doing it.

• Get a pep talk

Ask your friends or family to give you a pep talk. Hearing great things about yourself will help you see your good qualities. This is a big confidence booster and it does work.

• Contemplate the worst scenario

This may seem a little contradictory to boosting your confidence, but trust us on this. When you make your mind think logically about the worst possible outcome then your nervousness will reduce.

The worst outcome of performing poorly in an interview is that you won’t get selected. Will it change anything else in your life? No, it won’t. It just means that you haven’t got selected and you may have to look for other opportunities. Does the worst situation seem so bad?  Maybe getting rejected can translate to getting even better job opportunities than the previous one.

• Curb anxiety with relaxation techniques

The day before the interview or on the morning of the interview engages in some relaxation exercises. Relaxation exercises can range from deep breathing to guided meditation. This calms the nervous system and will allow you to focus on the present.

Also, during the interview try to be relaxed and talk slowly. When we are nervous, we usually talk fast. Talking slowing and leaving enough pauses can help you handle the situation better.

• Visualize your success

Visualize everything going well in your job interview and that you get the job. Imagine that you enter the room with a powerful body language and you answer all the interview questions with confidence. Experts say that positive visualization or thinking about the positive outcome immediately boosts your confidence.

Further, if you think that you are the best person for the job. This also lowers your anxiety levels.

• Dress smart

If you look smart then you feel smart and this lifts your confidence.Dressing professionally is a must for interviews because it gives interviewers the idea of how you present yourself in the workplace.

Therefore, wear good fitting tailored clothes for the interview. When you dress the part there is a greater chance of getting the job.

Besides boosting your confidence, dressing professionally also shows that you respect the office environment and are willing to follow the norms.

• Focus on long term confidence

It’s not every day that you need to appear for an interview, but it’s almost every day that you should be confident. That’s why without focusing on some temporary solutions you should focus on the long term goals of always being confident.

Find out what makes you happy and what you want from life. Take proactive steps to achieve your desired results. You don’t need to pretend if you become a confident person in real and yes, it is possible!

Final Thoughts

Confidence is the key to achieving good things in life. Job interviews are just one stepping stone. These tips will definitely help you to be more confident in the interviews but we recommend you focus on your long term confidence.