Become friends with your job interview anxiety
Cayla Dengate
Senior Editor and RAP Champion at LinkedIn. I’m also studying Disaster and Emergency Management.
When it comes to job interview nerves, it’s tempting to try and rid yourself entirely of anxiety, but mindfulness expert Michael Bunting has other ideas.
He says it’s a better strategy to accept the nerves rather than reject them.
“Accept your discomfort, accept the anxiety,” he tells LinkedIn.
“The worst thing that most people get into is that they reject, resist and try and fight their own anxiety. They tell themselves, ‘If I have this anxiety, I will fail. I shouldn't have this anxiety. Something's wrong with me for having some anxiety.’
“It is totally normal, understandable, acceptable and usual to feel anxious when you're going into a job interview. Getting a job can be the difference between paying your bills that month, there's a lot of stake.”
Does that mean you walk into a job interview a trembling ball of nerves? Well, no. Bunting says it’s possible to befriend your anxiety by treating yourself with kindness.
“It's better to be friends with the anxiety. It's almost like you want to greet it and go, ‘Oh yeah, there's the anxiety. It is normal. I don't have to fight this anxiety.’
"There's a principle with a mind or mindfulness that whatever you resist persists, it gets more intense. Don't fight your anxiety. Accept it. Allow it to be there.”
As for that moment when the job interview kicks off and you’re having almost an out-of-body experience, Bunting has a science-backed trick to calm everything down.
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“It sounds almost cheesy, but the first step is literally feeling your feet. As you're reading this now I'd invite you to just notice your feet — are your feet cool or hot, dry or sweaty? Just for a moment, feel your feet. That reengages the prefrontal cortex, literally as you ground yourself, the mind settles, and then you can engage. It is that simple.”
Have you ever been nervous in a job interview? What did you do to stay calm? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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Finance Executive
3 年100% agreed thank you for sharing
Helping small business owners identify and position their business’s unique value with clarity and confidence | Brand Positioning Specialist | Fractional Chief Content Officer | Trainer & Assessor
3 年Such a useful article, thank you for sharing Cayla Dengate. I absolutely love the title. Of course, I have been nervous in interviews and these are some the things that have helped me reduce the anxiety. You will see that almost of it involves action. Action makes me feel more in control, prepared and as if I am moving in the direction that I want. 1. I pay attention to the requirements of the role and ensure that I understand what is required. It's easy in the lead-up to get caught up in many things and you lose the details. You need to know what they are hiring for and connect it to yourself and how you see its a good fit. 2. I look up the company. How can I not in this era when there is so much out there to review and take in? I try to find mutual connections, look at the company's social media feed for engagement, for news, for key people. Get a sense of the company but of course, being able to connect with someone who is there or who was there can really help. I try to anticipate the kind of questions they may ask and how I would respond. 3. I turn inward and finding all the info out there, then assess how this is a fit for who I am at this point in my life and then come up with a set of questions that I need answers to. What do I need to know about the organisation and its direction? Its culture? I think this is something that I have become more emboldened about with age. It's certainly not something I did that much of in my 20s but I think the current generation has so much more available to them as well which makes it easier. Strangely enough, all of this helps me get calmer. Then I let go. I have done all I can to prepare myself. Either they take me as I am or not. It's not a resignation. It is an internal assurance of preparedness. Having ticked my own boxes, I come into the situation feeling more prepared and able to handle things, even the unexpected. I also keep to my core sense of self. I am who I am and nothing should change that. That is freeing because there is nothing you're really aspiring to become to fit into some mould, you are simply you.
#Meditation #Tarot reader
3 年Well said
Senior Social Work Mental Health Clinician at Eastern Health
3 年Mindfulness is important with all thoughts and feelings...very useful practice...just 10minutes a day, or even work it into your schedule for 30 second time out sessions.
I help job seekers, career changers and midlife women desiring balance & support to land their dream jobs, easily change careers, confidently ace interviews and get to love Mondays again ? PM Me To Start Now
3 年Great article and many thanks for sharing about something we've all gone through