Cortisone vs. Cortisol Interviewing

How many of you love meeting a new person who’s going to grill you with questions? And you might even believe some of those questions are “trick questions,” asked specifically to see if he/she can trip you up.

If you’re like many people, interviewing for a job isn’t anywhere close to the list of things you like to do, and in fact, it may actually be at the top of the list of things you DON’T like to do! And to make it even worse, your mental and physical reaction to going to an interview isn’t very positive.?In fact, it’s the opposite.?For some people, they physically feel nauseous. ???

So…at that point do you ask for cortisone, or do you blame it on cortisol? While those two words sound very similar, and they both may have an application here in our interviewing scenario, they actually have very different meanings.??

Cortisone vs Cortisol

Cortisone is a steroid hormone injected into your body to treat inflammatory conditions as well as joint swelling and pain.?Cortisol is a steroid hormone that our adrenal glands release into our body and it mainly helps regulate our body’s response to stress. This reaction is very useful because it literally helps keep us alive, in coordination with the amygdala, that triggers our flight, fight, or freeze response.??

The odds are much higher that you’re experiencing a high cortisol release (not cortisone!) as you anticipate and experience an interview. The mental stressors your brain sends to your body releases the cortisol, and your body then processes through it, usually mixed with a strong dose of adrenaline. The common outcomes are fidgeting, sweating, talking more quickly, and our brains not processing as clearly and logically as we might want.?

Ok, so what can we do to eliminate, or at least minimize, the reactions our body has to what we perceive to be a stressful event, the “dreaded” interview??

Be Prepared

First, be prepared. The interviewer is 99% certain to ask you questions about two primary topics: you and your former employment.?So, there’s not a wide field of information for which you need to prepare.?Be ready to respond with a close to memorized start to the inevitable question (in some form or another), “So…tell me about yourself” (see our blog specifically about this question at HERE).?Have a couple of sentences you feel comfortable with that highlight what’s unique about you and your experiences and how those might apply to the role. ??

For example, I might respond with something like, “I’m a retreaded CPA turned HR guy, and I believe I can help organizations stay bottom-line focused while deploying people engagement strategies.” That gives the interviewer a quick summary, highlights one of the unique attributes I think I possess, and gets me out of the gate with my overall answer with a sentence I can get very familiar with.?I then spend about 75-90 seconds sharing a bit of a color commentary on my employment history and who I am as a person.?

Focus on Your Breathing

Second, and this sounds a bit elementary, but it’s an aspect that is easy to get away from: focus on your breathing.?Going through some techniques right before the interview can help your body better absorb the cortisol and adrenaline and stabilize your potentially racing heart. Arriving early for the in-person interview, or ensuring your environment is all set ahead of time for the Zoom interview, then allows you to group yourself together and practice some deep breathing techniques.?

Slow Down

Third, slow down.?Cortisol and adrenaline tend to cause us to speed up our speech. And then we’re talking faster than our minds may be responding with cohesive thoughts (ruh roh!).?If you can engage in conversation with the interviewer by asking some questions up front, you’ll find yourself easily translating into a simple exchange with him/her rather than feeling like you’re being interrogated. ??

Know Your Mindset

Last, know your mindset. Are you dreading the interview? A process that should be seen as a simple matching exercise to evaluate if what you do best is what the organization needs most.?Or, are you genuinely curious about the potential for you within the new organization and role??Knowing your tendencies, capturing them, and then shifting your thinking to authentic curiosity will downshift the cortisol flow into your body. It’s simple, but often not easy. If you’re like me, you’ll need to practice this a bit.?

Scripture has a lot to say about us getting stressed and fearful of what lies ahead.?Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.” 1 Peter 5:7 states, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” Just eleven words, and I encourage you to read it 11 times, with a different word being emphasized with each iteration. For each reading, think about what the emphasized word means to you, and I believe the verse will become even more alive for you.?

Remember, God created us for good works that He prepared for us long ago. Be diligent in your interview preparation and go get ‘em!

Blessings!?

Dave

Dave Sparkman currently serves as the volunteer Crossroads Career board chair and local ministry leader. He is also the founder and managing director of Spark Your Culture, a corporate culture consulting firm. Prior to that he worked at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune #5 public company, serving in the role of Chief Culture Officer. His unemployment experience came from the implosion of Arthur Andersen, where he served as the West Region Managing Partner, People.

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