How About a Drink Before Your Interview?

Interviews are serious business. If you aren’t attending for fun or to gain interviewing experience (yes, peolpe do that too), then you want, or even more, need that job. Preparation is crucial for proper presentation of yourself, your experiences, skills and traits. Many times, great candidates lose the job to an average candidate who managed to prepare better.

But how does one prepare properly? There are many sources with information, guidelines and tips on how to prepare, yet preparation is not easy.

The first thing to do is to find good and sound advice out of the ocean of good and bad advices. The next steps would be to see how you can apply it, make the necessary preparations and practice.

Sometimes, during the interviews, I ask candidates if they have prepared for the interview and how they did it. I get all kind of answers from I didn’t prepare, I don’t believe in preparation and I know who I am, to I’ve read several books on job search and interviewing, I prepared the answers, learned and rehearsed, I asked my mom to interview me etc. So as the best stories always come from personal experience, the one I heard couple of years ago still puts a smile on my face whenever I think about it.

It was an interview with a candidate who behaved rather odd throughout the interview. He seemed to be relaxed and fluent, and seemed to know what he was talking about. His experience and other characteristics matched what we were looking for so the interview took a bit longer. As time passed I noticed that he became more and more relaxed, but still very fluent. However, something was not OK. Maybe he controlled his speech, but his eyes were not focused. He had this lost look in his eyes, and I knew that something is wrong. So, I asked him how he prepared for the interview and as expected I received the usual well put answer “I updated my CV… went through it a couple of times… took a look at the most common interview questions and thought about what would I say if you asked me some of them” etc. “Is that all?” I asked “I feel that you did a bit more “preparation” than that because you are very relaxed and candidates usually are a bit more stressed. Can you tell me what your secret is?”

Silence… for about 10 seconds he didn’t say anything.

“Well… I have found out that I feel more relaxed and confident, and less stressed if I add some “gas” before an important meeting… I feel a lot less pressure with a glass of whiskey 30 minutes before it starts”.

“That’s very honest from you and I appreciate that you shared that information with me” I said. Indeed, that’s a big confession, so I put on a smile in order to relieve him of the inconvenient situation. “Which one did you take?” I asked. “Ballantine’s” he said. “You should have taken Jack Daniel’s. It gives better results on interviews” I smiled. He smiled back and I noticed that the stress that accumulated during the last 2-3 minutes was gone and he was more relaxed to continue than before.

Immediately after that conversation I remembered of a friend from the high school days who used the same “gas adding technique” before a test or an exam. He did quite well and nobody could ever tell. He continued with the same practice at the university, too.

Thinking back and having my high school friend on my mind, this candidate might not have been the only candidate that has taken a glass of alcohol before the interview. Even more, taking into consideration the number of candidates I’ve interviewed throughout the years, there must have been at least one or two more that I didn’t manage to notice.

So, as much as I wouldn’t want to hire a candidate that needs a glass of whisky to relieve pressure and reduce stress, I tried to step of my interviewing shoes and take a look at it from candidates’ perspective. Interviews can be stressful. If you really want or need the job, the pressure can be very high as well. So, is it justifiable to “add some gas” before an interview if it means that you will handle the situation better and increase your chances?

I guess the right answer would be to find other ways to reduce stress and pressure. Especially because drinking before stressful events can become a habit and that can damage your health, reputation and career. Long term, alcohol, or the lack of alcohol in such situations can create and increase stress and depression.

But what if that is not helping? Would you take a glass of whisky if you think it will increase the odds of getting hired? Have you ever taken a glass of alcohol before an interview or important meeting?

Feel free to share, comment, agree or disagree!

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