Interview Fear Phobia

Stop giving excuses

Most fear of interviews is based on the fear of being judged, looking stupid, not living up to the expectations of the interviewer, or even the ones we have for ourselves.

Here is what helped me with my fear of interviews:

• Shift your mindset into a win-win direction.?IF you are the right person for that job (this means having the right skills, but also fitting the team and management, etc.) THEN you cannot go well things up. Also, if you are not, you can't make things right anyway.
• Focus your thoughts on the fact that YOU are looking for a job that fits YOUR criteria, not the other way around.?You are actually interviewing the interviewer. To see if they can provide you with a job environment that matches YOUR needs. This one is huge. It also gives you a lot of "power" and confidence back.
• Stay pragmatic.?A lot of interviewers ask ridiculous questions. Most of them not even remotely close to your actual work you are about to do in the company. Whenever you are faced with an "impossible" task remind yourself that they MIGHT just want to see how you handle difficult situations. Stay calm and explain your thought process. That's most of the time more than they want to hear anyways.?"How is this guy approaching challenges?"
• You will learn things.?Interviewers love to picture you in the future position. But they also love to neglect the fact that you will have to get used to the new environment and the new tasks. Most "difficult" tasks they demand from you in the interview are actually pretty easy once you have done them once or twice. So keep in mind that you will be a lot better at all these things 1-2 months into your new job. Just don't sweat it during the interview. It's not that big of a deal.
• There are A LOT of opportunities out there.?And the fact that they invited you to the interview actually already means that they have a BIG interest in you, because they spend some of their time to see if you fit the job. Still, even if you struck up there are endless companies who would LOVE to hire you. But there is only one you. One person who can bring in the unique set of skills and talents you can provide.
• They want you more than you want them.?OK this is more a personal one for me since I am not really eager to land any job in the near future. Even if it is well paid. My time means so much more to me. So whenever I find myself in a situation where I HAVE to take a job due to money issues I am already giving A LOT. So in my mind the company I am applying to is actually trying to convince me that MY PERSONAL TIME is better spend at their company. This might sound weird but I value my time very much. Maybe because I have so little.

Let’s start with?FEAR.?To make my point, let me explain with the analogy below:

Scene 1:

You are kept in the same cell as a lion. Now, what will happen?

• Before lion makes any move, you will die of heart attack.
• Or, lion will thrash you into pieces in no time.
• Now imagine, instead of lion you are kept with a sheep. Then there will be no fear. No matter how hard the sheep tries, you will never lose battle to it.

Scene 2:

Coming to the first scenario again, you are kept with the lion with enough defense, where you can protect yourself. Fear will be there, that one wrong move and you will lose the battle (as well as your life).

So even if you have enough defense, but you don’t know how to use them on time, again it will cost your life.

Scene 3:

This time you have practiced enough and you are prepared to take any challenge.

You know what will happen? This time you don’t care about the result, you will not care about the battle.

You will fight.?And you will give 100%.

So, it doesn’t matter whom you face, be it a lion or sheep. You should know how to fight.

• You should prepare hard.
• Learn from other people, what mistakes they have made and try not to repeat those mistakes.
• Know your opponent and their strength.
• And whenever you go for an interview, research.

Only defense (Oratory skill) won’t let you win your battle, you should know how and where to use them.

And one has to understand that braveness is not the absence of fear but rather the strength to keep on going forward despite the fear.

Everything you want is on the other side of your fear.

Once you cultivate these traits you will find yourself way calmer in interviews.

“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Feel free to reach me out for more confidence?WhatsApp

All the best.