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How to increase your interview self-confidence

…You make an impression the moment you walk into an interview…

After the long, exhausting journey of searching for and applying for new jobs, you have just been rewarded with a golden ticket, an interview.  However, after celebrating this achievement, the panic sets in.

When you're nervous, you give off nervous signals through your body language. You appear less confident and authoritative. All this adds up to a poor impression and a reduced chance of you landing the job.

So, how do you increase your interview self-confidence?  Below are some tips to remember when preparing for that dreaded interview.


Conduct a mental rehearsal


Focusing on positive images creates an endorphin effect in your body. If you focus on all the things that could go wrong in your interview, you'll panic even more.  To increase your feeling of self-confidence, sit quietly before the interview and run through your interview in advance, as though watching a film. See yourself being successful. If, at any time you see a negative picture, change it and deliberately replace it with a positive picture.

Make eye contact

One of the best ways to fool a hiring manager into thinking you’re more confident than you feel is to keep steady, natural eye contact throughout the interview.  A key give away of a nervous candidate is lack of direct eye contact.  On the flip side, you don’t want to stay so intensely focused on making eye contact that you end up looking creepy.  So remember to take natural breaks, like looking down at your CV every once in a while.

Breath

This is a very important tip.  Take regular deep breaths and you will be surprised how relaxed you will be.  This will also reduce your stress and most importantly help you think more clearly.  To do this most effectively, take a deep breath through your nose and then slowly blow it out through your mouth. Repeat this three times, while concentrating on centering your thoughts.

Act confident, feel confident

If you pretend to be self-confident, you will be. Practice in the mirror. How do you stand or sit when you feel confident?  When you walk into the interview room, simply get back into the same state and you WILL feel confident.

For more advice on how to handle interviews and build your confidence why not call us on 051 574136 or visit our website, www.pitman-training.ie/waterford.



“Under pressure you can perform fifteen percent better or worse.” Scott Hamilton


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