"“If you saw me in a job interview you would know why I never got the job. I was nervous. I didn’t answer questions properly. I felt sweaty and shaky. I felt awful. I knew I wouldn’t get the job. And I didn’t. Bill helped me change all that. The first job interview I went to after seeing Bill went just sweet. I now have a job that I enjoy and pays me a good wage. It’s all good.”
Dave T

“Bill helped me get organised and prepared for my last job interview. I walked into the room feeling relaxed and in control. I felt I asked them better questions about their firm than they asked me. I’m now working for them. I wouldn’t have done it without Bill’s help. Thanks.”
Sandra L

Interview Nerves

Getting “butterflies” in your stomach before an event is normal and a good sign. It means that you are getting focussed on the task ahead.

We all get butterflies before a race, an important exam and especially before a job interview. This is not surprising. Going to work for a new company is a big step. It could become life-changing. You will be learning new tasks, working with new people and maybe, most importantly, needing to fit into the culture of the new company. It may involve many other quite significant changes to your life. Getting a bit nervous before a job interview is normal.

But if those nerves become so bad that they stop you functioning properly, you will probably not be able to present yourself as well as you should at the interview. Some people become so anxious before a job interview they have sleepless nights, can’t eat properly, can’t even think properly. They get themselves into a proper state of agitation.

There are two main ingredients necessary for you to present yourself at the interview in the best possible way: you need to be relaxed and looking confident and you need to be prepared.

How can you prepare yourself for a job interview?

Did you know that lots of people conducting job interviews are quite incompetent at that task; some have been called in at the last minute. If you have done your preparation you can be in control of the interview.

You need to find out as much as you can about the company. Their website is a good start.

Did you know that most organisations, consciously or subconsciously, look for nine key qualities? If you know these, you can prepare how you will answer questions about them and if you feel they haven’t asked about them all, you can include them in your presentation. The nine qualities are communication skills, interest, enthusiasm, positive attitude, professionalism, self-confidence, leadership, sensitivity and flexibility.

The four key areas interview questions asked are based around these headings:

• Why are you here?
• What can you do for us?
• What sort of person are you?
• Can we afford you?

You could be given a psychometric test. These usually are about either ability/aptitude or motivation/personality.

Ability/aptitude tests are about finding out if you can really do certain tasks, have certain skills. Can you type so many words per minute accurately? Do you really know how to work a particular computer programme?

Motivation/personality tests typically look for what motivates you and how likely you are to integrate those motivations into your work.

A lot of employers are looking to see how well you will fit into their company. They can soon train you in the job that has to be done. They want a good employee who is going stay and make a positive, productive contribution to their company.

They could ask questions like:

• Tell us about a time when you . . . .
• Give us an example of a situation where you . . . .
• Describe a situation in which . . . .

They will be trying to find out:

• How you react in a given situation.
• What thought processes you go through.
• How you reach decisions.
• What action you take.
• How you monitor your results.

And they will be looking for why you react in that way.

So you could get further questions such as:

• How did you reach that decision?
• Would you do anything different next time?

At Huddleston Hypnotherapy we can help you not only be more relaxed and confident at your interview, we can help you do your homework so you go into your interview better prepared.