When I first graduated college and found myself on the stressful path to finding a job, I had all types of interviews – over the phone, in-person, one-on-one, panel, and informal lunch interviews. I spent hours rehearsing the most common interview questions, triple-checked my resume for errors, and had my favorite suit cleaned and pressed for each interview. Then when it came time to meet with my potential employer, I would always get so nervous that my voice would shake, I would feel my face turn beet red, and my words almost never came out the way I had planned. I didn’t understand how anyone could enjoy interviewing when I found it so incredibly painful.
One day, it hit me. The secret to interviewing was a surprisingly simple concept:
The interviewer genuinely wants to like me, and they are hopeful that I am the candidate for the job. They want to be done interviewing as much as I do.
Once I embraced this reality, I was much more confident and calm during interviews – I knew that as long as I was qualified for a position, there was nothing to be intimidated by or worried about. Rather than allowing myself to get so worked up by the interview process, I was relaxed and finally able to show my true personality and professionally articulate my abilities. I noticed a dramatic increase in my interview success rate, with the majority of my personal interviews resulting in job offers.
So the next time you are scheduled to meet with a company, think of the interview as a conversation with a friend. Just relax, be yourself, and remember… they want to hire you.
One day, it hit me. The secret to interviewing was a surprisingly simple concept:
The interviewer genuinely wants to like me, and they are hopeful that I am the candidate for the job. They want to be done interviewing as much as I do.
Once I embraced this reality, I was much more confident and calm during interviews – I knew that as long as I was qualified for a position, there was nothing to be intimidated by or worried about. Rather than allowing myself to get so worked up by the interview process, I was relaxed and finally able to show my true personality and professionally articulate my abilities. I noticed a dramatic increase in my interview success rate, with the majority of my personal interviews resulting in job offers.
So the next time you are scheduled to meet with a company, think of the interview as a conversation with a friend. Just relax, be yourself, and remember… they want to hire you.
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