Controlling Your Interview Nerves... Before you Even Get There

I read a blog post the other day that claimed the worst thing you can do in a job interview is accept a glass of water, and then be unable to hold it steady because you are so nervous.

That's a bit rough though, isn't it?  It's probably nerves that gives you a dry throat in the first place.  It got me thinking about how it's almost impossible to control your behaviour once you're actually in the interview and that the only way forward is take control of things before you end up in the hot seat.  I suppose this makes it my duty to reveal an Easter Bunny from the hat to show how it can be achieved.  So here goes:

The first thing to realise is that nerves are basically a physical reaction, so that the key to controlling you nerves is controlling your non-verbal behaviour. There are a few ways in which you can do this.

1) Use Positive Thinking Techniques

To suffer from interview nerves is natural but some people undermine themselves so diligently that they basically do not believe they are good enough to do the job.  Either they have a deepseated inferiority complex or they suffer from impostor syndrome

If you think you may fall into this sort of category, consider using techniques such as affirmation (e.g. "I am an excellent, talented... and I'm going to get the job") and visualisation (e.g visualising yourself being offered the job.)

If this theme interests you, there is a whole school of American-inspired literature on the subject of positive thinking. A word of warning here is that some of the writings from across the ocean have a "Get Rich Quick" or bible-bashing feel to them. But the works of many authors, for example Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy or Stephen Covey are generally more palatable to a UK audience.

Positive thinking techniques definitely work - but you can't expect them to start working the night before an interview.  They need time and repetition.

2) Think Of Something Pleasant...

This simple solution was suggested by a girl I used to work with.  In the last five minutes before her interview was called, she would simple imagine herself as a child sitting on a tree swing, gently rocking to and fro.  For her, it was an image of great inner harmony, so that she inevitably felt inwardly relaxed and happy.  So her non-verbal behaviour would be correspondingly relaxed and happy when she was finally invited to go in.  There is a lot of evidence to suggest that first interview impressions can be vital...

Now I can imagine that there are many, many pleasant things that you could find to think of while you wait to be called for an interview and students' suggestions have occasionally been imaginative.  Take your pick!

3) Relaxation and Breathing

Bearing in mind that the origin of nerves is the body, exercises that concentrate on the body like breathing and relaxation exercises as per this NHS guide can with some adaptation also be used to help you calm down immediately before an interview.

On relaxation, I particularly like the Gestalt concept of gradually just noticing each part of your body from the feet up (or head down).  Sometimes just being aware of tension in say your stomach or neck can be enough to resolve it, and this is something you can readily do without anyone else noticing.

4) Just Smile

One of the first things that happens when people become nervous is that they forget to smile.  If you notice that this has happened, try laughing at yourself and you will be smiling!

This is really a behaviourist idea and is based on the theory that if you do the behaviour, the feeling and thinking will fall in line.

The fact that this one doesn't totally ring with me reminds me to mention a couple of extra things:

• The above is a 'horses for courses' list.  Not all the techniques are for everyone, so pick the ones that suit you.
• If you have a major hang-up about job interviews that has resulted from very negative experiences, it might be worth requesting help from a Careers Adviser to get some practice in a non-threatening environment.  If you are a University of Cumbria student or recent graduate, you can do so by contacting us via careers@cumbria.ac.uk

Gimme, gimme good feedback...

Giving good feedback is a vital skill in any job that involves dealing with people to any significant extent - in other words the vast majority of jobs that exist in the modern world. In my job I mainly use it to help people improve their performance in mock interview situations. It is just as valid in reviewing any situation where a measure of skill is required of someone, be it giving presentations, running meetings or projects, advising others or commercial or technical functions.

But many people do not have a clue how to give good feedback. You realise this if you observe them trying to do it from scratch. Most will launch straight into a speech of variable length on their own perceptions of the other person's performance. Often what they offer is unbalanced. So some tend to pick endless faults, leaving the other person feeling depressed. Others tend to duck all the issues or offer an unrealistically rosy account of what happened, which can leave the other person no wiser and possibly feeling sheepish to have 'got off' too lightly.

Yet giving honest, constructive feedback is possibly one of the easiest and most helpful interpersonal skills you can ever hope to learn. Here's how to do it, step by step, with commentary:-

1) Whilst observing the person's performance, note down everything you think went well and everything that could have gone better.

2) Before starting the feedback, take some time to review what you have written and decide on two or three positive and negative points you will feed back to the person.

Two things are important about this stage:

• There is no such thing as totally perfect or totally hopeless performance. There are always things that could be improved and always things that were achieved, however small. So you must have some points on either side of the balance sheet.
  
• Too much feedback has been shown to be overwhelming and is likely to be as worthless as no feedback at all. This is why it is vital to cut it down to the key points. Life is a learning process, but only so much can be learned at any one time ('bite-size chunks').
  

3) Start the feedback by asking the person what they felt went well and not so well.

This point is absolutely vital. Research has shown that people gain most from feedback that reinforces their own perceptions. If you try this approach, you will be surprised how often the other person takes most of the words right out of your mouth. It also makes it far easier for you if you can start off by agreeing with them before moving on to less certain territory, and more likely that you will take them with you when you do.

4) Having made sure the person covers both the positive and not so positive points (and not everyone does so at first) ask if they are ready to hear what your thoughts were.

A nicety perhaps, but it does give the person a chance to opt into the process or say if there is anything else that is important to them.

5) Building first on what the other person has said, start off by relaying the positive points you observed.

6) Then move on to the points for improvement, again building on what they have said. Make sure you cover all the points you decided to feed back.

7) Return to re-emphasise the positive points in the performance before wishing them well next time they try the task.

In steps 5 - 7, the idea is to build a 'sandwich' structure of positive - negative - positive which leaves the person feeling safe, but confident enough to experiment with changes in the future.

Approached in this manner, feedback situations hold no terrors for either participant and are a major factor in improving performance in any organisation.

Colin Taylor is a careers adviser and freelance writer who has been publishing careers and employment related material for over five years. Find out more about him at http://www.coltext.com