Do you struggle with calming your nerves during an interview?

Many times during an interview, nerves cause people to make mistakes in their answers, not answer clearly, or forget to say something important. Being nervous also causes people to change their body language, fidget, or even sweat. These tips from top executive recruiting firm, Riderflex, are meant to help minimize these effects and help you get through the interview comfortably.

–Prepare. Interview preparation includes studying the job, studying the company, creating questions for the interview, and any other step needed to be fully in the know about what you are interviewing for. This step reduces nerves because it ensures you are knowledgeable and know what you are getting yourself into.

–Be yourself. Don’t try to be somebody you’re not and give off a false impression that you’re somebody different. Just relax and be yourself. Who you are is so critical to company culture, so if you’re pretending that you’re somebody different, it’s just going to be a bad relationship from the get-go.

–Be friendly and likable. Relax, smile, and be friendly. This is more important than getting every question right.

-Don’t lie. Lying causes nervousness because your mind races while trying to remember what was said

-Don’t worry about getting the answer right to every question. Interviewers are not looking for you to answer every question perfectly. They’re looking for your personality, your style, your character, your judgment, etc. So, don’t get all nervous and upset when you think you’ve answered a question incorrectly. That’s really not what it’s about.

-Have backups. If you’ve put all your eggs into one basket — into one job that you want — you’re only interviewing for one job, there’s only one company you’re targeting, and everything’s riding on just that position, you’re going to be a lot more nervous. Never put all of your eggs into one basket.

–Remember the person interviewing you is just like you. They’re worried about what they’re having for lunch. They’re worried about being nervous themselves. They’re worried about meeting a deadline on a project later that afternoon. They all have stuff going on, too. They’re just people, and they’re not perfect either.

-Everything happens for a reason. If it’s meant for you to get that job, then you’ll probably get it. If there’s a reason why you shouldn’t get it, you probably won’t. You just have to look at it that way. If you don’t get the job, just move on. If you accept that everything happens for a reason, you’ll relax a lot more.

-Interviewing is great practice. Even if you don’t get the job, even if you don’t get selected, it’s great to prepare, and it’s good practice. It makes you sharper and better for the next one.

Want to learn more great tips and advice from Colorado Recruiting firm, Riderflex? If so, check out our blog today!