Interview Anxiety? 3 Super Quick Calm- and Confidence-Boosting Strategies you Need to Try.
There’s a lot that goes into being prepared for a job interview and feeling confident that you’re ready for it. Unfortunately, regardless of preparation, many people find themselves struggling with anxiety when it’s actually time for the interview.
It’s really important to go into that interview feeling calm and confident. You speak and hold yourself differently when you’re confident, in a way that sends the subconscious message to the interviewer that “this person can be trusted with these job responsibilities.”
And sure, there are plenty of tips out there about how to ‘fake it’ — but actually calming your anxiety and boosting your confidence enables you to think more clearly and show up more as yourself. You’re going to be able to answer questions better, handle anything unexpected better, and more easily engage with the interviewer.
So here are some super-fast, backed-by-science tips you can use in the 5 minutes before your interview to hack your body and mind and short circuit the stress cycle to keep it from sabotaging you.
Breath
Deep, controlled breathing — especially involving an extended exhale — is a freaking awesome tool. It sounds ridiculously, are-you-kidding-me-with-this-tip simple… but it is amazingly effective!
I geek out over the science of this, but what you really need to know is that you can hack your body so it creates a relaxation response just by inhaling deeply and then extending your exhale. And the best news? It takes virtually no time and you can do it anywhere. (If you ever again have an in-person interview, you can even do this sitting in the lobby.)
My personal favorite method is the 4–7–8 breath. You inhale through your nose to a count of 4; hold your breath for a count of 7; then exhale through your mouth for a count of 8. Repeat this 3 more times (for a total of 4 rounds) and you will be shocked at the calming effect on your body and mind!
Want an even simpler option? Spend 2 minutes breathing in a 4:8 pattern — inhale for 4, exhale for 8. A 2019 study showed this also calmed the body’s stress response and enabled clearer thinking. It also works if you keep the inhale and exhale the same length (e.g., 5 second inhale, 5 second exhale), as long as it’s deep and controlled.
2. Body
There was an actual scientific study that showed that that sitting up straight in your chair gives you more confidence in your own thoughts about being qualified for a job. As you wait for your interview, hold that posture and remind yourself of all the reasons you are a great fit and highly qualified for this job. Bonus points if you actually write out those thoughts, which is how they measured results in the study.
Here’s the catch: if you sit up straight and ruminate about all of your deficiencies and insecurities, you’re also more likely to believe those. That means make sure you are thinking or writing about your positive traits!
Want to take it a step further? Try a power pose. I know some people make fun of power posing, but the science has validated it!
Here’s the scoop — holding a power pose has a very fast impact on your testosterone and cortisol levels. It ups your testosterone levels, which increases your feelings of confidence, and lowers your cortisol levels, which makes you feel calmer and less stressed.
And by fast, I mean fast. We’re talking increased confidence and decreased stress within 2 minutes!
3. Mind
Research has shown, again and again, that our thoughts physically impact our bodies. Our thoughts have an impact on our neurotransmitters (the brain chemicals that send messages to the rest of your body). These control virtually all of the body’s functions, including the hormones dealing with stress and anxiety. So if you’re going into an interview thinking about how do-or-die it is that you get this job, how desperate you are for the interviewer to like you, or how critical it is to impress them, those thoughts will increase the chemicals and hormones that lead you to feel stressed and anxious.
Let’s be clear — this can suck and feels really unfair. If you’ve lost your job, it’s really hard not to think about how much you need this job when you go in for an interview.
Please don’t beat yourself up if you’re in a tough position and can’t do this one. But if you’re able to, try to make a mental shift to thinking about the interview as a business meeting, where the two of you are meeting to see if you are the right fit for each other. This shifts your energy to being on equal footing with the interviewer, instead of being in the one-down position of acutely needing them to like you and give you this job.
Instead of triggering the neurochemicals that lead to a stress response, this mindset shift allows you to show up with more calm and confidence.
Do you have any other last-minute tips that to lower your anxiety before an interview? Let me know in the comments!