15 Tips to Beat Job Interview Jitters Effectively

It is perfectly normal, for even the most experienced job seekers, to feel nervous before a job interview. How can you manage the anxiety and ace that job interview? This article offers tips and strategies to beat the job interview jitters and increase your chances of success. 

1. Prepare, Prepare, Prepare Thoroughly! 

There is no shortcut for thorough preparation. Preparation and research before an interview will boost up your confidence and help you manage your anxiety levels. 

• Research the company. Find out everything you can about the business and its operations. Knowing about the company’s vision, mission, values, culture as well as about operations, corporate social responsibility projects and achievements will help  boost your confidence. You can easily do this by checking out the company website or through a web search for news articles that mention the company. Want to go all out? Check out the company’s most recent annual  report. Public company annual reports are available in the public domain, if not on the company website. 
  
• Find out more about the role you are interviewing for. Knowing more about the division, as well as the job requirements will help you discuss how your educational background, skills and experience can align with the company’s needs. 
  
• Find out who you will be reporting to. The more senior your job the more important this becomes. This type of information may be gleaned from the annual report or the company website.  

2. Practice Answering Common Interview Questions

You need to anticipate common interview questions that you may be asked and prepare to answer them. 

• Write a list of common interview questions and then prepare how you wish to respond. 
  
• Practise your responses. Practising your responses in front of a mirror or in a mock interview (see next tip) will help you feel much more comfortable when you face the actual interview.
  
• Check out the RevampCV articles on facing interview questions. They will help you prepare on how best you should answer each question and what you should avoid saying as a response. 

3. Prepare with Mock Interviews

 Ask a friend or family member to conduct mock interviews for you.

• Sit in front of the mock interviewer. Sitting opposite at a table will simulate the interview environment. Such thorough preparation will help you practise how exactly you need to articulate your thoughts and help you feel more comfortable during the actual interview. 
  
• Ask your interviewer-stand-in for feedback. If you select a professional with previous interview experience, you can get a lot of useful feedback that you can use to improve your actual job interview performance. Even otherwise—if you as a friend or family member without interviewing experience—they can still tell you a lot of useful things they observed that you should probably avoid or do better in an interview. 
  
• Record and replay your mock interviews. They will show you how you fared during the interview. Pay close attention to your body language and try to avoid mannerism and odd gestures and quirks that you may have (like most everyone else) or that arise from nervousness. 

4. Focus on Your Achievements

There is a lot of research out there on how being reminded about gender disparities and stereotypes before a test or an interview can negatively impact your performance. 

To counter the negative impacts, you can:  

• Reflect on your past achievements and successes. They boost your confidence and make you able to overcome some of the stress that comes from interview jitters. 
  
• Practise positive self affirmation. Affirmations are nothing more than positive statements that you repeat to yourself in order to promote changes in life and to ease distress in stressful situations. Have a few positive self affirmations that suit you readily accessible on your phone, flash card or a notebook to remind you that you are a winner. Say these to yourself on your way to the interview, during your time in the lift or escalator. You can also use positive affirmations during the waiting room, as you wait to be called in for your interview. 
  
• Remind yourself about your capabilities and the value you can bring to the company. That too should help boost your confidence and enable you to articulate better to common questions like “Why should we hire you?” or “Why do you want to work here?”. 

5. Practise Creative Visualisation

A lot of people who have achieved success in business, life and various endeavours such as in sports, practise creative visualisation. The human brain perceives an actual experience in the same way it does a vividly imagined experience. This is why you can effectively use creative visualisation to convince your subconscious mind that you have already achieved your goal. 

• Visualise yourself succeeding at the interview. Picture in your mind the interviewer asking questions and how you are responding appropriately and confidently to them. Instead of worrying about what can go wrong, take the time to imagine the positive interactions at your interview; see yourself giving confident responses to questions. Visualise a successful outcome. 
• Repeat visualising positive outcomes at every opportunity. You can engage in creative visualisation every day before going to bed. Make it a habit. As you get up in the morning, while you brush your teeth, as you bathe, as you get dressed and during travel, while waiting to be called for the interview, take a few minutes to see yourself as a success. In this instance, success at a job interview and getting the job you covet. 
• Spend the time on creative visualisation instead of worrying. Worrying and imagining the worst makes you more nervous and prone to blunders during your interview. 

Once both your conscious mind and the subconscious are on the same page, you will begin to realise the positive effects of creative visualisation. 

6. Breathing Exercises

Practising mindfulness exercises or deep breathing exercises will help you calm your nerves.

• Slow, deep breaths help reduce anxiety and will help increase your focus.
• You can do breathing exercises as a first step to creative visualisation each night and every morning and in each instance you practise creative visualisation. . 

7. Plan to Arrive at Interview Venue Early

You need to plan and leave sufficient time for travel, traffic jams, parking your vehicle if you are driving, and for finding the exact location. If the interview is at a location that you haven’t been to before, you will need that extra time in order to feel rushed and even more nervous than you need to be. It is acceptable to arrive early. Use the spare time to relax, collect your thoughts and to familiarise yourself with the immediate surroundings. The extra time also enables you to repeat a few positive self affirmations. 

8. Dress in Appropriate Attire

Wear professional and appropriate attire makes you feel confident. Some people believe over-dressing is a solution for boosting confidence. Women can wear light makeup that is office-appropriate. Avoid heavy makeup. Overdressing and heavy makeup may boost your confidence, but the image you present to the interviewers may not necessarily be a good one. Looking dressed for the job role will positively impact your confidence and put you in a professional and winning  mindset.

9. Bring Materials That will be Useful

Interview jitters are partly to do with the uncertainties associated with the interview.

• Bringing a few extra copies of your resume will never be a waste. 
• You will probably need a notepad or notebook and a pen. 
• Bring some reading materials (or your Kindle or other device) to read while you wait. Anything that would help you relax and be composed would be welcome, with the exceptions of drugs, smokes or alcohol. 

Being prepared in this way helps you feel more in control of the situation.

10. Ask Appropriate Questions

“Appropriate” is the key term here. Asking inappropriate questions can mess up your chances. 

• Prepare a list of questions to ask the interviewer. Such a list shows your interest in the position and also offers you an opportunity to take control of the direction of conversation.
• Tick off what the interviewer has already addressed and go on to the next ones.
• Write down questions and practice answers for each interview. This is important because each job vacancy may require different skill sets and experiences. You need to tailor your experiences and skills to highlight what each recruiter is seeking. That way you have a better chance of getting the job. 

Check out this article on questions you should not ask at an interview, especially the first interview. 

11. Focus on the Present

The past is gone. The future is not yet here. So the only thing you can control is the present. 

• Learn to concentrate on the present moment. Instead of wasting time worrying about the outcome or negative possibilities, teach yourself to  concentrate on the present moment. Mindfulness exercises will also help you get here. 
• Listen carefully to what the interviewer’s say and the questions they ask. Take time to think and respond in an articulate manner. Avoid rushing out with your answers. 

12. It is Perfectly Normal to be Nervous 

Some level of nervousness is normal when facing a job interview. Your interviewers know this too and will make allowances for it. You may acknowledge your nerves, if necessary, such as when you stumble over answers to their questions. Pause and rephrase. Interviewers will not mind that. It may even make you appear to be a more thoughtful and considerate person and quite relatable.

13. Mind Your Posture 

Posture is a key element of body language. You need to maintain good posture throughout the interview because it affects how others see us; and conveys our charisma, attitude and confidence. Beyond that, a winning posture can also increase our confidence. 

Watch this TED  Talks video from Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist, and author of Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges. In the video Cuddy maintains that sitting or standing in a posture of confidence—called power posing—can help boost feelings of confidence and improve our chances of success, even if we are not feeling confident. TED.com considers it one of the TED Talks to Watch Before Your Next Job Interview.

14. Mind Your Body Language

The 7-38-55 rule in personal communications says that when we speak:

• 7% of meaning is communicated through the spoken word
• 38% through tone of voice, and 
• 55% through body language

Clearly, that means your body language plays a key role in your interview success.

Body Language Tips

Here are some body language tips to help you communicate effectively during an interview. 

• Choose the best position for sitting, to help make eye contact with the interviewer or interviewers.
• Remember to sit up straight. Avoid slumping and slouching.
• Lean forward slightly. Avoid leaning back in your chair. 
• Maintain eye contact. Avoiding eye contact indicates you have something to hide or are not being entirely honest and truthful. 
• Rest your hands on the table or on your lap. Do not cross your arms since it can be seen as being  defensive or that you feel uncomfortable. 
• Do not fidget. Avoid tapping fingers or feet, shaking the feet or fussing with hair and clothing. If you are naturally prone to fidgeting, you may need some mock interview practice to help you overcome these mannerisms during job interviews. 
• Use considered and purposeful hand gestures to reinforce the points you make. 

More interview related body language tips are in our article Mind Your Body Language During Interviews.

15. Learn from Each Interview

Make each interview you face—whether you get the job or are eventually rejected—a learning opportunity. Regardless of the outcome, reflect on what went well and what you can do better in future interviews. Such reflection would help you face the next interview more confidently.

In Summary

Remember, the goal is not to eliminate nervousness entirely from your job interview process. Your goal should be to manage interview jitters effectively so you can present your best self during the interview.

We wish you good luck at your next job interview!
The RevampCV Team

Read these Articles to Prepare for Your Next Interview

Interview Prep: 20 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Job Interviews

How to Conduct a Personal SWOT Analysis (Before Facing Job Interviews)

How to Respond to 20 Common Job Interview Questions with Examples

21 Most Common Job Interview Questions with Tips for Effective Responses

How to Effectively Answer the Job Interview Question of “What motivates you?”

Questions You Can Safely Ask at Your First Job Interview [With Examples]

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