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10 Ways to Calm Your Nerves before an Interview

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Summary: Finding ways to calm your nerves can be hard. Use these steps to help you reduce stress and impress your interviewers.

Your nerves can get the best of you before an interview. You may question your abilities, your qualifications, and even your desire to obtain the position. Preparation is the best solution to eliminating the stress before and even during an interview. Use these 10 tips to help you calm down before your interview so that you can do your best during the interview.

  1. You need to ask yourself why you are nervous. Go over all of the things that make you qualified for the position. Then think of all the things that you can bring to the new position. Once you mentally remember why you deserve the job, you won’t feel as nervous about the interview.
  2. Find ways to relax while preparing for the interview and during the interview. When trying to prepare for the interview, do things that can take your mind off of everything. During the interview, wear something that is comfortable.
  3. Learn all you can about the company. Preparedness can help calm those jitters plus make you look more prepared when you get asked questions about the company during the interview.
  4. Pick your interview outfit in advance. This is one thing that you can get done so you aren’t stressing 30 minutes before you need to leave for the interview, realizing your shirt has a stain. Try your outfit on the night before just to make sure everything is in order, pressed and cleaned.
  5. Get a lot of rest leading up to the interview. Being tired causes unnecessary stress mentally that shows physically. Waking up only after a couple hours of sleep with bags under your eyes will make you stress and potentially blow the interview. Also, go easy on the caffeine so you get enough rest the night before and the day of the interview so you are not jumpy and jittery during the interview.
  6. Eat an appropriate meal. You don’t want to skimp on your meal so that your stomach is growling during the interview but you also don’t want to eat something smelly. A well-balanced meal will keep your mind sharp and clear.
  7. Save yourself plenty of time to travel. You absolutely cannot be late for an interview, but there is also no point in being an hour or more early for the interview.
  8. Focus on the information they provide you. You can stare at the information on your resume, but until you can connect your resume with what the job requires it will not help you much. Listen to what the company is sharing with you to gain a better understanding of the job.
  9. Hold a practice interview. Either enlist a friend to help by asking you questions or have questions prepared that you can ask yourself, recording your responses with a video camera so you can see how you look and sound answering the questions. Preparing how to answer tricky questions and even the most basic questions will put you at ease before the interview.
  10. Smile in a sincere manner. Putting on a fake smile is evident. You should have a real reason to be happy to be in that interview, so show it. Be grateful that you have an interview and happy that you prepared for it so that you aren’t stressed.

What do you do to prepare for an interview? Share your experience with us in the comments below.

To learn more about how to prepare for your interview, read these articles:

10 Ways to Calm Your Nerves before an Interview by
Authored by: Amanda Griffin