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I always get super nervous before any interview. It doesn't matter if I'm not interested, if I already know I don't want the job, if it pays below current, if I'm just knowingly wasting time, if it's just an intro, it doesn't matter. I always get really nervous. Sure if it's a high profile job or something I really want or if I'm desperate I get nervous, but these are interviews I just honestly don't even care about. I'm just a nervous person? lol
I think it's a combination of
Knowing I'm being intentionally judged and critiqued
Knowing the interviewer thinks they know more and are smarter than me
I used to get nervous with interviews. But then several years ago I forced myself to suffer through it by doing 1-2 interviews per day for a couple weeks. I landed an amazing job and now I go on interviews every now and then even when I'm not seriously looking and feel really comfortable with it.
Throughout my life, I always go into tests and examinations with a high amount of anxiety. It translates to interviews. I never was a good test taker and I also don't well in interviews. The anxiety is probably related to a "must do well" pressure I placed on myself. The last time I did a job search, I scheduled a bunch of interviews with companies that I wasn't really interested in. Sort of a practice interviewing routine to get allow me to focus on my interviewing skills without all the pressure of doing an interview with companies I actually wanted.
Knowing I'm being intentionally judged and critiqued
Knowing the interviewer thinks they know more and are smarter than me
Hating rejection
I think this is a result of just most employers providing a terrible interview experience.
As a result only the most rugged, jaded (and potentially sociopathic) veterans survive. They're looking for that exactly early 30 something worker that has been through the ringer, but still has a slight glimmer of hope left in their eye.
Being selected (or not selected) for a job these days is primarily about the employer being able to extract the most life force out of you with the least amount of resistance. They want someone who is determined, yet will yield when they say so.
(If you find that rare 1 in 10 employer to whom this doesn't apply, good job!)
Remove your ego because whether you win or lose often has more to do with right place and right time vs something you could have articulated better. Let's say you have 5 interviews. By interview 2 I believe they've already made a decision, they just don't know it (consciously) yet.
If your hard skills are up to par, then literally just "be yourself". You don't want to get hired by an a-hole and fired 4 weeks later. It's a waste of everyone's time and effort - namely yours.
The last time I did a job search, I scheduled a bunch of interviews with companies that I wasn't really interested in. Sort of a practice interviewing routine to get allow me to focus on my interviewing skills without all the pressure of doing an interview with companies I actually wanted.
Yes I learned from a mentor this technique and it really set me up for success.
If you can fake it through a company you're not interested in, you can fake confidence if necessary with the real employer you're actually interested in.
Although these days I find my main challenge isn't nervousness but I've actually received feedback "too polished"
(Aka I passed all of your trick questions and now you're nervous I may take your job?)
And then I have to find a way to say politely I wouldn't want your job in a million years...
Corporate America is so psychologically draining these days it's nauseating.
Knowing I'm being intentionally judged and critiqued
I don't get nervous about interviews, I always remember that they are two way streets. So I'm also judging and critiquing them as well. Sometimes I will go through an interview and know that this is not the place for me, so I blow off the interview on purpose - knowing that I will be rejected.
REMEMBER: You have skills, knowledge, abilities. DO NOT FORGET THIS AT THE INTERVIEW. Tell them how you're going to bring value and how you're going to be a great addition to the team. Only you know the details so TELL THEM.
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Knowing the interviewer thinks they know more and are smarter than me
This is narcissism on their part. Why be nervous based on THEIR fault? Who cares about THEIR fault?
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Hating rejection
Rejection sucks. But the solution is NOT to be nervous at an interview.
The solution is to not get emotionally attached to any job application. Apply, move on. Interview, then get back to applying for jobs as if nothing happened.
If you get the job, yay. If you don't, who cares, there's the next job application to fill out.
Just keep going.
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