Managing your job interview nerves

“Confidence is preparation, everything else is beyond your control,” according to Richard Kline. So true for interview preparation. It got me thinking about what you can do to help manage your nerves at an interview. If you prepare well and know that you are well-prepared, this will be a huge help. What else can you do?
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Get there early (if meeting face-to-face) or make sure you have the technical setup all done and are online waiting in advance (if doing a virtual interview). This will make sure that you don’t put yourself under any unnecessary additional pressure. When you are waiting to be called into your interview, calm your breathing and relax your shoulders. When we are nervous, our voices dry-up, so sip some water before you start the interview. This will also help ground you and bring you into the present moment. At the start of the interview remember to shake hands (if face-to-face), smile, make eye contact and then sit up straight. 

Pay attention to your body language before and during the interview - our body language influences how we think and feel about ourselves, which in turn changes our behaviour and changes our outcomes. It’s a little bit of “fake it until you make it”, which research by Amy Cuddy shows is more like “fake it until you become it”.