We are all born with confidence. An example can be seen with a 10-month-old child. He or she will walk unsteadily, constantly falling down and struggle to communicate. However, the child never thinks twice about standing up again on its two feet and trying to walk across a room and interact with other individuals.
The 10-month-old child isn’t special, it’s something all babies do. They’ve not learned to lack confidence in their own skills, be nervous when speaking to others, or show signs of nerves when attention is on them. The majority of adults are not this lucky. We remember past failures, some second-guess ourselves. Unfortunately, our self-confidence can be harmful at the most important times in life, for example interviewing for a job.
Interview nerves are something that we all experience and they’re a good thing, which people shouldn’t shy away from. They help to show you care about the job you’re applying for and can help give you that additional performance enhancement you may need to succeed in the interview. However, if you do find yourself struggling to feel confident with regards to your interview and need some help, then read further into this article. We’ll provide some expert tips along with some of our own, on how to interview with confidence.
1. Pretend to be your confident mate
Dr Sue Black, a self-confessed quiet and intrinsic person, recommends, “Pretend to be someone you know who is confident.” She is a senior research associate at UCL and an IT figurehead. She mentions how she has pretended to be one of her more confident friends in an interview and it had worked for her. Fake it ’til you make it comes to mind!
At first glance of Sue Black’s advice, we can see it’s completely at odds with the standard interview advice to be yourself that is shared across online platforms or in schools. As further expressed by foremost life-coach Alexandra Watson, she advises to “Let yourself come out,”…”Don’t pretend to be someone else.”
We understand, these are two very much different approaches to achieving the same result. Your ultimate interview aim is to be able to portray to the interviewers something about yourself, talking about your skills and past experiences without terror, and being relaxed. Giving them enough flavour of the real you. Ironically, for a very shy and timid job hunter, it may be much easier to show yourself while pretending to be someone completely different.
2. Get a family member to give you a pep talk
Dr Sue Black also recommends that before interviews, you should find someone (preferably a family member) to give you a pep talk and tell you how great you are. Having someone praise you is said to turn on a nerve in your brain that oozes confidence throughout your body, and will help you feel good about yourself.
If there’s a particular family member that you know will make you feel good once you have spoken to them, it’s a good idea to have a conversation with them before you attend your interview.
3. Play the positive “What-If?” game
You should ignore the worries of; “What if I mess up?” by playing the positive “What-If?” game. This game is not only very simple, it sparks a mode of creativity and inspiration. All you do is ask yourself questions such as, “What would happen if I can’t answer an interview question?” – then call for a positive answer. By doing this, it forces you to think positively and as a result, helps boost your confidence.
4. Be clear with what you want and what you can offer to a team
It’s important that you consider what you want from the role, and the company itself. Think about career progression and what you wish to achieve. Individuals who take on interviews with an idea of certainty always appear more confident. This is because they easily demonstrate why they are sitting in the interview seat, and show determination for the role and company.
You should also take a thorough look through the role you’re interviewing for – have a think about what particular attributes you have that will not only make you perfect for the role and team, but also an asset to the company you wish to join. Just this simple action will make you feel more positive about yourself, which will show in the interview.
5. Use your listening skills to your advantage
Interview success isn’t always about blowing your own trumpet, or, singing your own praises. In fact, it’s usually considered a big turn-off for interviewers. If you’re an introvert, your superior listening skills are your secret weapon.
Follow your natural instinct, which all of us have inside us. Listen carefully to each question asked and don’t feel it will look bad if you need to clarify the question. Or, you can just ask the interviewer to repeat the question if you’re not sure. Also, it’s recommended to pay attention to any new information the interviewer gives you about the job or the company. If you can find a way to bring this back into the conversation later, it will look good and portray that you’ve taken it in.
Please be assured that overconfident candidates within an interview process are very likely to shoot themselves in the foot by thinking too much about what they are going to say etc. and not enough about what they may be asked by the interviewer.
Developing long term confidence
These quick tips mentioned above should hopefully help you succeed at the short coming interviews you may face. However, you may want to consider increasing your confidence for the long term; here is more insight.
Alexandra Watson often uses the term super confidence to describe unpretentious self-confidence that someone can’t fake. “If you are super confident, people can’t help but notice you,” she mentions. It’s clearly a big advantage in any recruitment process.
Significantly, she also mentions that it’s possible to develop super confidence and anyone can get it. “Know what you want and how to get it,” she mentions. Alexandra is a big believer in understanding what makes an individual happy. “Then challenge yourself regularly and be the proactive one. A series of small breakthroughs makes a massive difference to how you feel about yourself.”
If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it with your friends and family. After all, sharing is caring!
