Conquering Interview Anxiety

Even thinking about your upcoming interview has you on edge.

Practicing for it stresses you out.

Getting dressed and ready to go for it makes you want to go back to bed.

In actually beginning the interview, you want to look for a place to hide.

You have a bad case of interview anxiety.

You know what this stress is all about. It whacks you right upside the head.

And you know what bad things it can do to your chances of having a successful interview. Tons of bad things.

The Stress Of Interviewing

What do you call this anxiety? It's been referred to in many ways, and has many variations and degrees of severity. Here are some of the more common names:

1. Performance anxiety
2. Acting panic
3. Interview anxiety
4. Interview panic
5. Choking
6. Nerves
7. Nervous apprehension
8. Speaking anxiety
9. Actor's nerves
10. Show and tell stress
11. Fear of performing
12. Shyness
13. Social inhibition
14. Social anxiety

The Facts About Interview Stress

It's reassuring and powerful to realize these essential truths about what scares you. The first step to getting this fear response under your control is to demystify it.

1. Interview stress is normal. If you're human, you're going to get it.
2. Interview stress hits most people, even experienced performers.
3. You will never completely conquer interview stress, yet you can manage it.
4. The more mind tools you have to beat interview stress, the better you will perform.
5. People interview fine all the time--even though they are suffering from interview stress during the actual interview.
6. Beating interview stress is not about being perfect or about being fear-free. It's about adjusting and managing your anxiety and using it to fuel your performances.

What Causes Interview Stress?

People rarely get interview stress hanging out with their friends. There's no hostile audience there and no consequences if you "mess up". Add a combative, evaluative interrogator and some importance to the situation and you have the potential for a nice case of interview stress.

So why does it happen?

1. Your body's chemistry kicks in to get you ready to perform.
2. You may inaccurately misinterpret those feelings that you are "nervous".
3. You mistakenly believe nerves to be "bad".
4. You then worry that this is proof that you are about to fail and embarrass yourself.
5. You then worry about worrying.
6. The negative cycle continues.
7. You selectively choose further nervousness as proof that you are panicking and about to fail.
8. All these symptoms combine to ignite a full-blown attack of nerves.

Bingo. You have a bad case of interview stress.

The Symptoms Of Interview Stress

Here are 75 symptoms of interview stress that people I've coached have described to me. You may want to use this as a self-assessment and rate yourself to see specifically how interview stress affects you.

1. Shaking legs
2. Wobbly knees
3. Racing thoughts
4. Irrational thoughts
5. Feeling nauseous
6. Pounding heart
7. Shortness of breath
8. Sweaty palms
9. Tingling sensations
10. Headaches
11. Racing heartbeat
12. Heartbeat may seem louder
13. Poor motor control
14. Trembling hands
15. Can't catch breath
16. Flashbacks
17. Thinking something bad is going to happen
18. Feeling you will die
19. General anxiety, with no anchor
20. Nausea
21. Constipation
22. Disconnection with self
23. Numbness in body
24. Muscle tension
25. Moodiness
26. Avoidance behaviors
27. Rushing
28. Freezing
29. Negative thinking
30. Fearful imagery
31. Nightmares
32. Eating too much
33. Inability to eat
34. Avoidance of people
35. Inability to control thoughts
36. Inability to control images
37. Breath very high in chest
38. Hyperventilation
39. Voice may crack
40. Difficulty concentrating
41. Sudden tiredness
42. Emotional flatness
43. Insomnia
44. Fear the anxiety will spiral out of control
45. Breathing difficulty
46. Dizziness
47. Memory loss
48. Sensory deprivation
49. Cold palms
50. Sweaty palms
51. Voice may constrict and pitch may increase
52. Dry throat
53. Negative thoughts
54. Stiff movements
55. Poor coordination
56. Stumbling and bumbling
57. Heavy legs
58. Frozen movements
59. Stiff neck and shoulder
60. Impaired vision and hearing
61. Impaired sense of timing
62. Self-consciousness
63. Butterflies/queasiness in stomach
64. Cold feet
65. Shaking voice
66. Obsessive thoughts
67. Poor balance
68. Distorted sense of elapsed time
69. Tunnel vision
70. Panic attack
71. Spinning sensations
72. Blushing
73. Sudden heat in body
74. Uncomfortable feelings
75. Feeling cold for no reason

Conquering Stage Fright

You want to create a mental training system that gives you powers of self-regulation under extreme stress. You should have these mind game skills:

1. Learn a relaxation system.
2. Master a self-discipline system.
3. Devise a pre-program psych-up system.
4. Learn how to adjust mentally in your performance.
5. Set your attitude so you place less pressure on yourself.
6. Discover approaches that will get you into the zone.
7. Develop an in-performance mistake-management system.
8. Learn how to stay positive under pressure.
9. Find ways to enjoy yourself when you perform.
10. Use performing as a way to discover yourself.
11. Devise ways to connect with your audience.
12. Learn to rise above stress control to inspire yourself.
13. Create the conditions to perform to your potential

Your Next Steps In Controlling Interview Stress

1. Find a coach who is an expert in this area.
2. Make sure there is chemistry with you and the coach.
3. Take the 75 item self-assessment test above to be aware of your symptoms.
4. Begin keeping an interview stress performance journal.
5. Continue performing to learn about performance psychology and you.
6. Become a student of peak performance psychology.

Finally, don't give up. The only people who fail to conquer interview stress are those who quit interviewing. Even the most severe cases of interview stress can be helped. Hang in there. There is hope.