How to Feel Confident During an Interview

When interview nerves and anxiety enter the scene, exuding confidence to your interviewer can be a tough task. If you want to boost your interview confidence, you need more than just a few tricks to raise your self-esteem. You need to change your perception of the job interview so you can walk in with genuine, natural confidence. Here are a few key ways to transform your attitude and raise your interview confidence through the roof.

Don't Get Too Attached

During an interview, you don't have a single thing to lose, but you have everything to gain. Even if you enter the interview with no job and leave without an offer, remember that you're not in the negative. You actually come out ahead, since you have gained interview experience, knowledge about a company and new relationships for future networking. If you try to detach yourself from the outcome and focus more on the value of the experience itself, interview confidence is sure to come more easily.

Don't Take It Personally

It's easy to take an interview rejection as a criticism of your professional skills or personality, but oftentimes, this isn't the case. Build your interview confidence by reminding yourself that you have little control over the final result of the job interview. The hiring manager may be looking for someone with a specific background you don't have, or perhaps a family member of the business owner is also interviewing, gaining preference over other candidates. There are so many factors out of your control that a single interview is not worth your obsession.

Focus on Connecting

Worrying too much about getting the interviewer to like you is another common trigger for low interview confidence. Turn it around by focusing on connecting with the interviewer on a personal level. An interview offers a chance to build a relationship. Instead of viewing your interviewer as a person scrutinizing your every move, see the interaction as a chance to get to know each other. The interviewer only wants to determine if you're a good fit for the role, not criticize you. Thinking about this reality can help you feel more at ease both before and during the interview.

Be Well Prepared

Being ready for anything is impossible, but if you prepare well, you are bound to appear more confident. This means practicing your answers to all the standard interview questions, memorizing the basics of the company and your intended role, and choosing a professional outfit ahead of time. You could also make an emergency kit with deodorant, breath mints, makeup, hair spray and other essentials to gain interview confidence from looking and smelling your best.

Changing your perception of the situation and stepping in fully prepared can help your upcoming interview go as smoothly as possible. What are a few of your favorite methods for boosting your interview confidence?

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