If you are preparing for a job interview, it's important to stay calm and appear confident. Getting your clothes, resume and other items ready in advance and getting to your interview 10 minutes early will start your interview right. Once you get in the building, there are a few things you can do to relax and focus.
Avoid Your Phone
Don’t look at your phone for at least the last half-hour while you’re prepping for your interview. You don’t want to see a disturbing text message or missed call that will ruin your mood. Your mood could also be altered if you log into social media sites, check your bank accounts or read emails. Instead, use your clock or watch to make sure you are on time, and don't arrive more than 10 minutes early.
Leave your phone in the car or tucked away so you don’t have to fight the urge to look at it, and make sure the sound is off, and there is no chance it will signal or ring. You want to avoid being perceived as someone who is on the phone constantly. It's easier to relax without distractions.
Smile to Relax
Smile on the way into the building, so those you pass get a friendly vibe and because smiling is contagious. Smile as you wait and as you are greeted inside the room of your interview. Smiling will boost your mood, it will improve your appearance, and returned smiles can help you to relax and feel comfortable. Smiling assists with relieving stress, and it produces natural endorphins that help with pain. This can set the mood for your interview, showing the interviewer you are calm, confident, happy and friendly toward others.
Breathe Deeply
Take deep breaths to send messages to the brain that signal the body to relax. This is going to lower your heart rate and blood pressure, help you stop sweating, reduce agitation, and it’s going to help with relieving stress in the body. You can do this on the way to your interview and while you’re waiting for it to begin. Belly breathing and roll breathing are two great techniques that will help you relax and focus before your interview. You can even do this to relax if the interviewer has to leave the room and come back.
These techniques are applicable in any type of interview setting and are great if you get surprised with a second interview with another professional right after your first. Your smile and calmness will impress the person who interviews you, and these characteristics can put you in front of others for the job. Prepare and do these things to relax before your next job interview.
Photo courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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