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Interview Hysteria
Bob Weinstein is a journalist who covers technology, project management, the workplace and career development.
Ever consider why you're so nervous prior to job interviews? I've heard countless stories about job candidates suffering severe anxiety attacks before job interviews. They don't eat or sleep, while others obsess about the pending trauma for days--even weeks--before the event. The more they dwell on it, the more frightened they become.
Naturally, the bigger the job, the more they suffer. Rather than seeing interviewers as little more than screeners and professional information gatherers, we equate them with storm troopers or medieval torturers.
When you think about it rationally, you discover that interviewers are not demons or monsters out to demoralize, embarrass or humiliate you. They're not Terminators in business suits. Like you and me, they're just people holding down jobs.
Unless you're applying for a job in a small company where the employer does all the interviewing and hiring, count on corporate "middle people" to screen applicants. It doesn't matter who asks the questions; they're just people playing parts in the real-life drama we're living.
But even if you see job interviewers as non-threatening, chances are you're still petrified of the entire process because you fear blowing the interview and not getting the job. Whether you're walking into utopia or a mine field, welcome each interview as an opportunity to learn about yourself.
A prominent …
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