Post Interview Strategies

            You’ve self-reflected and discovered how to control your stress levels in an interview. You’ve taken the time to develop strategies on how to become a desirable candidate to the firm your applying with. You’ve interviewed, and you nailed it! Now what? Believe it or not, your work is not complete. There are critical strategies that can still be implemented that may increase your chances of acquiring the position.

            Follow Up E-mail: Regardless of how you feel the interview might have gone, an immediate follow up e-mail should always be sent. Most people recommend you send an e-mail within 24hrs after the interview. Always get the business card of whomever you spoke with. This way you have the correct spellings of their name and e-mail address.  Don’t be over eager, quickly type something up, and send it out. Often people make grammatical errors and typos in these situations. The follow up e-mail doesn’t need to be long, but it should be personalized to the point that it doesn’t read like a standard form letter. I recommend is length is approximately 2-3 paragraphs of 2-3 sentences each. As an alternative to the follow up e-mail, consider sending a hand written letter or a professional business card. Consider your audience, an older more traditional hiring manager may prefer this and find it intriguing.

            Check In With Your References: It wouldn’t be the best look if an employer contacted one of your references and they didn’t remember you. You should always check in with your references. Also this is a great time to let them know about your professional plans, goals and objectives. If your references are aware of your goals and objectives, they are more likely to say the right things that accommodate you accordingly.

            Review Your Social Media Profiles: It’s very important that you review and update all your social media profiles so that they accurately and professionally reflect your job situation. In today’s cyber society, social media is so easily referred to and is a powerful medium between you and employers.  Consider your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, etc. Is there anything on there that you wouldn’t want an employer to see or read? Also, I have read that posting or tweeting about job interview experiences may be frowned upon. Be careful what you put on the Internet.

            Celebrate: Lastly, if you get the job CELEBRATE! You have been through a lot and deserve a celebration. You are about to begin a journey down a new path and have a lot of hard work ahead of you. However, if you do not get the job, don’t be discouraged. Not everyone lands a job in his or her first interview. In fact most people don’t. Remember that determination and self-confidence is pivotal to your success.

Strategies to Interviewing

It’s important to be confident in interviews. Knowing who you are and believing in your abilities is crucial towards success. But is that enough? Some might say yes, others may disagree. I recommend taking a strategic approach to interviewing. The word strategy can be defined as: A plan, method, or series of maneuvers used to obtain a specific goal. Why just show up to interview? Why not have a plan or method that you can apply towards becoming a more desirable candidate? I’ve spoken to professionals within my network that I consider business mentors. Here are some of the strategies they proposed to me.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK: a very common piece of advice is to do your homework on the company that you’re applying for. Understanding the company’s situation and position in their industry is a definite plus. In fact, if you have no clue about anything that is going on with the company you are applying for, it might hurt your chances of becoming a desirable candidate. Knowing as much as you can about the company will also increase your confidence and make you feel like a more qualified applicant.

CONTROL THE CONVERSATION: If you have ever acquired strategic advice regarding interviews before, you’ve probably heard that it is good to have a few questions for the employer. But what about 15-20 good questions? It was recommended to me to have this many significant questions that display my interest and attentiveness to the company and industry in which I’m applying for. Having such a large amount of questions prepared allows you to control the conversation. I think of it like playing football. Do you want to be the guy getting tackled, or the one laying hits? Asking questions shifts the defensive posture away from you in an interview and allows less room for possible mental errors or awkward “I don’t knows.” Asking a lot of good questions also lets the employer know that you’ve done your homework on their company and that you are genuinely interested.

PRACTICE & TALK: Practicing and talking to people is a great way to increase confidence levels and acquire tips and strategies for interviewing. Reach out to people you know that are in professional positions. Ask them for information, and even practice interviewing you. The more you practice and talk, the more the interview process becomes second nature. The idea is to be as comfortable and sure a possible when the real thing goes down. Try to imagine the types of questions that relate to the specific job titles and industries that you are applying for. Being prepared is an essential part of successfully becoming a desirable candidate. 

Below are some links to websites that are dedicated to strategies towards job interviewing:

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/interviews/tp/jobinterviewtips.htm

http://www.fastcompany.com/1839723/10-job-interview-tips-ceo-headhunter

http://www.apapracticecentral.org/ce/tools/interview.aspx 

Becoming a Desirable Candidate

I’ve identified existing types of anxiety that create stressful job interviews. I’ve also discovered the factors that drive them, and methods to cope. I consider this process pivotal to not only interviewing well, but also understanding one’s self. If you don’t know who you are, how will an employer? Don’t leave room for assumptions or false interpretation. Find out who you are, be confident, and be yourself. 

  With that being said, now its time to shift gears and center focus on performing well in job interviews. Overcoming stress levels and anxiety is just the first step to successfully interviewing. Now that we’re cool, calm, and collected, lets begin exploring strategies that will help us achieve our goal of being a desirable candidate.  

The first thing I would recommend is talk to someone in a professional position. Talking to people creates ideas and incorporates outside perspectives that one might not consider on their own. I began by talking to a few people within my network that I consider business mentors. I asked them, how do I perform better in interviews for jobs that I feel “unqualified” for? At first I got the standard response, just be yourself, or you’ll be fine, you’re ready. But I demanded more, I want strategies, I need advice! That’s when the truth began to come out.

NEVER SETTLE: My first piece of advice was from a mid-level manager at a software design company and this is what he had to say. Nate, that fact that you feel “unqualified” is good. It means you’re not settling for the easy job that you probably could have gotten without your degree. Never settle he said. He continued with a hilarious metaphoric example. Interviewing for jobs is like trying to get a girlfriend. Never settle, you should always go for the hottest one that you like the most even though 9 out of 10 times you’re most likely going to be rejected or maybe even slapped in the face. Don’t be afraid of rejection, because eventually you will land the perfect dream job, or girlfriend, and it will all be worth it.

SMART PEOPLE & STUPID PEOPLE: The next guy that I talked to I really admire. He is a successful CEO that has almost made a hobby out of getting software start ups off the ground. The first thing he said was, Nate, there are two types of people that will interview you: smart people & stupid people. He said, and I quote word for word “some of these people couldn’t poor piss out of a boot if the directions were on the heel”. His advice corresponds with the first guy in the sense that, if a girl can’t see what a great guy you are and rejects you off the bat, then she doesn’t deserve you. Essentially his message was, if someone can’t see your worth and the value that you would bring to their company then they aren’t smart enough to make decisions like that in the first place.

Overall the message that I got from these two was that you can’t control the personality or thought process of others. The most important thing is that you don’t doubt yourself, and that you make sure the “real you” shows up to each interview.

Within both of those conversations strategies to successfully interviewing and being a desirable candidate were discussed. That will be the topic of my next blog post.

Quick Stress Relief

You may suffer from job interview anxiety, social anxiety disorder, lack of confidence, or some other reason that stresses you out and makes you hate job interviews. Regardless to what the driving factor is, you need help. There are always solutions to ones problems, but sometimes they are buried deeper than one expects to look. Albert Einstein said, “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” Find out what affects your stress levels and causes you to hate job interviews. Have the courage to challenge your self and go the opposite direction. Regardless to what the driving factor is, the end result is stress. There are a number of techniques and strategies to prevent stress, but what about relieving it quickly in certain situations? Here are some tips.

Recognizing stress is the first step in lessening its impact. Many of us spend so much time in a stressed state, we have forgotten what it feels like to be fully relaxed and alert. Being stressed out feels normal.

There are countless techniques for preventing stress. Yoga and meditation are great techniques to coping with stress. But who can take a moment to chant or meditate during a job interview? You need to be able to handle the stress of the pressure during certain circumstances that are pivotal. This is where quick stress relief can be helpful. Although it is merely a temporary coping method, it may be the X-factor to whether you nail or fail an interview.

The key to practicing quick stress relief is learning which one of your senses helps your particular nervous system find calm and focus quickly. Everyone responds differently to certain sensory inputs. For example, one may listen to music, or look at an inspiring picture. Experiment and figure out whether sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch calms your nervous system. After you have discovered what sensory system works best for you, you can start researching the many suggested techniques and strategies that are developed to quickly relieve stress. Below are a few links to sites that are dedicated to quick stress relief.

http://www.phoenix.va.gov/features/Basics_of_quick_stress_relief.asp

http://goodrelaxation.com/2011/12/quick-stress-relief-tips/

http://getitdone.quickanddirtytips.com/quick-stress-relief.aspx

Alternative Factors of Stress

Job interview stress VS social anxiety disorder

I’ve identified that stress from job interviews is directly correlated with “social anxiety disorder”. However, I think there are definitely other driving factors that should be considered. Social anxiety disorder suggests that all stress in an interview comes from the fear of being judged or looking bad in front of others. But couldn’t interview stress and anxiety be generated by something else?

Pressure definitely creates stressful situations. Whether its economic, financial, family, legal etc… pressure can build on an individual and create an enormous amount of unnecessary stress and anxiety. Like shooting a free throw, in practice it can be a piece of cake, but with the pressure of the game on the line stress levels are certain to increase. How do you handle pressure? I think it starts with understanding where it’s coming from. The most important thing is believing in yourself and ability to be successful.

Self esteem and confidence can affect the amount of stress that one occurs during a job interview. Have you ever tried to accomplish something that you didn’t believe you were capable of? Have you ever felt unqualified for the job that you were interviewing for? A lot of stress and pressure can be generated by individual uncertainty. Planning ahead, researching the companies that you are interviewing with, are great ways to increase confidence in job interviews. Ultimately, believe in the tools that you have accrued though your learning experiences, and be yourself.

Social Anxiety Disorder

   I have begun my investigation of why Job interviews make me want to barf. I discovered that "Job Interview Anxiety" turns out to be a subset of the more technical term, "Social Anxiety Disorder". Social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, is an anxiety disorder in which a person has an excessive and unreasonable fear of social situations. Anxiety and self-consciousness are tied to the discomfort of being closely watched, judged, and criticized by others. Someone that suffers from social anxiety disorder is afraid that they will make mistakes, look bad, and be embarrassed in front of others. In addition, people with social anxiety disorder often suffer "anticipatory anxiety", the fear of a situation before it even happens.

   The correlation between job interview anxiety, social anxiety disorder, and anticipatory anxiety definitely exist. Below I have attached links from Socialanxietysupport.com & everydayhealth.com that break down symptoms and causes of the different types of anxiety.

  

  http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/disorder/

http://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/anxiety/what-is-anticipatory-anxiety.aspx

Introduction

Do job interviews make you want to barf? Do they make your stomachache and your head pound? Do job interviews stress you out and jack your self-confidence all up. If you said yes to any of these questions than we have something in common and this blog may apply to you. You may be suffering from “Job Interview Anxiety” My goal is to understand and over come the reality of job interview anxiety. What causes that nervous amount of self-doubt? Why am I comfortable in essentially any other scenario? I plan on exploring the causes and effects of job interview anxiety. I also plan on expressing my personal opinions and experiences involving job interviews. My target audience, or those who may find this blog appealing, would consist of 20-40 year old job seekers. That age group applies because teenagers have jobs to buy clothes and go to the movies. The amount riding on the outcome of the job interview is much lower than an adult. On the other end, I would assume that individuals over the age of 40 have a decent amount of experience with the job interview process, and are familiar with the issues that entail. 

Below are links to medical news today and support for social anxiety that breaks down the concept and causes of anxiety in general, and how it relates to job interview anxiety. 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/anxiety/what-causes-anxiety.php

http://supportforsocialanxiety.com/What_is_Social_Anxiety.php