The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Irrational anxiety and job interviews
Track Nine
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
To cut to the point - I've been job hunting for a while now and have an interview scheduled for tomorrow morning and possibly another (different company) next week. Sounds great and it should be something to be at least a little happy or even excited about right?
Not for me..
For the past week since I found out I had this interview, I've been freaking out. Worse, the prospect of this other interview (third stage) coming up the week after is just making things worse. By freaking out I mean, desperate urge to find a way out, butterflies on acid with a liberal dose of suppressed panic added into the mix. And it's getting worse.
For the past week I've split my time between trying to do some kind of preparation for the interview (read up on things that might be asked of me) and trying to get a handle on this clawing anxiety. However, truth be told the anxiety is winning and the prep feels like a drop in the ocean of what potentially could be asked of me.
So, I really need to find some way of dealing with this anxiety - it's not normal to get this worked up and bent out of shape and it's only going to hinder any chance I have in an interview if I have to deal with ths everytime I get a shot at a job.
Anyone know any tricks for dealing with this? I'm open to pretty much anything..
tl;dr - How do I cope with constant near-overwhelming anxiety.
Not for me..
For the past week since I found out I had this interview, I've been freaking out. Worse, the prospect of this other interview (third stage) coming up the week after is just making things worse. By freaking out I mean, desperate urge to find a way out, butterflies on acid with a liberal dose of suppressed panic added into the mix. And it's getting worse.
For the past week I've split my time between trying to do some kind of preparation for the interview (read up on things that might be asked of me) and trying to get a handle on this clawing anxiety. However, truth be told the anxiety is winning and the prep feels like a drop in the ocean of what potentially could be asked of me.
So, I really need to find some way of dealing with this anxiety - it's not normal to get this worked up and bent out of shape and it's only going to hinder any chance I have in an interview if I have to deal with ths everytime I get a shot at a job.
Anyone know any tricks for dealing with this? I'm open to pretty much anything..
tl;dr - How do I cope with constant near-overwhelming anxiety.
Track Nine on
0
Posts
I am often anxious for no reason, so I know you can't shake the feeling off completely. Here, in a few hours, I'm off to get my two remaining wisdom teeth removed, and my heart is already beating like mad. However, I have taken all the informations I could get about this procedure, and I also played and replayed the event in my head. It's not going to be that bad. I know it. I'm still nervous, but a lot of it is controlled by rational thinking.
Do the same with the interview. Rather than freak out, think about how you're going to get there, how you should sit, the pace at which you should talk. What are they going to ask? Prepare yourself mentally. Don't think about getting the job, or not getting the job. Think about leaving the building after a nice and pleasant interview.
The worst that could happen
Not get the job: Go in, get shown up to be far from what they are looking for. Get called on things I can't answer and given tests that I can't complete. Or no matter what I say, any answer I give is unsatifactory and clearly not to the interviewer's liking. End up leaving awkwardly and facing the same next time I get an interview.
Get the Job: Job sucks and I go through however long of struggling to get through it before I am forced to quit or am fired. Find I am unable to do the job or meet the expectations of my employer.
Like I said - it's completely irrational. I've tried reasoning my way through it, but nothing seems to alleviate the anxiety. I've been running on the idea of being prepared and reading up on anything they might ask, but I can't seem to concentrate, there isn't enough time and frustratingly I'm shooting blind.
Me + this kind of situation = irrational
(BTW - Good luck with the dentist, Djiem)
Thanks.
Yes, I am aware that you are aware your stress is irrational, however, since you can't seem to alleviate the anxiety, you should try to use said anxiety as a motivator to be prepared.
One thing you are doing wrong isn't to be anxious. It's to not be able to concentrate because of it. You should really try to calm down (seems like an empty statement, but there's really not much more I can say).
There was one time in High School, where we had to read a book and talk about it in front of the class. It was supposed to be a novel. Like, a real one.
I chose Jonathan Livingston Seagull because that book is fucking awesome. It's really not the size of a novel though. I had asked the teacher about it and after some hesitation, he said he was fine with it.
I was really nervous as I was talking in front of the students, because I had chosen a book that was tiny compared to theirs and I had almost nothing to say of the story or characters. I had to focus on the meaning of the book and what it represents and why it touched me and I liked it.
I was nervous as fuck until I sat down on my chair. Classmates loved the exposé, teacher gave me 95% with a little speech to the class that JLS was one of the best book ever made. He then told me that the only reason he let me choose this book is because he was confident I could make a good exposé out of it and catch the meaning behind the story. Otherwise my grade would have been pretty poor.
I don't know exactly where I was going with this originally, but I know that no matter how incredibly anxious I am before something happens, I never actually botched up because of said anxiety when it really mattered, because events turned out as they rationally should have even if my mind made up horrible scenarios.
Point is, you'll go to the interview and you won't botch it, I'm confident of it even though I don't know you. I think I know what's happening to you, though, and I know what it's like.
Also, another time, I made an oral on Voltaire after reading hightlights of his Encarta article 15 mins before class and managed a 85%. Let me tell you, I was so fucking nervous...
PS: I have to re-state this: Don't think about getting the job or not. Don't even consider this. Just focus on having a pleasant interview. It doesn't matter if the interview goes right or wrong (and it won't go wrong), either way, when you'll leave the building, you'll just have a deep sigh of relief. It helps if the weather's nice ;-)
Go to that interview not to get a job, but to see if the job is right for you. No need to fret over something you have almost no control over (getting hired). Everyone knows how to be professional, and you are the only expert on your own skillset, so go there and do your thing, and see if the job is right for you while the company does the same.
Some tips that I find helpful:
- Remind yourself that an interview is alos your opportunity to evaluate the company and job. The evaluation goes both ways, and being inquisitive helps me be less on edge than feeling like i'm on the spotlight.
- Trust that a good interviewer wants you to be comfortable. They will want to put you at ease. they want to like you. Thats why you've gotten to the point of an interview. Try to treat it more as a conversation than an interrogation.
- Be sincere. Trying to sell yourself for a job that doesn't fit is pretty tough. If you are applying to jobs that you feel good about your ability to excel at, then be honest and direct about why you feel that way. You don't need to put on a dog and pony show. you really just need to put yourself out there with some confidence, and reasoning for why you rock.
- Its still okay to be totally nervous. In fact, plan on starting out a little nervous and calming down as you go. If you get tongue tied, ask for a moment to compose yourself. This is not a sign of weakness if your interviewer knows their job.
Eventually, unless there's serious pathology at work that would require professional guidance, you'll get tired of feeling that way and some adjustments will occur unconsciously. Your body can revert to equilibrium after enough time of almost anything. If you were set on fire and somehow stayed alive while ignited for the next five years you'd eventually stop running around and screaming and get back to your usual routine... [/exagerration]