Sweaty palms, a racing heart, shaky voice, negative thoughts...sound familiar? You’re not the only one - 90% of people say they feel nervous about interviews at least sometimes. These are just some of the many symptoms people experience before and during a job interview.
Interview nerves and anxiety afflicts even the most successful and naturally confident people, and sometimes it feels that there’s no fix or trick.
“Being anxious going into an interview is completely normal,” explains Charlotte Bull, clinical psychologist at Schema Therapy Institute Australia.
“Job interviews can be extremely anxiety inducing. This can be for a range of reasons – being the focus of so much attention, being questioned about your performance, and the knowledge that making mistakes could be costly.”
“A bit of anxiety can actually be helpful, because it can motivate us and improve performance. The problem arises when that anxiety becomes extreme and actually impacts on how you present during an interview.”
Katie Roberts is director of Katie Roberts Career Consulting, an organisation providing interview coaching to people across Australia. Roberts offers six solutions for reducing anxiety at job interviews:
Bull also advises interviewees to tap into the physical symptoms. “Try to slow your breathing, and focus on the breath at one point in your body as it enters and exits. You might notice that focusing on the breath reduces the intensity of your thoughts.”
Finally, remember, there’s no single, perfect fix to job interview nerves. Use whatever tactics or tricks work best for you. A little anxiety can be healthy, indicating you care about the outcome, and it’s the perfect opportunity for you to show prospective employers how and why you’re right for the job.
Independent research conducted by Nature of behalf of SEEK, interviewing 4800 Australians annually. Published April 2023.