How to have Maximum Interview Confidence
Do you have butterflies in your stomach when you go for
interviews? It's hardly surprising when the outcome is so
important to your future life and prosperity and that of your
family and loved ones.
You've already laboured over writing your resume and now you must face the prospect
of an interview. A feeling of trepidation is understandable
although many people have a careless attitude that can be just
as damaging to your prospects.
Either way, how much better it would be if we could go into
every interview brimming with confidence. Not only will it be a
more pleasurable experience but it will also have a very
positive effect on the interviewer with the result that your
chances of success are dramatically increased.
The good news is that the solution is surprisingly simple to
learn. In fact it's so easy that you may be sceptical, so please
bear with me whilst I explain.
You know how a particular tune will instantly remind you of an
important or enjoyable event in your life? Maybe it's a tune
that was popular when you met your partner. You may even refer
to it as our tune. Or songs from when you were young bring back
happy memories, which is why nostalgic compilation albums are so
popular.
When you hear these tunes again they act as a trigger that
immediately puts you back in the happy frame of mind that you
remember from the past.
As well as happy and positive triggers, most of us also
experience negative triggers. This often happens when someone,
often a close family member, repeats something that always
irritates us. At best we may just be irritated but, at worst, we
may be sent into a rage that we find hard to control.
Once you understand that your brain is reacting subconsciously
to both positive and negative triggers, it's easy to take action
to change your reaction if it's not what you want.
The first step is to decide that the very mention of an
interview will no longer bring on feelings of insecurity or
despair. You will make a conscious decision to consider it a
wonderful opportunity to promote yourself. Now here is the
important part...
Sit quietly with no background noise or distraction and think of
a time when you felt supremely confident and happy. If you are a
sport player, it might be a recent event when you or your team
had a great success. It might be an event in your childhood when
you first accomplished something. The joy you felt when you
learnt to swim or ride a bike. Or the applause you received when
you were in the school play or choir. It might simply be when a
parent said what a clever person you were.
Whatever the event, remember it now and replay it in your mind.
See yourself on a movie screen re-enacting the event. Remember
what was said. Hear the sounds around you. See the scene play
out in Technicolor. Remember the feelings you had. Notice what
smells there were - whether sweat or flowers, dust or smoke.
The trick is to relive the experience as vividly as you can. And
as you relive that happy moment when you were so filled with
confidence and the feeling that you could conquer the world I
want you to clench your fist.
I want you to repeat this every morning and again every evening.
This is most important. If you have time and a quiet place to be
during the day, you can repeat it as often as you like but
please do it at least twice a day. Remember that on every
occasion you must be sure to relive your happy and confident
event as graphically and vividly as possible and on every
occasion, when you are at the height of the experience it is
vital that you clench your fist.
Once you have done this exercise a few times try this. As you
are going about your daily business I want you to clench your
fist. And when you do you'll find something quite amazing
happens. You'll immediately feel happy and supremely confident.
What you have done is to train your brain to associate the
trigger of the clenched fist with a feeling of happiness and
confidence.
If it doesn't work straight away, don't give up. Repeat the
visualisation and try extra hard to relive it using all your
senses. See it. Feel it. Hear it. Smell it. Even taste it.
Some people will find that they only need to do the exercise two
or three times for the clenched fist trigger to work. For others
it might take more practice. But the trigger will work for
everyone because that's the way the brain works.
Now when you are invited into the interviewer's office stand
straight, walk tall and clench your fist. Your brain will react
to the trigger and a feeling of supreme happiness and confidence
will flood over you.
Sensing your happy and confident disposition, the interviewer
will react favourably towards you. And the interview will be an
enjoyable experience for both of you. Even if you are asked to
take an aptitude test you can do so with the utmost
confidence. Goodbye butterflies, hello golden future.