Overcoming The Fear Of Job Interviews As An Introvert

Job interviews can be daunting for most of us, especially those like me who are introverts and not particularly good at selling ourselves. This is sometimes mistaken for an inability to do a job as well as someone who can present themselves well, which isn’t always the case.

But have you ever had a bad interview that knocked your confidence? Or thought an interview went well only to find that it didn’t because you were not selected for the job? Well, as you can guess, I’ve experienced both!

Story Time

I remember an interview with a Civil Service department where the interviewer was initially very friendly, smiled and welcomed me. The interview started well; I answered the questions but as time went on, I realized they had stopped taking notes of what I was saying.

They were looking at me and each other in a state of confusion. That’s when I knew it wasn’t going so well and feeling deflated, I also gave up trying to get the job.

With each successive question, I put less effort in and eventually the interview was prematurely terminated. I couldn’t wait to get out of there because I was so embarrassed as it was obvious that I had failed.

My Confidence Was Down To Zero

This shook my confidence and made me doubt whether it was worth continuing my endeavours of finding a new job, as I was successfully failing at it. Nevertheless, I decided to continue and eventually succeeded in securing a new role.

After being in the role for over two years I decided it was time for some new. However, this meant having to go through the application and interviewing process all over again.  This time I applied for a job that really piqued my interest so when I got an interview, I was excited and thought I had this.

Wrong! I prepared as usual and answered all the questions in the interview.  I thought I did pretty well, but as you guess it, I didn’t get the job.

This upset me a lot and made me think and reflect on my interview skills. If what I thought was my best wasn’t good enough, what was I supposed to do?

Having The Correct Attitude

Then I realized that my attitude was all wrong. Not only was I allowing my nerves to work against me, but I didn’t really believe that what I brought to the table was valuable. And if you don’t believe in what you’re selling, how can you expect others to?

When my attitude changed, and I started to not take the results of interviews so personally. I started to see the interviewers as people who weren’t trying to trick me with questions, but rather as people who were just trying to find the right person for the role.

I also started to ask myself what was in it for me in terms of work culture, because as much as I’d have liked to get the job, I also had to think about whether the work environment would be best suited to me and my needs.

So, I made the section where you can ask questions a mini interview for the interviewer. From that point on, everything changed for me: even if I didn’t get the job, I was put on the reserve list. Even if that wasn’t always the case, I saw any negative outcome as their loss, not mine NEXT!

The Four P’s For The Interviewee

So here are the 4 ‘P’s that job interviews taught me and might be of use to you:

• Preparation – I think this is standard when you write down your answers to the expected questions. Write down your own questions for the interviewers. If you must give a presentation, plan it and work out your cues.

• Private Practice – Practice your answers out loud in front of a mirror or someone you trust. This can include mock interviews.

• Public Practice – This is putting the first two points into practice in the interview. Think of each interview you go to and don’t get the job as practice for the next one and so on. As with everything in life, the more you exercise your interview muscle, the stronger it gets and the closer you get to say yes.

• Psychological shift – I think this is very important and makes all the difference. If you don’t believe in yourself or what you’re saying, how will someone who doesn’t know you? You may think you come across as confident, but your demeanour could betray you in revealing what is really in your subconscious.

A Little Encouragement

Changing your mindset changes you output which in turn changes your outcomes.

Also remember that negative interview results aren’t a personal attack, even though it can sometimes feel that way. You’ll get the job that suits you.

And with that, I want to leave you with this:

Sometimes you have to go through a dozen no’s to get to your yes. But every no has refined you and made you better for your yes.