There’s no denying that job interviews are daunting. Here are my job interview confidence hacks that will make your next interview a breeze. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t put your best foot forward. Here are my job interview confidence hacks that will make your next interview a breeze.
Projecting Non-Verbal Confidence
Did you know that projecting non-verbal confidence in a job interview through open, attentive body language, direct eye contact, a warm smile, expressive hand movements and clear and fluent speech free of filler words such as “um” has been shown to dramatically increase your chances of landing that job. Projecting authority, competence, sociability, leadership and high performance. And the good news is, it’s easier to achieve than you might think.
Watch my video to discover the job interview confidence hacks that will make you shine.
Ten job interview confidence hacks that will make your next interview a breeze:
-
Prepare
When it comes to job interviews, preparation is key. Fear, stress and a lack of preparation can cause us to withdraw physically and emotionally. Affecting our ability to and think and speak clearly. Projecting doubt and uncertainty and leading to speech errors, slips of the tongue, convoluted answers laden with detail or indirect responses.
-
Do Your Research
Doing your research about the role and organisation, thinking about those sticky questions and preparing some examples for behavioural questions, getting your thoughts in order and keeping your fear in check will help you to reduce anxiety, nerves and speech errors. Helping you to think clearly, and project confidence and competence.
-
Reframe Your Nerves as Excitement
Anxiety and nerves can get in the way of our self-esteem, self-worth and confidence. But they don’t need to. In fact, studies show that we can reframe anxiety as excitement. Helping us to feel more open, enthusiastic, optimistic, open and confident.
Now while it might seem too simple, studies highlight three ways that we can actually talk ourselves into perceiving our nerves or feelings of anxiousness as excitement.
Use positive self-talk: We can use positive self-talk to actually talk ourselves into being excited. By saying things like, “I’m excited.”
Remind yourself that you’re excited: We can remind ourselves that this is an actually exciting opportunity by writing little post it notes that we’re excited.
Change your focus: We can also focus on the opportunity rather than the threat.
-
Do a Mental Checklist of Your Body Language
Now that you’ve reframed some of those nerves into excitement, it’s important to do a mental checklist of your body language and adopt a power pose.
What does your non-verbal communication reveal about you?
What does your body language, facial expressions posture and gestures say about you? How does it feel? Is your body language open or closed? What about your breathing? Is it shallow or deep?
Ask Yourself, Would I Approach me?
Next, ask yourself the question “Would I approach me?” If the answer is no, change your posture by adopting a power pose and by doing so, change how you feel. You’ll reduce the stress hormone cortisol and give yourself a boost of testosterone. Making your look and feel more confident.
Stand or sit tall, uncross your arms, legs, and feet and put your feet firmly on the ground. Put your hands on your hips or behind your head or if you’re out in the open, by your side, pull your shoulders back and lift your chin.
Naturally introverted and not sure how to put your best foot forward. Here’s how to shine.
-
Breathe Deeply
Next, breathe deeply. Slouching and tension can lead to anxiety by diminishing your lung capacity causing you to take short quick breaths. Which increases the amount of carbon dioxide in your blood stream. So breathe deeply.
Next, breathe deeply. Taking two long breaths will actually stimulate the parasympathetic system. Bringing your heart rate down, increasing the amount of oxygen in your blood stream, reducing those anxious shakes, and making you feel and look more confident.
-
Smile and Walk with Purpose
When you’re entering a room, smile and walk with purpose. Making direct eye contact and if it’s post COVID, offering your hand in a firm (but not too firm) handshake.
-
Post COVID, Master a Firm (But not too Firm Handshake)
Now while we need to social distance and avoid touch during a pandemic, post COVID a handshake is often our first touch point.
A firm handshake communicates confidence, extroversion, emotional expressiveness, friendliness and dominance. It has been shown to significantly increase your chances of landing that job. People with good handshakes are also seen as being more persuasive, social, and perceived to have better interpersonal skills.
Post COVID here’s how to give a handshake that’s remembered for the right reasons:
- To give a handshake that conveys competence, confidence and openness, make eye contact and smile as you approach. Free up your right hand and if you’re seated, stand before shaking hands.
- As you offer your hand, check that your palm is facing sideways with your thumb pointing up. Slide your hand into theirs so that you have palm-to-palm contact, and shake hands firmly but not too firmly. While maintaining eye contact for three seconds.
- To reinforce the handshake and increase touch, briefly and gently touch their lower arm with left hand but don’t leave it there.
- As you break away make a comment like “It’s lovely to meet you,” while maintaining eye contact.
After the handshake take a seat directly opposite or next to your interviewer, place your bag on the floor and adopt the power pose in your chair (minus the hands on the hips). Place both feet firmly on the ground, sit tall, leaning in just a little. Raise your chin slightly and avoid locking your hands or grabbing your chair or legs, so that your hands are free to gesture. Increasing your ability to connect, think, remember and speak clearly.
-
Ask Questions
My next confidence hack is to ask questions. It’s amazing how many people don’t ask questions during an interview or haven’t done their research.
Asking informed questions makes you look and feel more confident. It also helps you to see whether the job, organisation and culture is actually a good fit, whilst showing that you’re contentious and interested in the company and demonstrating how you are the perfect fit.
-
End on a High Note by Thanking the Interviewer
At the end of the interview, thank the interview and finish a firm handshake and smile. You may or may not be right for this position but either way you’ll make a lasting impression and exude confidence and competence and make a lasting impression.
-
Dress and Groom to Impress
For an extra confidence boost, make sure you look and feel the part. Dress and groom to impress and ensure that your breath is confidently fresh.
