10 Strategies to Calm Your Job Interview Anxiety

Cold sweats. Racing heartbeat. Spiking blood pressure.

No, we're not talking about that sinking feeling you get when you watch a horror movie or board a rollercoaster. We're talking about interview anxiety, that unique terror and dread that overtakes almost everyone before, and often during, a job interview.

Let's face it: Whether you're a first-time job seeker or a workforce veteran, walking into an interview can scare the living daylights out of you, especially when you're attempting to land a role you really want. Not only have most people experienced stress before or during an interview, but research indicates that anxiety negatively affects interview performance, as it can also decrease your chances of landing a second interview and an eventual offer.

So, what do you do about it? Luckily, the best way to counter job interview stress also happens to be the best way to make the interview process work for you rather instead of against you. Preparation—from researching a potential employer's culture, core mission, and values, to outlining the ways your professional profile matches the desired qualifications of the role—can keep you from dwelling on all that can go wrong and quell your anxiety.

Keep in mind that every interview provides you with the opportunity to prove that you're the right person for the job, as well as the opportunity to decide if those you are meeting with are people you want to work with. If you can manage to let go of your fear of judgment and lean into highlighting your accomplishments and knowledge, you can optimize your chances of landing the role. Use these strategies to conquer your job interview fears and make the process work for you rather than against you.

1. Understand How Your Interview Stress Response Works

The Anxiety: Fear of Freezing Up

With so much at stake, it makes sense that our bodies would be thrown into a stress response resulting in an urge to flee, fight, or freeze. Since none of those options are possible in the moment, the stress can build even further, causing us to experience both internal and external physical symptoms of anxiety, including:

• Changes in our voice patterns and tone, including cracking or shaking
• Racing or irrational thoughts
• Changes in body temperature
• An inability to sit still or a desire to fidget
• Elevated heart rate
• Sweating, including a cold sweat or sweaty palms
• Nausea
• Blushing
• Shortness of breath
• Dizziness

You may not experience all these symptoms at once, but any one of them can throw you off your game. The key to understanding how to calm nerves before an interview is pinpointing what triggers you.

The Solution

Start with a little self-reflection. Ask yourself the following questions to identify your personal responses.

• Which of the above symptoms have you experienced?
• Do you tend to be more nervous before or during an interview?

Depending on your answers, you might want to focus on pre-interview preparedness in the form of research or mock interviews. If your interview anxiety is more intense prior to interviews than during, you may need to engage in pre-interview calming exercises.

2. Know You're Not Alone

The Anxiety: Fear of Being Judged

Let's face it: No one likes to be judged, and that is exactly what a job interview is—a judgment zone. If it's any comfort, 92% of U.S. adults report feeling anxious about job interview performance, so the odds are that nearly every applicant you're competing against is just as nervous as you are.

From anxiety over arriving late (14%) to the fear that the interviewer will ask a question we don't know the answer to (15%), job seekers bring a wide range of anxieties into virtual and in-person interview scenarios. In fact, fear of nervousness itself has been cited as anxiety-producing by 22% of job applicants. (That's so meta!)

The Solution

So, how can you turn your newfound statistical knowledge to your advantage? By keeping it top of mind when you enter that virtual or physical interview space.

For example, if you fear looking foolish, remember that everyone on the other side of the table (or screen) has been where you are now. Not only that, but nearly every other person you're competing against is probably just as nervous as you are.

Remember that any hiring manager worth working for should be sensitive to the fact that even the most talented applicants may appear nervous in such a high-risk setting. Knowing this, you should be able to cross "nervous about being nervous" off your list of concerns.

3. Conduct a Mental, or Even a Literal, Dress Rehearsal

The Anxiety: Feeling Out of Control

Sometimes your brain can start spiraling in the leadup to a big interview. Before you know it, you're nervous about every question and every way you'll mess up your answer. What if you have no answer at all? What if you freeze up and forget to mention your best attributes and greatest achievements?

The Solution

Rehearsing with a friend, family member, or mentor, can train your brain that there is no need to fight, flee, or freeze during the hiring process. Have them ask you common interview questions and give you feedback on your answers.

Even if you don't have time to rehearse in the days leading up to your interview. you can review popular interview questions, especially those designed to rattle you, such as “"What is your biggest weakness?"

Create talking points that highlight the strengths you already have that align with the employer's stated values. Read over your notes again right before the interview to feel more prepared and composed.

4. Calm Your Nerves

The Anxiety: Pre-Interview Jitters

Many job seekers get nervous before an interview, but once the interview gets going, they find themselves enjoying the process. These calming exercises can help you relax so you put your best foot forward.

The Solution

Replace your pre-interview jitters with positive energy by engaging in the following calming strategies:

• Try some relaxation exercises, such as meditation, deep breathing, positive visualization, or targeted muscle relaxation.
• Ramp up your confidence by listening to a motivational music playlist or a pre-interview pep talk.
• Lighten the mood by watching funny videos or a few minutes of your favorite standup.

5. Exaggerate Your Fears

The Anxiety: Fear of the Unknown

Sometimes it's the unknown that causes us to avoid taking risks. Focusing on what could go wrong can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Solution

This might sound like the opposite of a calming exercise, but as you're preparing for your interview, ask yourself what's the worst that can happen—and then amplify it. Is your greatest fear blanking on a question? Spilling your water all over the table? Wearing the wrong outfit? Play that scenario out, and you may just calm those jitters by realizing it's not a dealbreaker.

6. Give Yourself a Pep Talk

The Anxiety: Negative Thoughts

Instead of getting bogged in self-doubt, focus on the positive. Pep talks aren't just helpful for sports teams, they can help you feel confident before your interview.

The Solution

Make a list of your best qualities as a worker. Say them out loud (or silently if you're in public) as often as you need to until they're top of mind and you're ready to share them proudly once you're in the room, or onscreen, with your next potential employer.

Take a page from cognitive behavioral therapy and find a mantra to repeat to help you lower the stakes of the interview. Something like, "If this doesn't work out, I'll find a better opportunity," can help you reduce the pressure you're putting on yourself.

7. Focus on the Positive

The Anxiety: You'll Forget Your Key Points

Sure, it can be helpful to think about a job interview as a sales pitch where we strive to emphasize our "key selling points." But doing so can prompt new fears: What if we get thrown off script and fail to mention the skills and accomplishments that make us such a great fit for the role?

The Solution

Preparation is a helpful way to counter your interview anxiety, but there's a tipping point. Come in over-rehearsed and you can sound like a robot reading from a script. An interview is not a scripted scene. Strive to make your interview a conversation, not a hard sell where you're the product. Accept that you will almost certainly fail to mention all the points you want to emphasize during the interview and know that doing your best is enough.

But there are some tricks that can increase your chances of weaving in your key assets for the role. During a phone or virtual interview, you can create a document with the points you want to cover. For an in-person interview, make a more polished version of your presentation that you can send to the interview committee ahead of time or bring with you. That way you can refer to it during the meeting, and you can even explain that you prepared it just for the occasion, demonstrating how invested you are in the role.

8. Don't Try to Change Your Personality

The Anxiety: Imposter Syndrome

A job interview is not set up like any other kind of social scenario. So, it can be frustrating to hear the constant refrain to "just be yourself" when the hiring process isn't a setting designed to make candidates feel relaxed and unguarded.

Add to that the fact that many of us feel like we don't deserve the roles we most want. We convince ourselves that everyone else at an organization, especially one we admire, must be smarter and more capable than us. Sure, we may know on some level that this is wrong—we've done our research, we've developed the skills, we've worked hard—but that doesn't mean we believe it.

Sometimes our insecurity can convince us that we need to adopt an "interview persona." This tendency can make candidates seem fake, stiff, or even untrustworthy, and sabotage your chances. It can mask your true personality, including all the things that make you unique and appealing. It can even lead you to try to bluff and make up vague answers to tough questions, instead of simply admitting you don't have an answer.

The Solution

Give yourself permission to say, "I don't know." Not only will this ensure that you don't say something that is untrue or inaccurate, but it will help you to focus on the aspects of the position you're sure about.

No one is an expert on everything, and perspective employers don't expect you to be. Besides, having the courage to say "I don't know" or "I'm not familiar with that" in an interview may earn you authenticity points.

One of the worst things you can do is try to guess what you think the interviewer wants and go in playing a part. Keeping it up for the duration of an entire interview will likely prove exhausting, if not downright impossible. Plus, your attempts to impress might come off as inauthentic. Better to win or lose the position by being yourself.

9. Confront Your Fear of Failure

The Anxiety: Looking Unprepared

It can be easy to imagine that one bad interview performance will doom you with everyone in your industry. This just isn't true. Learning how to relax before an interview by focusing on small achievable tasks can keep you from spiraling.

The Solution

Adhere to all the old-school best practices. Select your interview outfit and lay it out the night before. As you make your selection, lean toward a more formal look over a casual one. For virtual interviews, opt for solid colors over white or overly busy prints. Arrive early and use the extra time to go over your prepared notes on the company and the role, including crafting questions to ask the interviewers about the company.

Finally, remember that if you are not selected for the position, even if you freeze up and fail spectacularly, it's unlikely you will ever see any of those hiring managers again. Even if you do, most recruiters and hiring managers are unlikely to remember a bad interview performance in any detail, nor are they likely to hold it against you.

Why not? Because if they've been in the workforce for a while, they've probably tanked more than a few interviews themselves.

10. Use This Checklist to Reduce Interview Anxiety

Many of the preceding strategies can help to reduce your anxiety in the leadup to your interview. The following checklist is designed to make sure you've covered all the bases and ensure that you are as confident and stress-free as possible when you walk—or log—into your interview.

1. Mental Preparation:
   • You can start a week or so before your interview, by practicing mindfulness or meditation for a few minutes daily. This will help you develop a more general sense of calm.
   • Try positive affirmations to fake it till you make it. Phrases like "I am prepared" or "I am capable" can help boost your self-confidence.
2. Physical Relaxation Techniques:
   • Deep breathing exercises are the gold standard of anxiety management. Take a moment before the interview to concentrate on your breath to calm your nerves.
   • Add light physical activity like stretching or yoga into your routine on the day of your interview. Helping to release muscle tension can make you feel physically more relaxed, which can lead to being more mentally ready.
3. Visual Rehearsal:
   • Visualize yourself completing a successful interview. Imagine that you conduct the interview from start to finish in a calm and composed manner. Our brains don't know the difference between imagination and reality!
   • You could also take a moment to think about a loved one or pet to fill yourself with positive feelings before the interview.
4. Mock Interviews:
   • Conduct practice interviews with a friend or mentor to reduce anxiety about unexpected questions.
   • Record your answers to potential questions, and as you listen to your responses, take note of places where you can highlight your suitability for the role.
5. Grounding Techniques:
   • Use grounding exercises (like the 5-4-3-2-1 technique for coping with anxiety) to stay present and calm before the interview.
   • Ground yourself in your body in discrete ways, such as curling your toes or flexing your fingers.
6. Pre-Interview Routine:
   • Establish a calming routine before the interview, such as listening to soothing music or taking a short walk.
   • Take stock of all the items you need to bring with you to the interview, such as copies of your resume, a photo ID, or flash drive.
7. Self-Compassion:
   • Remind yourself that it's okay to be nervous and that everyone experiences some anxiety.
   • Give yourself permission to fail. Even if you freeze up or forget half of what you went into the interview intending to say, you're still likely to learn something along the way that you can use in your next interview.

You're Ready: The Best Cure for Interview Anxiety Is Knowing Your Worth

Once you've engaged in one or more of these strategies, you can let go of the feeling that you must perform perfectly. That's just not how the hiring process works for most people.

As you walk through the door, or sign into the virtual waiting room, take a moment to remind yourself that you've done all the preparation you can—and then pat yourself on the back. Tell yourself that this is simply one possible opportunity out of many. Think of the next hour as an opportunity to learn about your industry, the role, and yourself.

Keep in mind that an interview is not a one-sided assessment. Every interview offers an opportunity for you to do some judging of your own. Focusing less on being "good enough," and more on deciding whether the company, division, or boss are really the best fit for you, can help you feel more powerful.

Armed with this level of confidence you can focus on the value you can bring to the role and present yourself as the knowledgeable, polished professional you are. You've got this!

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