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How do you deal with pre-interview anxiety? (kbin.social)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I've got one coming up soon and am nervous as hell, as usual.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Have stories ready, and try to use the STAR method of explaining them. You can search for 'STAR method' on your favorite search engine and you'll find plenty of articles about it, but here's a quick summary:

The STAR method is a popular technique used in job interviews. It provides a structured framework for answering questions by focusing on four key elements: Situation, Task, Action, and Result. By describing the situation you encountered, explaining the task at hand, detailing the actions you took, and sharing the outcome or results, you can provide a concise and effective response that showcases your skills and experiences. This method helps interviewers gain a clear understanding of your capabilities and problem-solving abilities.

Aside from that, I always remind myself that I'm interviewing them as much as they're interviewing me. I don't want to work at a shitty company with shitty people, so I'm going to try and find out as much about their culture as possible.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Along with that, if they ask a question that "stumps" you, it's usually ok to come back to that one later. You may think of a good example while talking about a different scenario.

If you need a few seconds to think, repeat the question back or ask them to repeat. Good luck!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

The STAR method is great.

And it's worth emphasizing that you're also interviewing them. Absolutely because you want to make sure you actually want to work there, but from an anxiety perspective, it gets them talking and that takes pressure off of you. To me, the hardest part of interviewing is the feeling that I have to put on a performance and the less time I spend feeling like I have to be "on," the better.

And to that former point, if there are things that they're doing or along that are making you anxious, that's something to take into account. I had one interview where I was asked a lot of weird, irrelevant questions to "test" my personality. It felt like they came straight from some bullshit, pseudoscientific article about how to vet job candidates. That's not the kind of workplace I want to be in.