3 confidence hacks for interviews
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Are you struggling to answer behavioral interview questions? Use this simple, three-step framework to help you tell compelling stories that win over hiring managers.
Hack #1: Get some oxygen
Your body thinks an interview is a life-or-death situation. It’s not. Tell your brain to chill out by controlling your breath. Slow, deep breaths signal safety, reducing stress and helping you focus.
Try this: Breathe in through your nose for four seconds, hold for four, and exhale out through your mouth for six. Do this a few times before your interview and any time you feel nerves creeping in.
Getting oxygen works because it helps regulate your nervous system so you feel calm and in control.
Hack #2: Get a reframe
If you think about the interview like a test, you’ll get all stressed out. Worse - it’ll get in your way of showing up at your best.
Try this instead: Reframe the interview in your head as a conversation - it’s just a conversation between two people! Think about it like a swipe right or left kind of conversation. You want to figure out if you’re a mutual match. Remember - you have agency and decision rights in this interaction just as much as the interviewer does.
Reframing how you think about the interview changes your mindset and reduces stress and improves performance.
Hack #3: Get small talk prepped
When you don’t know how to make small talk during the interview, it can feel awkward.
Here’s something to try. To help the small talk flow easier - have a few go-to topics ready before the interview. Try current events (nothing too controversial), a favorite sports team, something about the company, or even commenting on the weather (classic but effective).
Prepping for small talk works because it takes away the worry of not knowing what to say. You show up with confidence and it makes both of you more comfortable.
–Jennifer
TL;DR: 3 confidence hooks for interviews = Oxygen + Reframe + Prep small talk topics
P.S. Take a deeper dive into these foundational theories for more details:
Hack #1 - Polyvagal Theory. Breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, calming stress responses. (Porges, 1995)
Hack #2 - Cognitive Reappraisal Theory. Changing how you interpret a situation reduces stress and improves performance. (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984)
Hack #3 - The Mere Exposure Effect. People like things they are familiar with. Small talk creates connection and likability. (Zajonc, 1968)
P.P.S. - Want to see these tools in action? Watch my LinkedIN video on this topic!
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