Those feelings of elation you experience when you’re inquired to come in for a job interview can fade pretty rapidly as you get closer to the day of the interview.  You know how it goes; you require the job, you’re not feeling in control, your anxiety spikes and then you initiate to make silly mistakes. You sweat too much, you fidget, you talk too fast and your answers aren’t specifically articulate. It is significant to overcome job interview anxiety before you walk into the actual interview. A high level of stress or anxiety will affect the 1st impression the employer forms about you.

Nervousness and a little bit of anxiety are ideally normal feelings to have before a job interview. In fact, they are really a blessing because they make you more alert and conscious of your actions and words. Although, a high level of anxiety will work against you. You’ll come across as lacking in confidence, unsure of yourself and not specifically capable of dealing with stress. So, how can you get your anxiety under control?

Top Six Ways to Overcome Job Interview Anxiety

• Be Well Prepared and Plan Ahead

If you mere follow one of these six steps, make certain it is this one. Nothing will be more effective at overcoming your job interview anxiety than being well prepared. Prepare answers to as several job interview questions as you can. Thoroughly research the company, its products and its competitors.

• Run A Mock Interview

Once you’ve your interview answers prepared, inquire a friend to assist you run through a mock interview. Do not just practice answering the queries. Make certain you wear your interview outfit and go through every step of the actual job interview. Practice good body language, good flow with your answers and ask the employer some queries too. This will make sure that you’ve been through all the key steps before the actual day. It will assist you overcome the job interview anxiety you feel when you do something for the first time.

• Exercise

Exercise is a good way to decrease anxiety. It produces endorphins in the body and makes you feel more relaxed and calm both physically and mentally. Try and get 40 minutes of exercise before your actual job interview and you’ll be surprised how much less anxious you feel.

• Eat Something

A good meal before the interview will make you feel full, calm and decrease your level of irritation. Try and stick to primarily healthy foods with a sustained energy release. There is nothing worse than being hungry before the interview. You end up focusing more on preventing your stomach from making strange noises than giving great answers.

• Listen To Music

Listening to music can impact our mood in so several ways. Playing slow sad songs makes us cry while fast, catchy songs make us run faster on the treadmill. Consider about what songs leave you feeling upbeat and positive. It doesn’t have to be the latest music; it just requires being music that works for you. If Survivor’s ‘Eye of the Tiger’ does it for you, then that is what you should listen to on your way to the interview.

• Think and Act Positive

Go into every job interview considering positive and acting like you’re guaranteed to get the role. Believe it or not this does affect your anxiety level and the impression you make on the employer.  Be careful of your body language. Use powerful, positive poses throughout the interview and always believe you are a winner. It’ll come across in your actions and answers.

Athletes train every day to become the best at their sport so it makes sense that you require training a bit to become actually good at job interviews. Part of this training includes utilizing the tips above to assist you overcome your job interview anxiety. Try all the steps above, take a moment to breathe and put the interview into perspective. It is a job interview; your life doesn’t depend on it. You’ll be fine.

Throughout your professional career, you’ll require making lots of decisions. Companies require knowing you have good decision making skills enabling you to make the correct choices. To figure this out, they might inquire you about past decisions that you’ve made. Decision making interview queries can be tough to answer, so make certain you prepare thoroughly.

Behavioral Interview Query: Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without all the information you required. How did you manage it and what decision making skills did you use?

All interview queries about your decision making skills require being answered carefully. You require answering with a logical or successful experience as your example. Interviewers need to know that you can make intelligent decisions in a logical way.

Obviously you’ve made a lot of decisions in your working life. Try and use an instance of a decision you made in the past where the result was a success. Interviewers love to hear proof of your abilities.

Tips to Answer

“I think it is pretty rare that we ever have all the information we require when we have to make a decision. We often work with restricted information when deciding what to do next.  The first thing I like to do is look carefully at the data and evaluate what has worked well in the past. I then use my own knowledge and instinct to make the right choice. It is why I always keep up to date with the latest advancements in the field. The knowledge that I gain is what will guide better decisions in the future. When essential, I consult with other team members to make definite they agree with my assessment. I also listen to their competing beliefs, and discuss the problem openly until we decide the best way forward.”

You can talk about the procedure itself, like the instance above, but do not forget about the value of particular experiences. The more you can “prove” your capability by talking about something you’ve done in the past, the better an answer it is.

There are 2 ways to make decisions. One way is to guess. The other is to use information to verify what the right decision will be.

Clearly the second option indicates an effective use of decision making skills and is the one that interviewers are looking for. The query is: can you prove it? This is why you might be asked the following behavioral interview query about using your decision making skills.

Behavioral Interview Query: Give me an instance of a time where you had to obtain information in case to make a significant decision or recommendation. What decision making skills did you use?

There are no tricks to this kind of question. It is generally looking to see that you put some thought into your decision making process.  Interviewers need to be sure that you will make good decisions for their company.

Tips to Answer

“While working on a content marketing campaign, the team and I required determining if we had exhausted the current keyword strategies. We required coming up with a new plan soon as the client was questioning our firm’s value. We quickly not just observed the status of the key terms, but also the strength of the competition and the value in growth. We then integrated few of the newest keyword research tools to determine what strategies would have the best ROI.

You inquired what decision making tools I used. I know this focus has been on using data to draw a conclusion. That said, our greatest decision making skill here was on how we picked up on our client’s significance, and determined that we’d require coming up with a new plan to keep their interest. It worked, and the company remains a client to this day.”

What is great about this kind of answer is that it shows that you’ve an awareness of what is included in great decisions. It also demonstrates that you’ve used that awareness in a way that has assisted companies improve their bottom line.

This is what will help ensure that you show to these companies that you’re someone that will help them succeed.

Sometimes we make decisions on our own and other times we require coming to a decision as a group. Having the capability to adapt your decision making skills to suit the issue is a desirable work skill. That is why, in several interviews, interviewers will inquire behavioral interview queries about your capability to adapt your decision making skills to different situations.

Interview Query: What decision do you make independently and what kinds of decision do you involve others? What decision making skills do you utilize to help you decide?

Answering this kind of behavioral query presents a few challenges.

First, you do not need to seem too dependent, nor do you need to seem too independent.

You also want to be particular with your answer and select an instance that shows a real decision making strategy.

Fortunately, you don’t have to discuss examples of this in practice unless you need to. You generally have to talk about the procedure you use to make these decisions.

Tips to Answer

“I find it an effective strategy to always engage others in the decision making procedure. I do this even when I do not consult with them personally. First I consider what outcome they require and what choices they would make. Then, I integrate that into my thought procedure.

For me, the most significant thing to do is to use facts and data when I am making an independent decision. When I’m part of a group decision I like to brainstorm and consult with others. This is particularly effective when I am looking for new ideas or strategies that will affect the company in a broader way.

I consider that it always helps to integrate the ideas of others and that provable information is the best tool available for decision making as a whole.”

The key is to be specific. Your answer requires highlighting that you can make decisions on your own but are also very team focused when you need to. Interviewers will then be able to victoriously imagine the ways that you can contribute to their workplace.

Is it better to make a bad decision in contrast to make no decision at all? In several cases yes it is. Companies need individuals who can show they solve issues. They need decision makers, because those that struggle to make decisions are prone to delays and need constant direction which impacts everyone around them. Potential employers may ask you to show them that you have:

1. Made good decisions
2. Made hard decisions
3. Learnt from bad decisions

They need to know that you have been confronted with challenges and that you have been willing to make decisions and execute them. Basically, they are searching to see if you can perform the five key steps in the decision-making process. They are:

• Identifying the Issue
• Gathering Information
• Considering that Information
• Making a Decision
• Evaluating that Decision

If you’re asked a query about your capability to make decision then the 5 key steps above need to be in your answer. At no point should you make it sound like you depended on someone else to make the decision for you.

Behavioral Interview Query: What is the most difficult decision you have ever had to make at work? How did you arrive at your decision? What was the outcome?

Every individual has had different experiences, so it is not essentially possible to tell you how to answer this question directly. Let’s instead look at an instance answer so you can see how it should read:

“At COMPANY X we were confronted with a serious issue. We were on the verge of losing one of our best clients to a competitor unless we offered them an important discount on our services. I decided to observe the costs linked with losing and keeping the client, using the data we had on acquisition charges and the expenses that are associated with each client. This specific client had a history of inquiring for discounts, added assistance, and using our customer service staff, and while we were more than happy to give customer support, at the discount the client was asking for we would incur a significant loss. I had to make the difficult decision to lose the client, which is never a famous choice but financially it was the right thing to do.”

This is a difficult decision. Losing a customer is a nightmare for most businesses. But your bravery in making that decision and the explanation you gave as to why you did it is going to give you significant credibility with the employer. Any answer that indicates the five key steps to good decision making is one that will impress an interviewer.