How to improve your interview confidence

Posted on: 6 May 2020 by Freya is in her final year studying Criminology at the University of Liverpool in Hints, tips and advice

There is no getting around the fact that whilst it’s great to reach the interview stage of a recruitment process, it can be a real nerve-wracking experience.

Even the most experienced and professional people get butterflies at the thought of being asked "why do you want to work with us?" and I had an interview for a graduate scheme last week that certainly got my tummy turning! Interview nerves are nothing to be afraid of, but there are things you can do to stop yourself from being frozen with fear.

Pre-Interview:

There is no shortcut to interview preparation and a lot of interview confidence comes from having done your research and feeling as ready as you can be. The Career Studio has lots of resources to help you prepare - read the How to Succeed in Interviews’ guide and make time to research the role and the company, then use what you have learned about the job to think of some example questions that are likely to come up.

Practice makes perfect, so use CareerHub to arrange a mock interview with a Career Coach or even film yourself answering common interview questions and watch yourself back to see what you could work on. I managed to arrange a mock interview and connected with a few employees from the company on LinkedIn who gave me some great tips on what might come up in the interview, so use as many connections as you can!

A great tip I was given was to write down the three main things you want to get across and make sure to cover them as best as you can. Planning questions to ask the interviewer is also important as by this point your brain might feel a bit frazzled to think something up on the spot!

The day of your interview:

On the day of your interview make sure you’ve got everything set up and ready to go with time to spare. Try and get a good night's sleep and eat well on the day of your interview, if you’ve got time go for a walk to clear your head and stretch out the tension!

There are advantages to be taken from the current virtual situation so spend some time writing brief notes to stick behind your laptop. I had a big box lying around so I created my own little notice board for my laptop to just slip in front of. It really helped with nerves to have something to glance at knowing you didn’t look flustered scrambling around for your notes!

Make sure you’re still looking smart and professional and check your computer camera and microphone as well as what’s behind you, no interviewer wants to see your dirty washing hanging off the back of your chair! With a few minutes to go make sure you’ve got a glass of water to hand and a notebook and pen just in case. 

It’s also important to try and picture yourself doing really well and getting offered the job. You’ve done well to reach the interview stage so take some confidence from the fact the recruiter thinks you’re a good enough fit to hear more from you. You can come to terms with the fact you may not get the job later but before the interview only focus on the positives.

As much as possible try and think of the interview as more of a conversation than a grilling and remember the interviewer is probably a bit nervous too, some polite small talk can calm both of you so think of something you can mention at the beginning to break the tension. Take a few deep breaths to calm your last-minute nerves and remember to SMILE, then you’re ready!

Good luck.