Managing interview stress

Motivation and tips for approaching an interview process in as stress-free a way as possible

Interview technique

Navigating an interview process

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Finding new work, for good or ill, almost always involves taking part in an interview process.

These are inherently stressful periods; we care about the outcome, and interviews present moments of intense scrutiny which can bring out anyone’s anxiety. There is also the fact that, when actively looking for new work, we often undergo several interview processes at once, amplifying the stress.

With the help of clips from the Best Work Podcast, this guide aims to equip you with the tools you need to be able to approach an interview process (or several at once) confidently, to take hard interview questions in your stride, and to manage your effort and energy sustainably when looking for new work.

Confidence

It would be great to approach interviews like Theo. To see them not as just “not scary,” but as positively fun, interesting activities in their own right.

There isn’t any reason why they shouldn’t be so. However, for most of us, an interview is a daunting prospect.

Project Manager Lorena explains the key reason why this is the case.

There are two aspects at play here. On the one hand, we want the job. For whatever reason - be it money, working environment, location, or something else - the position we’re interviewing for offers a material step-up on our current circumstance, creating an opportunity cost in our mind. Fail the interview, lose those upsides.

But Lorena also touches on something more intrinsic than this. In an interview process, we are visible and exposed. We become profoundly vulnerable by entering into a process where the entire point is that we will be scrutinised and judged.

Theo’s approach turns this social anxiety on its head, by making an interview just another social situation. For the introverts among us, though, even this might not equip us with the confidence to perform to our best in an interview.

How then, can the nerves and stress be overcome? Lorena has insight here as well.

Techniques like these, and other approaches for calming ourselves before and during an interview, can be effective ways to equip ourselves with the calmness and confidence we need to interview to the best of our ability.

Fielding questions

Besides the concept of an interview itself, answering the questions we’re asked can itself be a source of stress.

It’s fair to expect difficult questions in an interview, but that doesn’t make it easier to cope with them when they arrive. However, it can help us warm to them to remind ourselves that such questions don’t come from a malicious place, and are in fact a potential learning experience, as Product Designer Femi explains.

While difficult questions can be a positive, however, an interview atmosphere that actively exacerbates stress is probably the opposite. Developer Paul found this out in one particularly hard-hitting example.

You get the impression that Paul didn’t leave that interview desperate to work for the company.

In summary: difficult questions can be a positive learning experience. A difficult interview environment is often a warning sign. There’s no need to fret either way.

Managing the process

The nature of applying to a position, or especially several at once, creates another layer of stress on top of that associated with the interviews themselves.

Interview processes can be long, drawn-out affairs. This is a potential source of frustration. Senior Engineering Manager Daniel, however, explains why this short-term aggravation can be worth our while in the long run, if it leads to us finding work to which we are better-suited.

However, given the length of an interview process, it is important not to overload ourselves. Interview fatigue is a recognised phenomenon and it can seriously harm your chances of securing a position, especially if you are entering too many processes at once. Engineering Manager Nicolas explains how it manifested for him.

There are enough potential stresses in an interview process as it is, from our desire to impress, our fear of scrutiny, the difficulty of the questions we are asked, and the length of the interview process itself without us needing to add more pressure on ourselves by applying to too many positions. It is best to focus in on those we are most excited by, and approach them with confidence, positivity, and patience.