Confidence can help you land an IT job once you have the skills.
Nervous about your upcoming IT job interview? You are not alone. It’s important to boost your confidence so you can show what you know in the interview situation and impress the hiring team. Fortunately, there are many ways to boost confidence before an interview. Here are some of the best ideas.
Mindfulness and Breathing Exercises
Mindfulness exercises and deep breathing before the interview can help banish anxiety and make you feel calmer and more confident when the interview takes place. Mindfulness means being aware of your feelings and your body’s responses in the current moment, and by doing so, you can stop the fight-or-flight response that so often comes with nervous feelings.
Banish Negative Thoughts and Self-Talk
Sometimes, you let negative thoughts and self-talk destroy your confidence long before an interview even takes place. Make it a practice to replace those negative thoughts with positive ones, and you will go into your interview with much more confidence. You’ll also be able to highlight your best characteristics and skills rather than hanging onto negative thoughts.
Practice Giving Answers
Rehearsing the answers to questions interviewers are likely to ask will make your answers smoother and stronger, projecting confidence about your skills and experience. Many websites provide lists of questions so you can get an idea of what interviewers might ask.
Projecting success can help an employer see beyond your nervousness and evaluate your skills objectively.
Visualize Success
Visualization can be an effective technique as you try to land an IT job. As you see yourself having a successful interview and getting the job you want, you begin to believe that success is possible and that you can achieve it. If you believe that you are the best person for the job, you can visualize a successful interview and boost your confidence as you execute it.
Find a Way to Relate to the Interviewer
Everyone wants to impress an interviewer with the best qualifications and evidence of superior skills, but what could really impress an interviewer is a candidate who can relate to them and connect in some way. If you can show your interviewer that you are personable and able to connect with others, you have demonstrated a skill many employers value even more highly than technical skills—the ability to work well with people and maybe even lead a team after some time has passed.
Use Positive Body Language
Ninety percent of communication is non-verbal, and much of that non-verbal communication comes across with your body language. Some gestures that convey nervousness or negativity include fidgeting, avoiding eye contact, and fussing with your clothes or hair too much. Other less common nervous tics may include excessive blinking, nervous laughter, and saying “um” too much. Eliminating some or all of these gestures can lead to a more confident presentation, but don’t worry if you can’t eliminate them all. It’s natural to be nervous, and interviewers don’t expect you to be perfectly confident. Just do the best you can.
PC AGE offers courses that will lead to a new or better career in IT. Each course also includes instruction in interview and job search skills to help students find the best possible jobs in their area of specialty. Request info about all our programs and certification courses that will lead to more interview opportunities in the future.
Rameez Khizer, IT Marketing