Everyone, at some point, has been nervous before a job interview.  Whether it's a just slight discomfort in the pit of your stomach or sweaty palms, trembling hands, cracking voice, profuse sweating, clouded thinking, or even repetitive pre-interview potty-breaks.  Some people only experience this for their first or second job interview of their career, but some experience it their whole life.  Either way, it all stems from anxiety caused by a sub-par self-image, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, and/or possibly desperation to some degree.  These are all natural human responses to a new situation or repetitive failure.

These days, since the job search process is so accessible due to technology and with such high unemployment, job postings are flooded with qualified applicants within 3 days.  For those of you that have been on several job interviews without success, it can be very damaging to your confidence.  This can send you in a downward spiral and lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy if you let it get to you.  With this much selection to pick from, hiring managers are only looking for candidates that believe in themself.  If you don't even believe in your own ability to be successful in filling their role, why should they?  Even if the words coming out of your mouth in the interview say your confident, your body needs to play along with the act, as well.  Studies have shown that over 80% of communication is non-verbal, so it will be very difficult to fool them if you don't believe in yourself first.

So, how do you bullet-proof your self-confidence?
  1. Prepare - Tailor your resume to the job posting's exact requirements, define your accomplishments from past positions, research the company, research the interviewers, prepare possible questions with answers.
  2. Rehearse - Practice with a family member, yourself, or even with your cat to answer common interview questions and questions that will likely come up about examples of your experience in relation to requirements from the job posting/description.
  3. Self-development - Read some books from the self-development section like:  What To Say When You Talk To Yourself by Shad Helmstetter, Ph.D. or Yes! How Noes Prepare You for the Yeses that Shape Your Future by John Fuhrman.  These books can really make you think about why you think the way you do and help built your confidence up.
  4. Career Coach - Obviously, the best method is to have someone coach you who has literally done the hiring before for positions & industries that you're currently applying to.  Excuse me now, as I shamelessly promote myself...I've seen a ton of resumes in my day, some like "Are you serious?", some bad, some ok, some good, and some outstanding!  I understand how the hiring process works and why your resume never even gets looked at.  I've also interviewed thousands of job seekers for a large variety of positions/industries and seen what works and what doesn't.  I can also show you some of the unknown shortcuts in the job market and directly help you bypass the competitor candidates.  Whichever, method you chose, I applaud you for doing something to better yourself and ease your frustration.  Banging your head into the wall repeatedly doesn't get you anywhere.  Good luck.