Interview Performance - Avoiding the Dreaded Choke by Rebecca Metschke

Sport is as much a head game as anything else. While skill is undeniably important, an athlete's success is due in large part to what's going on in his or her brain. An inability to cope with pressure can mean the difference between winning and losing on the golf course, the basketball court, the tennis court...you name it.

It can keep you from winning during the job interview, too.

The job interview choke. Talk about the dreaded C word.

There are some interesting parallels between athletes and job seekers who choke. Without a doubt, an interview can be viewed as a competition. And if your performance is less than optimal - if you choke - you're not going to win the offer.

Want to reduce the likelihood that it'll happen to you? Perhaps we can look to the world of sport for some pointers.

A certain amount of anxiety is good; it helps athletes focus, motivates them, and sharpens their performance. Sometimes, though, competitive stress produces too much anxiety, which results in a less than desirable response. Undoubtedly, you've witnessed this at one point or another watching some sort of sporting event. Performance progressively deteriorates and the athlete seems incapable of regaining control. He's unable to ratchet things back up to his "normal" level of performance.

Of course, the athlete hasn't lost his physical ability. He's no less talented or skilled than he was when he woke up that morning. What he did lose, though, is mental control. He lost his ability to concentrate, to focus on relevant cues, and to talk himself back into a positive state of mind.

One of two things occurred:

• The athlete "talked himself" into the choke

He started thinking about not winning...and the house of cards began to fall. Fears of failure caused him to lose attention. Then all kinds of nasty physiological responses started to happen (like changes in heart rate and respiration) and physically he went a little bit haywire (meaning he may have experienced fatigue or decrease in muscle coordination and timing). Whew! Not good.

• Some kind of external trigger set things in motion

Maybe it was the crowd, or something the coach said, or the referee's reaction. An external stimulus affected the athlete's thoughts, his focus shifted, he lost concentration, his muscle coordination was disrupted - and he crashed and burned.

Hmmm....I'm seeing some parallels to "interviews gone wrong." How about you?

Preparation is key when it comes to avoiding the choke and improving performance. It works for the athlete; it can work for you, too. Borrow from the playbook.

1) Train...both mentally and in terms of your skill set.

2) Practice

Never go into an interview trying to "wing it." Perfect your skills so you have confidence in yourself. Make sure you've done your research. Have your messaging strategy nailed. Know how you plan to handle various interview situations.

3) Positive visualization

Especially just before the interview, visualize yourself doing everything right. Never allow yourself to get into a "what if" frame of mind...(i.e. what if they ask this, what if I forget that, what if they don't like me).

3) Focus

Stay "in the moment." Focus on the task at hand.

• Don't think about the interview you just finished or the one you have coming up.
• Focus on the person talking with you. Don't allow yourself to be distracted by anything else which might be going on in the room.
• Don't obsess over a mistake you made; shake it off and get yourself back "in the game."
• Don't think about how badly you want this job, or what the compensation might be, or whether you're going to be happy with the benefits package.

4) Stay Loose

Don't overthink the situation. Don't second guess yourself.

5) Relax

Take a deep breath if you're feeling overly anxious. Don't forget to smile during the interview. Not only will you come across as likeable, the act of smiling will change the way you feel.

One final thought: if you feel yourself "going negative" during an interview, don't give up. A poor outcome isn't inevitable...you can turn it around. If you can catch yourself before your negative thoughts snowball into an avalanche, you may be able to get yourself back on track.

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