Job Candidate: Breathe...You're Not Perfect

Don't focus on the second thing I said.

Focus on the first: breathe. Breathe voluntarily and consciously.  Don’t exaggerate the motion.  Just slowly inhale while you count to ten.  Then slowly exhale while counting to ten.  Do this a couple of times until you feel your chest unclamp itself.  Do this in the car or bus on the way to an interview.  Do this while riding the elevator.  Do this while sitting in the lobby.  And if you can, do this during the interview (which is why I recommend not exaggerating the motion).

Remember oxygen is helpful.  It’s your friend.  Especially in an interview.

Breathing puts oxygen into your blood which travels to your brain.  When you’re stressed, you take in shorter than normal breaths.  The resulting lesser amount of oxygen to your brain causes the brain to have less energy.  This can alter your mood, your attention and can cause temporary forgetfulness.  You can forgot things like where your last job was and what you did there.

I don't think it's necessary to say.  But for the sake of complete clarity, forgetting that kind of stuff is not helping you.

Being overly relaxed is probably not going to help you either.  You probably shouldn't be sliding down your chair or slumping over appearing to be ready for a nap.  But calm, cool and confident rues the day.

Of course, you're nervous; money is on the line.  But trust me, breathe. You'll remember things. You'll look calm. You'll stop feeling so stressed.  Less stress translates into less worry. Less worrying translates into realizing you're not perfect.

Now you can focus on the second thing.  As you focus on that, think about how many perfect people you have met in your lifetime. None? Bingo. So why start thinking you just met some, and they are sitting across from you interviewing you?

Trust me when I say, it's better to be hopeful that your employment situation will get better.  I know it's unpleasant. But hope will let you breathe.