How to succeed on an interview and not die on the attempt?

When a couple of years ago I started the job hunt in every possible industry, I used to get extremely nervous before having an interview, to the point of no sleeping for the whole previous night. Maybe it was also the fact that I was very young to look or pretend to be professional. A friend told me two very important tips that I still remember before going to any interview. Firstly, convincing myself that this is just a job, it’s not matter of life or death, and that if I made it through this 26 years without this job, I can keep on living without it. This helped me to release the pressure and realising that interviews are on itself another job where, with years and training, you learn how to behave and succeed without suffering. Secondly, she told me to imagine my interviewers naked, so that will make them vulnerable, and probably make me feel stronger and more confident.

So, instead of panicking and getting nervous and anxious, maybe we can start realizing what the interviewer wants to get from us during an interview and start working on possible answers.

According to what I’ve been reading, interviewers want to know things like what do I think are the qualities of a good graphic designer, what kind of design projects I am interested in, which software can I use and, of course, see my portfolio (Dena, 2015). But the killing question always comes just to know how can I work and think under pressure. So they might ask funny, but tricky questions, to realize how I deal with them even if I don’t know the answers. One example could be “If you were a part in a car, which part would you be and why?”

In conclusion, what I believe is the key of succeeding in an interview, is being yourself, trying as hard as you can not to get nervous, breath in, breath out and just be yourself. Ask questions (Lac Group, 2013), show you are interested in the position as much as they are interested in you, be passionate with the industry, be professional but also outgoing. Just be you, and show them you want that job as much as you can, and that you’ll always give your best.

REFERENCE

Dena, C. (2015, March 26). Week 4: Secret Interview Techniques. Retrieved 2 July 2015, from https://medium.com/self-directed-practitioners/week-8-secret-interview-techniques-8cdd5b225eee

Lac Group. (2013, September 26). 8 Keys to a Successful Interview. Retrieved 2 July 2015, from http://lac-group.com/blog/2013/09/26/keys-to-interview-success/