Show Off to Yourself Before Heading to Your Interview
Everyone gets nervous before an interview, but there are many ways to cheer yourself up and get rid of your nervousness. Of course, you need to do company research and get answers to the most common interview questions. The more you prepare, the more confident you will feel. Also, I like listening to my running playlist before any situation that I’m probably nervous about but need to impress. You probably have your own tricks too.
But, as shown in a study by New York University and Columbia University , you should take that hype a step further and show yourself off before heading out to meet a hiring manager.
This goes beyond the psychological attitude in front of the mirror. The study found that participants who wrote two paragraphs about their aspirations and ambitions before completing a task were considered more influential by other study participants than those who wrote about the responsibilities and obligations they had to fulfill, or simply how they got to campus that day.
In another experiment, participants were asked to describe a situation in which they had power over other people, while another group was asked to recall when someone had power over them. Two days later, the participants were again brought together for a completely different task, and their “status” in the group was measured. Although several days passed, those who initially described the situation in which they held power were described as “higher status” and more active than those in the other group.
Although the experiments were conducted in the context of group work, their findings can also be translated into interviews. The research focuses on how we are perceived initially and how this changes. Interviews are all about first impressions. So, once you’ve prepared for your interview, it will be easy for you to advertise yourself to appear more active and influential.
You’ve probably written down, or at least wondered why you deserve the job you are applying for and what your qualifications are. Instead of keeping them on a mental checklist, write them down in paragraph form the morning before your interview. When were you a leader? Write about it (it will be even easier if you keep a list of your achievements in work , as we suggested earlier), and then read it out loud to yourself. Then put on some fiery music and get ready for an awesome interview.