1) Prepare before the job interview

One of the major ways to reduce nerves is to be adequately prepared for your interview. By reducing the amount of tasks you need to do beforehand, you will reduce nerves, which will help you focus on the interview itself.

Make sure you do your homework. Read about the business you’re interviewing for so that you have a good understanding of what they do and what you may be doing in your role.

Review some common interview questions, take notes and be prepared with examples and scenarios where you have made a difference in your past employment. You don’t need to memorise these, but you may find it useful to collect your thoughts prior to speaking with your interviewer. This also helps with answering the interviewer’s questions clearly and concisely as you won’t be thinking entirely on your feet.

The night before your job interview you should print a copy of your resume and cover letter and have it ready to take with you. While it’s incredibly likely your interview will have a copy, bringing one shows that you’re prepared for the situation and will impress your interviewer.

2) Dress right to feel confident

Choosing tasteful, simple, formal attire will make you appear professional and personable. Take care not to wear loud, garish colours, revealing outfits or add too many accessories. How you dress will determine how comfortable you feel and what impression you make at the interview. If you feel your palms getting sweaty, keep a clean, cotton handkerchief in your pocket. That way you can always wipe your hands and feel comfortable before shaking the hand of your interviewer.

3) Arrive a little early

Plan to arrive at your interview about 15-30 minutes before your scheduled time, depending on how far you need to travel to get there. Being too early or too late can make you more nervous and may not look too professional.

If you have some time spare when you get there, use it to read over your preparation notes, have some water, go to the bathroom and check your outfit. Once you have introduced yourself at the reception and taken a seat to wait, take care not to fidget.

This extra time will help you feel in control and settle your nerves before the interviewer calls you in for the meeting.

4) Take deep breaths to calm your nerves

If you’re struggling to contain nerves before your interview, taking deep breaths will help calm you down and restore a more regular heart rate. Deep breathing will decrease your feeling of nervousness and relax your muscles.

5) Drink plenty of water

Most interviewers will offer you a glass of water before the interview starts. Not only is it polite to accept this offer, but as you’ll be talking quite a lot, you don’t want to have a dry mouth. Having a dry mouth can be uncomfortable and you may find it affects your speech.

6) Exercise before your job interview

If you have time before heading for the interview, try to get in some exercise at home, outdoors, or at the gym. Running, plyometric exercises (jumping), and any other aerobic exercises are great to reduce anxiety and nerves. Exercising releases endorphins into your body which triggers a positive feeling.

Manage your nerves and ace that job interview!

With these tips we are sure you will be able to calm your nerves and impress the interviewer. Don’t forget to be yourself, because your interviewer wants to learn as much about you as possible. Be calm, cool and you.

If you’re a registered Job Seeker, you can nominate MTC Australia as your jobactive provider. We help thousands of job seekers find and keep a job every year, and we can help you too. We provide courses and training in english, computers, and basic skills so that you’re prepared and ready to work at a range of industries. Get in touch with MTC Australia today.