Why Are Interviews So Scary?Have you ever felt jittery before an interview? Nervous or even
terrified? Have you ever wished you had answered a question
differently or negotiated your salary more skillfully? Do you
panic when you imagine the possibility of “failure”? Do you just
want to make sure you get it right the first time?
Let’s face it. Interviews are not like normal conversations.
Being interviewed can be scary, even for ordinarily outgoing peo-
ple. When you’re sitting in the hot seat, the interviewer is an
authority figure, and he or she has all or most of the power in the
interview.
Guess what? Studies show that more than 60 percent of
interviewers have never been trained in the task of interviewing.
Most of these managers report that they feel “nervous, anxious,
confused, stressed” and even “incompetent” when taking on the
responsibility of conducting a job interview.
Now that you’re reading Fearless Interviewing, take another
look at who’s being trained and who’s not!
It’s likely that you’re actually going to be more
prepared for the meeting than the interviewer.Think again. Now who holds the power? By the end of this
book, you’ll find that you too have control over what goes on at
the interview, especially when you learn to harness your fear into
excitement, energy, and enthusiasm. To make this transformation
you’ll need to learn the techniques of fearless interviewing.
Here’s how one of my clients, Christine, used fearless inter-
viewing to turn her timidity into power.
Christine’s Story
Christine came to see me for some career coaching after a series
of failed interviews. She told me that she had interviewed at sev-
eral high-profile financial firms for a position as a financial ana-
lyst. She had a B.A. in accounting and a master’s in business
administration, plus eight years’ experience as a senior accoun-
tant and financial analyst for a midsized company in Montana.