You may have received many pieces of advice from friends and relatives on how to behave in a job interview. There could be so much pressure on you that you tend to seek the advice of others who may have ideas on how to behave exactly as what you are naturally, but you find that this is easier said than done. Since this is your first experience in an interview it is not an easy thing to handle as far as you are concerned. You have to get some help from others who have been through it before.

One of the tricks that successful actors have learned after having done hundreds of interviews and auditions may be of help to you in taking off some of that pressure hounding you. Their way of coping with nervousness, if they were to advise you, is simple:

Treat the interview as the job itself and not what you will get if you do a good interview. So, with that frame of mind, you could lessen the psychological pressure that has been bothering you as you wait for the actual interview. This technique will remove that doubt causing the pressure on you (“What if I do not get this job?”) because you will feel relaxed with the thought that you are now actually working on the job. So, it is quite simple – give a good interview as you will be thinking that you are doing good on the job that you have been hired to do.

Psychologically, it will also help you to feel better if this coming interview is not the only egg in your basket, in a way of speaking, so apply for more jobs than you need. With another interview lined up for you as a result of many job applications that you have submitted, there will be less pressure that you will feel on this very first interview that you are booked.

Wearing something that you feel well in, will also be helpful in easing the pressure. You will not be looking good and looking great during the interview if you feel uncomfortable in what you are wearing. If you have a particular piece of clothing that you consider as your interview outfit, it will help you to wear it to one or two social events to bed it in.

Be ready to have something to say in answer to an open question which the interviewer might ask, typically any one, or more, of the following:

• Tell me more about yourself than what you have written in your CV
• What have you been doing lately before this interview?
• Why made you apply for this job?
• Why do you think that we should choose you for this job?

Preparing an answer that will allow you to talk about something you’ve been involved in recently will help you to relieve the pressure that you are feeling. When you think of the answer that you will give and it has to do with something that you have been so enthusiastic about before, your mind will be quite occupied, causing you to forget all about the pressure of the interview.

When you report for the interview, bring other things that are not exactly related to the job you are applying for. They could be things that will help you illustrate your other skills and qualities as a person. When you show that you are just being your natural self in the interview, you are showing the kind of person that you really are – and that you have no pretensions at all.