How To Help Your Candidates Improve Their Interview Confidence Part 2

Carrying on from the ideas in part 1 of this post I want to finish with four more guaranteed ways to help your candidates improve their confidence. 

1. Assess their body language.  

When you do the mock interview, assess their non-verbal communication style. Do they talk too fast or too softly? Wave their hands around too much or not enough? Look at the way they sit in the chair, and give them some tips on posture, handshake, and maintaining an appropriate level of eye contact. Direct them to some resources about body language tips for interviews. 

2. Provide all the company info you have. 

You should have already done your homework on matters of company culture, the specifics of the role, and average salary parameters. Share as much as you see fit with the candidate, before telling them to go home and thoroughly research the company’s website and social media pages. Also tell them to do their homework on the sector if they really want to impress.  

3. Prepare body and mind. 

Advise the candidate to do some exercise on the morning of the interview to expend any nervous energy and get the endorphins flowing.  

Another trick to get the stress response under control is to engage in breathing exercises. There’s an abundance of meditation apps such as Headspace that candidates can use to  calm their mind, or you can tell them about the 4-7-8 breathing technique, which is clinically proven to force the body’s nervous system back into its parasympathetic state, that is the ‘rest and digest’ rather than ‘fight or flight’. 

Try it with a racing heart and you’ll soon see the effect yourself! 

Finally, direct your candidate to watch the Amy Cuddy TED talk on ‘power posing’ as a way of building confidence right before interviews. A candidate should spend the final minutes before interview locked away in a bathroom with their hands on their hips and similar strong postures, as these poses trigger the brain to release testosterone and cortisol, the confidence boosting hormones.  

4. Allow preparation to build confidence. 

There comes a time when a candidate has thoroughly researched the company, prepared loose answers for questions, done their meditation/deep breathing, and checked out the interview panel on LinkedIn.  

And then a funny thing happens.  

After all the tension of research and preparation, a thoroughly prepared person wakes on the day and thinks. Ok, I’m ready. I’m still nervous, but I’m sick of waiting. I know more about the company and interview panel that they could possibly expect, and I have answers prepared to a wide range of questions. Let’s get this done.  

As a recruiter, you need to help your candidate get to this point. 

For you, interviews are part of the everyday of your working life, and it can be all too easy to forget how panicked a great candidate can become in interview situations. It’s your goal to connect with their fears and show you understand them, before giving them a clear roadmap to navigate the interview with confidence.  

Until next time,  

Cheryl