Is the title of this post relevant to you? Are you scared of jobs interview? Are you nervous when it is time to show your skills?
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In fact - I am. Or rather I know I am, but I'm doing my best to change that.
Let's be honest - things are always going to be stressful when you have a job interview. Changing a job (willingly or not) is stepping out of the comfort zone. It is never easy. We want to be in steady conditions certain about the upcoming events in our lives. Nowadays, however, moving forward is necessary and job interviews are mandatory stops during the journey.
So, going back to the topic - how can we become more used to interviews? I would split the topic into three separate parts.
1. Practice
Each kind of skill requires a lot of practice to be good at. I know a lot of people that are unprepared for this kind of conversation. Start with basics. There are a lot of sites that suggest valid behavior and answers for HR questions. Know at least something about the company you've sent CV to. Be punctual. All of these basics are probably not the most important in the process, but without them, you won't get far. But learning is just the beginning. You need to test yourself.
When did you last time practice a job interview? Without that, you can't be good at it. A know a few programmers that try to apply for certain positions even if they don't want to change their job.
I would suggest that you send your CV every 6-12 months to some companies and attend 1-2 interviews.
This could improve your overall skills. This will also let you polish your knowledge and find the gaps in your head that probably you need to fill. And now we can move on to the next part...
2. Knowledge
You just can't be good without knowledge. Of course, there are different levels of expertise required for a certain position, however, there are always questions you should know the answer to.
Before each interview, I remember o a lot of things. I have my list of questions and issues that I read about no matter how simple they are. I created a separate page with some of the topics and I'm going to add new subjects regularly. You can find it here. Prepare your list with a basic explanation of each topic with one sentence.
Sometimes there are questions that you know answer to, but you can't answer them.
Story from my latest interview. I got a question: "What is REST?". I created a few RETful services in my career, but suddenly I didn't know where to start. It was embarrassing for me and my interviewer was amused. A simple dictionary with one sentence explanation for basic terms is a good source to start your preparations. Knowing a way a start your explanation about a certain topic during an interview is really helpful and gives our confidence a nice boost.
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3. Speaking
How many times did you create a perfect conversation in your head? I do this all the time - mostly after conversations that were not successful to me. However, reality and the perfect world in your mind are two different things.
Ask yourself a question and then answer it out loud. You'll notice that it is not that easy.
You may have answer in your head, but putting the idea in words is harder than you may think.
Go through the whole list of definitions and try to explain them out loud in two sentences. This will help you organize your thoughts and be better at explaining complex topics.
I find these really helpful for me. Am I afraid of interviews? Hell yes. Will I ever be at that level not to worry? Probably not, however, I believe that with these steps I can minimize the stress and increase my chances for a good position.
So, practice, and good luck in upcoming interviews!
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