I like to do several things before an interview. For me, the best way to minimize the anxiety is to feel prepared. I will research the company a little and try to come up with at least 3 questions I want to ask them. Asking the right questions and gauging their responses lets me feel like I have some control, and it usually reveals possible red flags.

On the drive to the interview, I will put on some of my favorite songs and karaoke that shit. It releases endorphins that helps my confidence and forces me to breath and oxygenate my blood. I tend to in the first few minutes of an interview breath pretty shallow, then when they ask me the first questions I feel out of breath and that makes the anxiety worse. While I am sitting in the lobby waiting, I breath deeply and slowly while going over my questions in my head. That way I am not death spiraling in my head and reinforcing the idea that I have some control in the situation.

That’s what I do to handle it.

For my last interview, I used ChatGPT to help me train for it.

I uploaded the job announcement, description to ChatGPT, then asked it to be the hiring manager for that job and to ask me popular interview questions, and questions specifically related to the posted announcement.

It can take multiple prompting to get the flow right etc., but it gave me a chance to study and practice for the actual interview.

It seemed to have worked, as I had a job offer by the end of the week.

I hope the interview went well! Sometimes the result is not even the most important thing as is the experience of getting to do interviews.

One of the things that i try to keep in my head, always, is that it is a two-way street. Of course, you want the job based on the information you have, but is that still the case when you are actually talking to people?
Of course you can fail at something they throw at you, that is always possible, and sometimes a person is not (yet) good enough for a certain position. There is absolutely no shame in that. People learn and grow, and interviewing is part of that.

And in the end, it’s okay to be nervous, all part of that game which you will get out of a little bit better, more prepared and experienced than before you went in.

If it is severe (heart pounding in your ears, can’t think straight, tremors, etc) talk to your doctor. You might benefit from propanolol, a beta blocker (heart rate medication) that is also used in low doses for performance anxiety.

Please do NOT seek this out and take it without consulting a physician. Absolutely do not take it if you are also using cocaine at all.

I literally just got out of an interview (I was the interviewer). I was nervous as well before it because I also need to convince the applicant to join my team. If I sell my team’s work as boring and my company’s vision as uninspiring, there’s a chance I could lose this candidate.

With that said, the two other interviewers and I were very impressed with the candidate. We wanted her to succeed and when we felt as though she didn’t answer the questions we asked fully, we followed up and gave her the space to impress.

Interviews are not one-sided. We want to make sure they’re a good fit for us just as much as we are a good fit for them. If you made it to the interview stage, the interviewers are already impressed enough with your profile and they just want confirmation that they’re making a good choice with you.

Good luck on your interview!

Congratulations on the upcoming interview!

Not sure your field or exp level at all to give specific guidance, but my main thing is to try to give yourself grace after you get through it. You won’t be able to help second-guessing everything, but things work out however they do. If you aren’t selected, it’s great to build experience going through the process. I’d recommend reaching out to the point of contacts post-interview for any feedback they can provide you with.

Edit: since you are specifically asking about pre-interview… My habits tend to be researching online about common questions for ppl in my field + just practicing my responses aloud. Going through the motions a few times beforehand makes me feel more prepared, whether those responses get used or not.