Career Success For Accountants

How To Reduce The Impact of Job Interview Nerves

You expect job interviews to be challenging, right?

Without a doubt they are.  And in my view they should be.  After all in return for you bringing your skills, experience, knowledge and personal attributes to the organisation, you are going to be paid well.

This is particularly true for accountants.  According to recent CIMA salary surveys, an accountant who is qualified and experienced averages around £73,000 a year.

Now let’s be clear.  You are going to be nervous or at least a little anxious ahead of a job interview.

What you are not looking to do is eliminate nerves completely but to reduce the impact.

So how do you do reduce the impact of job interview nerves.

Keep a sense of perspective

At the end of the day it is just a meeting where the stakes are slightly higher.

The worst that can happen is you get rejected.

If you do get rejected it doesn’t mean that you are no good, are always going to fail and never get the role you want.

It just means that for whatever reason the employer felt that you were not the right person this time around.

Get into a positive frame of mind

Recognise and remind yourself of all that you have achieved.  Look at all the good qualities that you have.

Recall times when you succeeded even when the odds were stacked against you.

See yourself as an equal

It is all too easy to take the view that all the trump cards are in the hands of the employer.

In reality it is as much about you interviewing them as them interviewing you.

Both of you need to feel and believe there is a good match so be an equal.

Be prepared

You are always going to be more nervous if you are not well prepared.

Sadly as little as 15% of accountants do enough preparation.

When you are prepared you feel more confident and more importantly you are much better equipped to deal with even the most demanding questions or challenges that are thrown at you.

In reality there are always going to be challenges when it comes to managing nerves and it is often the smallest changes that yield the biggest benefits.

About the Author Duncan Brodie

Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.

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