3 Tips for Building Self-Confidence Before an Interview

In this post I’m going to share three things that you can do to be more self-confident before an interview. But first I want to share what self-confidence means. I consider it to be “the ability and willingness to allow yourself to feel any emotion and still do something that takes you out of your comfort zone.”

Now, here are some tips for building self-confidence before an interview.

1. Don’t be afraid to fail.

A lot of people think that self-confidence comes from always winning, always being successful. Also, a lot of people will look at some of the successes that someone else has had and think, “It's easy for her to be self-confident. Look at how successful she is." But I promise you it's the other way around. You have to have self-confidence before you create that success, not after.

Self-confidence is based on the ability to handle anything that comes your way. And this goes for in interviews, too. It comes from knowing that you can experience any emotion, even if it’s negative, and that you will still survive.

So, for example, in an interview, you might blank on an answer to a question—and that’s okay, it’s not the end of the world. Don't worry if you don’t answer exactly the way you would have liked, or didn’t have an answer ready. Your job is not to have a perfect interview (whatever that means) but to learn and take notes and improve for the next time. In other words, go easy on yourself.

Then, after your interview, assess what you want do better next time and move ahead from there. That will serve you much more deeply than beating yourself up about what you should've done or said.

2. Don’t fail ahead of time.

A lot of people will just decide to fail ahead of time, but failing ahead of time teaches you nothing. What I mean by failing ahead of time is deciding not to apply, not to put yourself out there for opportunities, not to go to the interview, because you feel like you’re not going to get the job anyway, so why bother.

If you take no action, how do you know what works and what doesn't? If you're going to fail, don't fail ahead of time. Fail by taking action and learning rather than failing by doing nothing and trying to stay comfortable. Yes, both can be considered failure, but at least one gets you somewhere and increases your self-confidence by providing evidence that you are capable of taking action. Here is a thought that will help you:

“I believe in my ability to get the result I want no matter how long it takes, no matter how many times I have to fail, or what I need to learn.”

3. Don’t speak negatively to yourself.

One thing sure to hurt your self-confidence before an interview is to let yourself have negative thoughts. Here are some examples of thoughts that are NEVER going to be useful to you:

I’m not good at selling myself.

I don’t feel worthy or ready for this role.

I don’t have the necessary skills.

I’m not good at interviewing.

I don’t give a first a good first impression.

I have to know everything or they’re going to laugh at me.

I have no chance here.

I’m not a good storyteller.

I made a mistake one time and will probably make it again.

When people think these thoughts, they’re not generating feelings of self-confidence. They’re doing the opposite. So, instead, replace these negative thoughts with some like these:

I’ve done hard things before and it all worked out.

I’ve had successful interviews in the past.

I’m a hard worker and have creative ideas.

If I don’t know an answer, I'll know it for next time and be more prepared next interview.

I know that I’ll get my dream job whether this turns out to be it or not.

I’m just interested in what the company is doing and keen to learn about how I might fit in and be able to help.

When you have these above thoughts, and others like them, you'll enter your interview more relaxed, and with much more self-confidence.

Natalie Fisher is best known for helping professionals land their dream jobs and achieve explosive salary growth (even with little experience). If you want to dive deeper on the topic of self-confidence, check out this no-cost workshop she created called "How to Unshakable Self-Confidence Before A Job Interview." Sign up to watch it instantly by clicking HERE.