• How do you feel about job interviews?
• Why do some people feel apprehensive or nervous about interviews?
• What was your best and worst experience with job interviews?

Listen to the recording of the article from Harvard Business Review. What is the main idea presented in it?

Silence Your Inner Critic Before Your Next Job Interview

Job interviews can make even the most confident person 1. question themselves. But it’s important to 2. quash those negative thoughts so that you can allow your best self to shine. First, remember that the interview isn’t about proving your technical expertise or subject-matter mastery. You already demonstrated that in your application, and the interviewers want to know what it will be like to work with you. So let go of needing the interview to be technically perfect. As with every skill, the more you do it, the better you’ll be, so practice, practice, and practice some more. As your 3. aptitude improves, so will your confidence level. Manage your anxiety by focusing on the elements you can control. For example, if you’re worried about arriving on time, try taking multiple routes to your destination before the day of the interview to see which one gets you there fastest. Above all, put yourself in the hiring manager’s shoes. 4. Articulate the team’s needs as you understand them, and tell a story of how you’ve solved similar problems. Following these tips will help you 5. overcome your nerves and 6. place yourself head and shoulders above the competition.

This tip is adapted from “Don’t Let Impostor Syndrome Derail Your Next Interview,” by Susan Peppercorn

• What can dim your performance at a job interview?
• What is the purpose of an interview?
• Does your performance need to be technically perfect?
• What can you do to feel less apprehensive?
• How can you put yourself in your prospective manager’s shoes?
• What will heeding the advice from this lesson help you with?

Play this MULTIDECKER game. Prepare answers to some of these questions as homework.