Interviews are incredibly hard, and it may be a daunting task if you’re unprepared. But it’s also a great learning experience. It helps you understand your shortcomings and work with them.
Recently I was looking for a change, and I must have applied for what it felt like a million companies, and kept getting rejected at every turn.
I started to mess up interviews that I should’ve aced, and started losing confidence in myself.
How to deal with this?
Obviously this isn’t a great place to be in. Reflecting upon this phase, I was able to understand what I was doing wrong.
- Take a break
When things are not going your way, your stress levels are high. And making big decisions under stress may lead to more chaos. It’s better to take some time off to clear your head.
2. Understand your key strengths
You need to reflect on, about what you enjoy doing and what skills do you have to acquire to get the coveted position. This isn’t going to happen in a day. So try to be a little patient.
3. Filter out companies that might fit you
We live in an age of noise, and the job market isn’t any different. There are plenty of options which means you’ll be wasting a lot of time filtering. Having some semblance about your future company will help you through this.
4. Reach out to your network
This is a no brainer, but for some reason it eludes the best of us. Referral play a significant role in a majority of the companies. So if you know someone in the company that you are looking at, all you need to do is to ask.
5. Always ask for feedback
I try to reflect upon the conversation and get the right answer for something I didn’t know during the interview. More often than not, this question is bound to appear again in another interview. This simple exercise helps me in filling my gaps.
I make it a point to ask for feedback at the end my interview. This has helped in cross verifying my expectations.
By now, hopefully you’d have landed your dream job, but there is a good chance that you are not going to retire here. The only way to get out of your vicious cycle is to be on your toes and be interview ready. Practice for typical interview problems, stay on top of local events, meet people and build relationships. At the end of the day that’s what matters.