Release Interview Nerves and Be Confident!

Authored by Pat Bishop 

Here are some suggested steps to ensure that you have prepared as thoroughly as possible for your interview.

Do you really want the job – is this your kind of work?

Now is the time to decide whether this job, with its various tasks and required skills, is what you really want to do. Although the job title and salary might be attractive, you need to give serious thought to whether the role is one which really interests you, and will maintain your enthusiasm and drive.

Make sure you thoroughly research the company. For example, do you know what they produce? Do you understand the company structure? How long have they been trading? This knowledge will help to boost your confidence at your interview, and will also impress your interviewers. It will also help you to decide whether you really do want to work for this company.

Is this work that you’ve done before? If not, how much can you bring to the job in terms of transferable skills? For example, you may like to have a management job, but unless you can prove your organisational and management abilities either from previous jobs, or comparable life experiences, you may be over-reaching and setting yourself up for failure.

Once you’ve considered these points, a helpful technique is to ask yourself why you want this particular job, and to repeat this five times. If you can answer each why’ differently, but in a very positive way and quite quickly, you will be much clearer about your motivation for wanting this job. This can enhance how you approach the interview, and the over all impression you will give. If you can’t answer these questions easily, then perhaps you should reconsider.

Knowing your CV and handling questions

It is crucial to prepare yourself for the interview before the day of the interview. This can involve aspects such as deciding what you are going to wear for the interview, as well as getting familiar with your own CV (resume). There is nothing more embarrassing than being asked questions based on your CV, and not being able to answer them because you’ve forgotten about something which you stated.

It is perfectly acceptable to take a copy of your CV, or brief notes, into the interview with you in order to jog your memory. But do keep these as brief as possible and ensure they are relevant to the job description. It’s not very impressive to hold up the interview while you search through reams of paper for an appropriate response.

You should also feel free to jot down any questions, particularly a multi-part question, in order for you to focus more clearly on the issue. This will help you to feel confident about giving a comprehensive reply. Remember that you can always ask an interviewer to clarify, or repeat, any questions. You can also ask the interviewer to come back to a particular question if you need further time to think.

Ensure your successful arrival

You will want to make a good impression straight away. Turning up late for your interview and making excuses regarding getting lost, or public transport letting you down, will not get you off to a good start. It is therefore vital to ensure you know the route in advance, and to give yourself plenty of time to cope with any unexpected events such as traffic jams, transport failure or other emergencies.

If possible, have a practice run before the day. This will help you to estimate more accurately how much time you will need to allow for travel, and will help soothe any nerves on the day.

Rehearse answers to popular questions

Your confidence will be enhanced if you rehearse answering typical interview questions. Some people find it helpful to rehearse their answers out loud. For example, speaking in front of a mirror, a friend, or even your cat or dog!

Popular questions which you may be asked are:-

Driving Phobia Getting You Nowhere?

A driving phobia can develop in anyone. It doesn’t matter whether you are a learner, novice or experienced driver, we can all develop anxiety associated with some aspect of a journey when we drive. In fact it’s true that any of us could develop a phobia associated anything. In this example we will be focusing on a driving phobia.

Most phobias have a specific names such as arachnophobia for a fear of spiders. with a driving phobia there can be different names relating to the specifics of the phobia responce. Here are a list of phobia names and a description that suggest a link to driving phobias:-

• Amaxophobia- Fear of travelling in a car / lorry / bus etc
• Dystychiphobia- Fear of accidents
• Hodophobia- Fear of travelling by road
• Motorphobia- Fear of cars
• Ochophobia- Fear of vehicles
• Tachophobia- Fear of speed
• Traumatophobia- Fear of injury

What is a Driving Phobia?

A driving phobia is when someone experiences anxiety, panic or fears either whilst driving or in anticipation of some aspect of driving. As with any phobia different aspects of the experience affects people in different ways. You may find that you dread driving over small country-side bridges but are okay with motorway flyovers (or vice versa). You may fear driving over 50 mph on a motorway and have to stay in the inside lane.

Here are some driving phobia aspects that people have suffered with:-

1) Overtaking or being overtaken by a truck, lorry, juggernaut

2) Coping with roundabouts or a specific roundabout

3) Going through tunnels

4) Having  a passenger or driving solo

5) Driving up or down hills

6) Being first at traffic lights and feeling under pressure when they go green

7) City traffic when cars seem to come from all angles

8) Busy junctions

9) Bridges, flyovers

10) Lack of a hard-shoulder, lay-by or services on a motorway

11) Feeling stuck when a traffic jam occurs

12) Road rage from other drivers

How Do You Get a Phobia of Driving ?

Sometimes the cause of driving phobias is clear cut.

Mary had a car accident 5 years ago. She had some minor injuries but has recovered and has been driving since this experience and has been fine. Then 4 months ago she had a near-miss. An accident almost happened and she experienced a panic attack. Now when she drives she is fearful of having an accident and particularly when approaching a roundabout where the near-miss occurred. Driving is something she will avoid doing if she can.

It’s interesting that it wasn’t the accident itself that led to a phobic reaction to driving. Mary’s phobia only happened after the near-miss but clearly the accident and the near-miss of contributed to the driving phobia.

With other people’s driving phobia the cause may not be as clear-cut as in Mary’s case. Sometimes the cause can be something that seems unconnected like a relationship issue or security issue that manifests itself as a phobia of driving. We are all different and events that lead to a phobia in one person will leave another person unaffected.

Hypnosis, NLP, EFT Helps Overcome Driving Phobia

One of the fastest methods for releasing and resolving phobias is hypnotherapy  (Kraft & Kraft 2004). Having said that hypnotherapist’s often use a combination of hypnosis, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) to help someone overcome their driving phobia. Steven Harold an experienced London hypnotherapist has seen many people over the years and helped them resolve their driving phobia.

You may be surprised to know that a driving phobia can affect anyone and even those people whose career involves a lot of driving. Steven had helped police officers, fire truck drivers, ambulance, truck, lorry and juggernaut drivers as well as those that drive buses and coaches. You are not the first person to have a fear of some aspect of driving and like others you can get over it and drive confidently again.

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by Steven Harold BA(Hons) DCH DHP
Hypnotherapist – London and Essex

Website: Hypnosis London Email: steve@hypno-therapist.com
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Research: Kraft, T., & Kraft, D. (2004). Creating a virtual reality in hypnosis: A case of driving phobia. Contemporary Hypnosis, 21, 79–85.

Hypnotherapy and Healing

Hypnotherapy comes from a combination of two Greek words ‘hypnos’ ( sleep ) and ‘therape’ (healing ). This is a misleading use of ‘hypnos’, as the state achieved in hypnotherapy is a trance state rather than sleep. Once the trance state is achieved, the healing process can start. Here, it is not magic, but waking up the immune system, that causes the healing.

Throughout history people have gone to shamans, witches, and herbal healers, in addition to doctors, for healing. Some of these were effective, some were not, it was sometimes a matter of belief. But biochemists may use the knowledge of the ancient healers in knowing which plants to imitate, in preparation of synthetic drugs. When healing is unexplained by science it is commonly referred to as miraculous. In the Bible we are told that Christ told people that it was their belief that healed them. But it is a long process for the church to declare something as a miracle.

In 1858 the young girl who was to become St Benadette had a vision of of a lady in Lourdes. The Catholic Church eventually declared that this vision was one of the Virgin Mary. Ever since then millions have visited the shrine in the hope of a miraculous healing. And miraculous healings do take place because of belief in the power of place. This creates a change in the mindset that allows the natural power of the immune system to take over and restore health.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

I refer to the above event to give an example of how the belief system can be helped by modern healers. Therapists and coaches can help people to create a healing mindset, which seems to be essential in dealing with Chronic Fatigue. The blockages to creating this mindset may be removed with the help of talking therapies, such as counselling and hypnotherapy, or meridian therapies, such as EFT and TFT. The science of nutrition may also help in creating the conditions for optimum health, and hands on therapies, such as massage will help to remove toxins.

As therapists we have got systems to help with healing in cases that scientific medicine may have difficulties with. Not only Chronic Fatigue, but  also immune diseases come in here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Hypnosis

I signed up to train as a Chrysalis Effect Practitioner this year in order to be part of a team of complimentary therapists that would help to coach people through a year of recovery from Chronic Fatigue, back into a state of health and well being. I have the resources of Counselling , Hypnotherapy and meridian therapies and can refer to other experts too in helping your recovery from Chronic Fatigue.

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Why Dieting Doesn’t Work

Most of my clients can tell me all about nutritional values and the calories in every food, they are experts in the field of dieting.  Why, why, then are they overweight?  It has been scientifically proven that diets do not work.  In fact they set up a conflict in the mind and a back lash of obsessive thoughts about food and what you are not ‘supposed’ to eat, mixed in with a large helping of guilt.

What is needed is a release from the dieting mentality and to develop a natural attitude to food over a longterm change.

Virtual Gastric Band

The Virtual Gastric Band is a non-surgical technique using the power of hypnosis to train your mind and body to accept less food.  The clinical hypnotherapy works by the brain telling your stomach that it is full and there is no need for any more food. This is of course the principle behind the actual surgical procedure but the Virtual Gastric Band carries with it no risk, no on- going medical treatment and the hypnotherapy can be done effectively, efficiently and privately and without hospital waiting lists.

 ”the overall weight loss over the one year period was two clients losing 5st each, and the other 3st 12lb”

Hypnosis Gastric Band Research

I have developed a good relationship with many doctors in my area who are both supportive and open to hypnotherapy as a positive option for treatments. I therefore instigated a strictly monitored clinical trial together with a local doctor at their surgery with 3 clients on an individual basis.

The treatments were over a period of 4 weeks, with the clients having appointments with the doctor and nurse, where they were weighed and blood pressure taken together with blood tests. Results showed a steady weight loss over the 4 week period.  With clients feeling better within themselves.  More confident and positive.  After the fourth hypnotherapy session the clients were monitored every 3 months through the doctor for a period of one year.  The long term effects were, a positive change in attitude to food, higher energy levels, reduction in blood pressure, feeling more confident, improved sleep.  One client came off anti-depressants under the doctor’s supervision.  The overall weight loss over the one year period was two clients losing 5st each, and the other 3st 12lb.

Having lived in Germany  for 15 years, I worked in German with hypnotherapy, where hypnotherapy is considered part of mainstream medicine.  My own GP in Germany is a hypnotherapist, so it is encouraging to have the support here from the medical profession.

Obviously each person has their personal reasons for being overweight and why they have overridden natures own natural signals of feeling satisfied.  Through working with hypnotherapy we are able to deal with emotional triggers which  are maybe contributing towards negative eating habits. The Virtual Gastric Band programme supports increased self-esteem and confidence and offers tools to help take responsibility in taking back control of your life.

As you balance internally, you transform externally developing a natural attitude to food and freeing yourself of a dieting mentality and a release from calorie counting prison.

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