Interviews are nerve wracking, and the best way to take the pressure off of them is by keeping your options open and exploring more than one opportunity at a time. This sort of “playing the field” approach can help you keep your sanity intact and prevent you from feeling desperate.
For example, imagine that you have been working hard at your job search for 4 months. Nothing new is happening, even though you keep doing your best to attract an employer. Then, from nowhere, a company that you really want to work for calls you and asks you to come in for an interview. You are excited and can't wait for your chance to impress them.
The interview date comes, and you think it went well. The months of waiting for this have finally paid off. You wait by the phone and know that they are going to call you back with a job offer any day now. In the meantime, you stop sending off resumes, you get a few other calls asking for interviews, but you either don't return the calls or seem less than enthusiastic. Your networking grinds to a screeching halt. It doesn't matter, you think, my new job is just a few days away. You plan out what you are going to wear on the first day and imagine your new career.
But the call never comes. Your self confidence is smashed and your job search is in a backslide. Here is where the whole thing broke down:
- Focusing on one opportunity makes it difficult to focus on the larger picture. Don't overlook any opportunity, even if you have an upcoming interview that you are really excited about. It seems that opportunities come in groups, so try hard to let the experience energize you into getting excited about all the possibilities, not just the one you want the most.
- When you are excited about several options, it takes the pressure off of each of them individually. When you don't feel so pressured and hungry for the job, you are able to be confident and let them see who you are. You can market yourself more effectively when you know that there are other options waiting for you if this one doesn't pan out.
- Waiting by the phone for a job offer is horrible for your self-esteem and can make you a little bit crazy. Having other interviews and other options to examine can fill your time so that you don't become obsessed about missing the call.
- Sometimes, you find that the job you wanted so desperately isn't the best option for you. When this happens, it helps to have other options that you have been actively cultivating. Then, if the job offer doesn't come, or your realize it isn't for you, you haven't really lost anything.
- Never stop networking or searching for a job until you actually have one. In fact, it is a good idea to keep your job search open until you are sure that you are going to be happy in the new job. In fact, some people even wait until the probation period at the new job is over before closing out their job search.
Keeping your options open can be hard to do when you are desperate for a job and/or really, really excited about a specific opportunity. If you find yourself in this situation, take a deep breath, a step back and put on your poker face if you have to. Force yourself to keep your options open and you will find that it can make your interview process much less stressful.
Have you ever hyper-focused on a job opportunity? Let me know in the comments.
Are you looking for a job in Real Estate? Be sure to visit RealEstateJobSite.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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