How Do You Get Over Nervousness in Interviews?

1) Turn nervousness into excitement. They like to see high energy.

2) Go in thinking that the worst case scenario really isn't that bad. In this case, the worst outcome is that you don't get the job. There will be other opportunities. Remember that a career lasts a lifetime, and you don't make or break it just based on your first job.

sit in front of the mirror and practice answers. do mock interviews. ask older friends who have gone through the process to give you the toughest interview they ever encountered.

Was I nervous during the interviews? Yes. Did I show it? No. You just have to be CONFIDENT. First of all, practice questions you might get, practice the answers you will give to those questions. Go to your career center, if necessary, for help. Read the interview guides. If you are prepared, you will be going into those interviews more confident and less nervous. And for any curveballs that might be thrown at you, you cannot prepare for them, therefore you can only deal with them as they come at you. therefore, no reason to worry before...

the dude on the other side was once in your shoes. Always remember that. There will be assholes, but whatever, just be yourself and what not. Practice ahead of time with friends as well.

try to turn an interview into a conversation instead of just a question and answer session, works for me

Also, do as many interviews as possible beforehand.

How ethical doing this is debatable, but before my interviews last year, I signed up for a bunch of on-campus interviews at F500 firms. Even if they don't ask the same questions as IBs, just being in that environment 2 or 3 times before your real interviews helps a lot.

Keep in mind that you will be fscking over some kids by doing this, as you will be taking their interview spots. Whether or not you want to do this depends on your own morals, but I will say that it helped me a lot.

Furiously masturbate before the interview.

HAHA!

I agree with StreetLuck, do as many interviews as possible. Also, if you go in believing that you can do this job and you would kick ass at it, there isn't really a reason to be nervous. You have been given the opportunity to make the case for yourself, take advantage of it.

StreetLuck's right, experience really makes a significant difference. I did the same thing back in undergrad--just signed up for as many interviews as I reasonably could. It helped. In retrospect, my first interviews were absolutely godawful, but got better after I had a chance to practice and build my confidence and my 30 second elevator pitch. Kynnad316's comment about turning it into a conversation is also excellent advice...to the extent that you can find common ground with your interviewer, do so. Not only will that help them remember you better, as they probably don't want to be there any more than you do, but it'll calm the flutters on your end. Just be your genuine self and have a conversation with somebody. The more stilted the experience, the less likely you are to perform well.

From my experience: On superday, you'll come in somewhat unnerved, and and the first minute or two of the first interview will be a warmup... then, you get in a zone, and really start to shine.

I usually use the first few minutes to reduce my nervousness by focusing on the interviewer, by using the opportunity to learn about his/her interests and by making small talk...usually these first few minutes lead to the interview proper (without most times, either me or the interviewer even realizing it) and by the time this happens, the interview already feels like a very bubbly and comfortable conversation...

Start with mock interviews with the mirror, your friends, and your favourite soft toy. Then sign up for as many interviews with F500 companies and load up your experience. By then time you get to your 10th interview (not kidding), you would have all the standard answers to standard questions nailed. Hell, you'll probably be bored just going for the interviews!

i always try to start with a conversation before we get straight to the point. at least i could then relax and get in my zone. Worked all the time for me. I feel its all about confidence though, like once your sure you've got all your answers ready, you basically cant wait for the questions to come

I'd say please don't sign up for the interviews you're not interested in - you're taking away spots from kids who really might want it. I understand with this group that you want every edge you can get, so deaf ears already, but you ARE taking away somebody else's shot.

I usually get trashed before interviews. It removes any inhibitions and makes a great first impression.

I have a particular group of friends who got obsessed with the banking recruiting process and constantly talked banking and recruiting during the interview season. I found that having an hour long banking-related conversation with a friend within a day of the interview got me more "in the zone" for interviews. Basically, if you use a particular set of phrases and vocabulary on the phone on a Wednesday, then those words and phrases will roll off your tongue much more smoothly during your interview on Thursday.

I signed up for a couple s&t interviews before the ibanking shops. I neither have the quantitative aptitude nor an interest in trading—so those interviews were interesting to say the least. I really just wanted to be put on my toes to see how I would react under pressure. Not having a statistics course since freshman year, naturally I failed. But failing in an interview really teaches you a lot about succeeding.

Go into it with the attitude that they should BE so lucky as for you to give them the privilege of working at their bank. If you dont know the answer to a technical question, it was a stupid question to begin with. If there isnt a fit, you are glad cause you didnt want to work there in the first place if their is no fit.

Jack Daniels has always helped

There's been a lot of good advice above (except for the drinking) so I'll just try to add on.

One of the things I did and was originally suggested to me by a VP at UBS was to come up with a list of 20 questions or so that you have for the interviewers. These aren't dumbass questions like "what is investment banking?" They should show that you are intelligent about how the system works and really want to know more about their specific firm.

Anyways, if you study your questions beforehand you'll feel more prepared and it will be easier to turn the interview into a conversation.

As I said above, furiously masturbating helps overcome the anxiety prior to the interview. OK, step one is complete. Now once in the interview, I usually initiated the conversation with a good racial joke. It lightens the mood and sets the stage for a great talk as to why I was the idyllic chunk of meat for the IBD grinder.

laugh a lot- it makes the interviewer feel funny and every one ends up happy

you can also sign up for HK interviews in dec/jan. theyre done over the phone, but still good practice.

Like others have said, if you can turn the interview into a conversation that makes it much easier. I always found it was with the senior bankers that I was able to do this much easier, but then again I think they are more the ones doing the character fit sort of interview rather than technical details. Also make sure you dont have a cold sweaty hand, my dad interviews a lot of ppl all the time (not in IB though) and he always notices that as a negative in the beginning of the interview. Clearly something like that won't loose you the job bit it doesn't scream confidence.

Like other people said, conversations are good. One thing I did that seemed to go ok was, at the bottom of your resume, put a section titled interests and put your favorite football team and what types of books you like to read and like a city you think is cool. Then start BSing with the guy(s) about that. Then at the end when he hasn't asked you any real questions he'll look at his page of stuff he was supposed to ask in a bunch of different categories and go "Do you possess 'intellectual acumen'?" and then take your word for it.

I disagree with djia, any seasoned interviewer can instantly pick up on any arrogance you may be channeling by thinking "I am god's gift to Ibanking."

This will sound weird but think about when you are trying to pick up a strange girl at a bar, a lot of the principles translate. You want to be confident but not arrogant, and you want to pretend to be genuinely interested in whatever the other party is talking about. Finally (especially with curveballs) don't be afraid to take a few seconds to formulate the answer in your mind. Also if it is a slightly longer technical question, make sure you write down the key numbers. This will help you keep things straight but more importantly it is for the interviewer's benefit.

For people who have actually gone thru interviews, I still have problems with a few questions primarily the vague general ones like "tell me about a time when you showed leadership?" My problem stems from the perspective that I hadn't really done anything meaningful up to that point as I was only 21 then and I didn't want to glorify some minor trivial leadership position into some great learning experience. I somehow muddled thru and got an offer but I still struggle on that question. If anyone wants to chime in with how they answered that question, I'd be very interested. The more specifics, the better (but obviously nothing to identify you but just to give a precise idea of the scale of your involvement).

I think having a conversation is good, but you should also focus on making sure you actually talk a bit about banking. In one interview I had we just talked about gambling and football for 30 minutes. Maybe 10 minutes is ok, but I think the fact that we didn't even talk about why I wanted to do banking probably hurt me.

Good point.

If you're still in college, do something interesting BEFORE you get to the interview. Start up a business or whatever. Anything that usually leads to failure is good. If you fail, that's a great thing to talk about. If you succeed, that's great. If you actually do things, you'll have things to talk about. I agree with all the above posters that you shouldn't turn something miniscule into a huge leadership experience, cause people will see right through it.

One question I've always asked at interviews is, "You've been here for x years. Why in the world are you still here?" First of all, every interviewer I've ever had has introduced themselves, saying how long they've worked at the company, etc. So, you're showing that you remember something about them, which makes them feel important and as if you pay attention to detail and are good with people. AND, the question seriously catches most interviewers off guard. It's not the same as saying, "What do you like about working here?" It's a serious sounding question, as opposed to the obvious. It also lets you see what kind of people really work at the company. Remember, interviews are as much for you as they are for the companies.

A simple tactic aslo is BREATHE. I had laryngitis during some of my interviews (not too fun) so I just played it off as taking a deep breath to give a thoughtful answer. I think they understood, but you never want to sound all high pitched and strident.

Just treat it like it's nothing more than someone you're meeting at a restaurant or on a bench or something.

after 13th interview they can really ask nothing you never heard before

mock with your friends

Xanax

When I get really nervous, I just smile and stare intensely at the interviewer. One time it was so intense that made the interviewer speechless for a few seconds. Got that offer anyways.