Stressed as f***

smoke some weed before your interview/you need to do mock interviews

Just remember that the person on the other end of the line is a regular dude/chick. It's fine to be nervous because you want to do well, but not ok to be nervous because you are intimidated by the interviewer. Do your preparation, be confident in you skills, and just fucking relax.

Sounds like phone anxiety. Just breath and take it slow. Also have written material to help you out.

Take some Oxycontin with hydrocodone mixed with some cough syrup before the call. Works every time

I have the same thing happen and it really helps me to have every interview answer behavioral/technical typed out in front of me. I never actually use them, but having an outline lowers my stress level. Also, if you start stammering focus on talking slow and methodically - this always worked for me.

Sounds exactly like me.. I start to panic about panicking and cant keep a clear head. It's retarded I know.

What causes your stress?

Practice phone interview. Tell you story to a couple friends and answer their questions over the phone. Typing out your answers also helps because it allows you to keep clearer thoughts in your head. Lastly, make sure you talk slow - this is the key.

1.) It gets easier with practice and experience. 2.) Exercise the night before. (And I'm talking 8 minute miles or sub-45-50 second 50s in the pool) 3.) St. John's wort helps.

Try to picture the person on the phone naked.

Thanks for all the responses guys it means a lot. It's really weird that this only happens on the phone... I guess I'm more confident in person when there are other characteristics to lessen the importance on my voice. I'll definitely be practicing more though.

Throw a quick beat.

zanny it

mos def Xanax buddy

not sure if you guys are kidding or not with the meds lol... is there really anything light I can take to calm the stress down!?

DO NOT take drugs before hand. It gets better with practice but the best way is to just do a bunch of mock interviews. I almost used my informational interviews/networking contacts to run through possible questions and get advice. Wouldn't be a bad idea.

Why r u nervous bro?

St. John's wort is sold OTC in the vitamins section. Wouldn't recommend trying to take anything prescription except as directed.

For some people- particularly the OCD type with some anxiety mixed in (read: programmers and engineers)- St. John's wort helps just a little. It's nowhere near as helpful, though, as some SERIOUS exercise the night before along with a good night's sleep.

Swim two miles the morning of the interview, walk into the office, 30 minutes of stressful interview later, and the interviewers are getting noticeably pissed. They can't shake you. Who is this kid? We just put him through the wringer and he's as calm as a monk! And I thought programmers were supposed to be whiny scaredy-cats! WTF?

It's not me, it's the exercise. You guys aren't tougher than the 1000 yards I swam in 14 minutes two hours ago.

That's always a lot of fun. Go into a stress-test interview after two hours of SERIOUS exercise. Turn the tables on them. Instead of F-ing with you, you get to mess with them. Go in there calm, relaxed, and carefree. Spend the whole interview that way. Answer the technical questions like they're easy and no big deal- just like they claim it is to solve the integral of the inverse cot(x^2). Pretty soon, instead of asking you to open the window, they will be throwing the chair out themselves. When you leave say, "Hey, I know you guys give really tough interviews. Thanks for being so nice and gracious." Watch jaws drop as you dazedly walk out. You're in your post-exercise daze. Nothing can really phase you.

The next time things get really boring on the floor, maybe I'll see if they'll put me up to exercise three hours and then go interview with our counterparts at GS just for kicks- with a hidden mic and camera to bring back for everyone to watch a bunch of VPs and associates at a competitor start tearing their hair out.

your interviewer won't seem so scary after you give this a read: http://www.amazon.com/Everyone-Poops-My-Body-Science/dp/0916291456

xanax or lorazapam 1mg about a half hour prior to the call. If you want to own the interview you'll need to have a beer with it as well. You sound like a mess.

Throwing a quick beat might do the trick. The act releases endorphins (dopamine) which calms the mind and should help reduce that hummingbird heart beat.

I have the same problem... Much worse doing phone interviews than in-person. I think if you practice doing phone interviews with other people, it might make things much easier for you to speak. Sometimes I zone out during a phone conversation because there isn't someone on the other side staring me down -- haven't figured out how to fix that yet.