reassess your priorities. That should fix your nervousness.

take a public speaking class

^ or start selling tupperware

Repeated exposure to situations that give you anxiety is the best "natural" way to cure your problems. If you don't have time for that, take adderall and you'll feel like a badass for a few hours.

No. I get like this too. I think interviewers expect you to be nervous - but you have to hide panic.They'll think you will panic in other cases.

I'm never nervous with clients - or anyone else. I have presented academic work in panels knowing everyone who showed up did so because they want to rip my shit apart. I dont even break a sweat. But I disintegrate to the point of nausea with interviewers. You are not the only one.

Practice. A lot. That's the only thing that will help.

hate to be that guy... but maybe banking is not for you...

Get your dick wet

two shots of vodka before the interview

It's all a mind game. I remember being extremely anxious for my first couple of interviews and it's something I have just grown out of I suppose. The people sitting across the table are there because they want to hire you. They need you more than you need them. They're not going to bite you or humiliate you in any way.

If you know your shit cold then you shouldn't be nervous.

^ yeah

as a guy who had to do some hiring (people 10-20 years my senior) i can tell you finding good people is fucking hard. fucking goddamn hard. so if you are hot shit then don't worry, they are trying to woo you more than you can imagine. assume that you are hot shit. problem solved.

next.

Do mock interviews over and over again. Also sign up for other interviews through OCR for positions you don't want for the interview practice. You'll get used to it.

1 - focus on speaking slowly. Get your cadence down and remember to shut up. People who are panicked tend to talk very quickly, and fill in pauses with "umm", "ahhh", or continue to ramble incoherently.

2 - I'm 7 years out of school and recently had an interview that was largely fit. The interviewer threw out a quick math question and I felt my face get red. I simply restated the question with the answer... easy peasy. But too often people get flustered and couldn't tell you what year it is.

3 - if you are prepared and you know your stuff (your story, why this job/the firm, fundamentals/technical) you shouldn't feel so pressured. It's when you are trying to create answers while you talk that you really screw up. So know what you can know, and don't worry about the rest.

What you are dealing with is "stage fright" or "performance anxiety." I've had similar issues in the past. Any time you have to perform anything - interviewing, presenting, playing sports - in front of someone else, you get an acute case of anxiety. The higher the stakes, the worse the anxiety. The underlying reasons for this are numerous, but it basically boils down to you generating fear provoking thoughts that your brain interprets as life and death type issues, which kick starts your fight or flight response. The sequence from their is the following: (i) your heart rate increases, (ii) your breath quickens (often you will feel like you can't breathe), (iii) you get tunnel vision, (iv) you lose higher order cognitive functioning, (v) you lose fine motor skills. Basically your body is getting you ready to run away from something really scary. Unfortunately, this isn't good if you need to walk through a DCF, calculate 27 x 56, or just talk about your deal experience in an interview. Here are some ways to attack this issue:

• Realize this is a result of you wanting to meet others' expectations and your ideal of yourself.

• Read this book http://www.amazon.com/Speaking-Scared-Sounding-Good-Private/dp/07570026…

  • You need to practice relaxing. There are a variety of ways to do this, but all involve some means of finding a quiet place, breathing deeply, and clearing your mind.

• Practice speaking in pressure situations. Probably the best way to do this in a low stakes manner is to join an organization like Toastmasters - someplace where you have to present in front of others on a regular basis but won't get fired if you fuck up.

• Stop drinking caffeine.

• Don't listen to other people that say "maybe this means finance just isn't for you." It has nothing to do with finance. It has everything to do with what's inside your head and what's inside your head only. This would happen in other performance situations as well.

• Whatever you do, don't avoid situations that provoke this response. It'll just make your fear and panic worse in the long run. Take it head on. It'll be a long road, but definitely worth it in the end.

From an interviewer's perspective it is pretty obvious when somebody is super nervous. I once had a kid so nervous he could barely respond to questions. In these situations I really try to ask simple questions to start so he has time to calm the nerves a bit.

I think if you can do some mock interviews before the actual real-deal, that's probably helpful. And have good, rehearsed answers prepared to the likely questions such as "walk me through your resume" and stuff like that.