Laurie Braddy shares a coaching story about a candidate nervous after 16 years at one company. She explains why interview nerves are normal and walks through how to manage them, ending with how the candidate landed the job.
Hey, guys, it's Laurie with career Coaching now. And as you guys know, I do interview horror stories, so I also want to do some interview success stories. So this is number one. And it's okay to be nervous. So I had a candidate who had been with the Same company for 16 years and she was laid off, unfortunately. So she had to go out into the world for the first time in 16 years and start interviewing for positions. So I was coaching her on how to interview, and she was so nervous. Probably one of the most nervous people that I've ever had to coach. She was a ball of nerves. She told me that she stutters when she's nervous, and she was just so nervous. And I said, listen, it's easy for me to say this, but calm down. When you go in, you need to tell the whoever's interviewing you, you need to let them know that you're extremely nervous. Reason being, you haven't interviewed in 16 years. And let me tell you what that does. Number one, if you are an expert at interviewing, that means something's not right because you're obviously interviewing a lot, which means you could be a job jumper or whatever, but most candidates are not expert interviewees. They don't know how to interview. So it's perfectly okay and the employer will actually appreciate it that you are nervous because you've been stable in your career. That says a lot. And obviously, if we're not doing the same things over and over again, you know, it's hard to be good at something that you're not doing. So it's completely normal to be nervous. Okay, it's fine. You're going to be fine. Tell the whoever's interviewing you, just let them know the minute you get there. If you are extremely nervous, you're one of those people that just either stutters or shakes or twitches or whatever things you have going on when you're nervous. Let them know I'm nervous. I haven't interviewed in however many years, five years, 10 years, whatever it is, I don't interview that often. I've been stable in my career and I'm just nervous. It's okay. They're going to appreciate that. And going back to her story, she was so nervous, but she went in, she let the employer know. I told her, let them know, you know, obviously you haven't interviewed in 16 years. She did that. The employer appreciated that and actually she got the job. I was so excited for her because again, I working with her, I wasn't sure how she was going to be, but she was so, so excited she got the job. Everything worked out. So the moral of the story is it's okay to be nervous. You're gonna be fine. The employer is gonna appreciate it. Again, it's Laurie with career coaching now. And I love coaching nervous people on how to interview. And I also coach people on how to obtain a raise or promotion. So again, I will be back soon with another interview story and also check out my interview horror story so you don't make the same mistake. Talk to you guys soon. Have a.
