Managing Interview Anxiety:
Job Interview Skills

A generic onboarding sequence is provided as standard with virtual coaches Abeeku and Ashley. 

The first time learners use Bodyswaps, this onboarding sequence familiarises them with the features of the app, takes them through an avatar selection and embodiment activity, and prepares them for the experience to come. 

In the onboarding, learners will: 

• Find out how this training is different from the rest
• Select their avatar
• Discover their virtual journal
• Learn how to navigate and use the tools and settings

The module begins with Ashley and Abeeku, the virtual coaches, discussing how interviews are often inherently stressful. But, with the right approach, you can control your anxieties and put your best foot forward.

They set out the learner’s goals for the module, and introduce the different self-calming strategies they’ll be exploring throughout the module. 

Then, they invite the learner to complete a short likert-style self-reflection survey, to indicate how confident they feel about the following key learning points:

Identifying how they feel about interviews 
Adjusting posture to look and feel more confident
Using mindful breathing to reduce stress and anxiety
Using affirmations to quieten self-criticism

These self-reflection questions will be repeated in the debrief at the end, to assess how the learner’s confidence levels have changed.

Note: If you wish to receive data about how the learner’s confidence levels have changed as a consequence of the training, it is important that they complete this introduction and the debrief at the end. 

Research shows that recognising and naming emotions is an effective strategy for managing anxiety. The words we use to describe how we’re feeling are often connected with our confidence levels, so it’s helpful for us to reflect on them.

In this activity, learners explore the thoughts and feelings that they usually experience during interviews, and think about how this can impact on their performance. Ashley and Abeeku ask various questions, and the learner selects how they want to respond from three given options.

For example, when they receive an interview invitation, do they feel anxious, excited, or neutral? When they finish the interview, do they feel pessimistic, pragmatic, or optimistic?

Throughout the conversation, an on-screen gauge will shift depending on whether their chosen response represents being not confident enough, balanced, or too confident.

Then, the virtual coaches offer some words of wisdom about the learner’s current natural response. A little bit of nerves can actually help their performance, while too much can be overwhelming. Oppositely, too much confidence can lure them into a false sense of security and leave them unprepared. Finding a healthy balance of both will help them perform their best.

When we feel anxiety or negative thoughts coming on, it’s useful for us to turn our attention to what we’re doing with our body. Adjusting our posture and breathing is an easy, effective way to combat nerves. 

For this activity, the learner heads over to Tula’s meditation space to try out some practical, science-backed activities for physically dispelling their anxiety.

The first technique that Tula guides the learner through is power posing. This involves adjusting their posture to straighten their body and take up more space. Scientific research shows us that occupying this pose for just two minutes significantly reduces the stress hormone cortisol.

While adopting their power pose, the learner also practises controlled breathing, combined with grounding and visualisation techniques that help them to feel immersed in the mindful state.

After practising these meditative strategies, AI-enabled analytics help the learner reflect on how well they followed them. For example, whether they held the power pose for long enough to get the full benefits, and whether their gaze was drifting to other parts of the room due to lost focus.

Most of us have an ‘inner critic’ – the source of all those thoughts that undermine our confidence and self-esteem, and lead to anxiety and stress. Challenging our inner critic can be difficult, however. 

A phenomenon called Solomon’s paradox shows that people give better advice to friends than they do to themselves. In this activity, learners discover a way to turn this paradox into a useful strategy. They learn about the power of speaking to yourself like you would a friend, to challenge the self-doubts and anxieties that often crop up before interviews.

First, they’ll put their worries into their own words, which helps to produce therapeutic effects in the brain. Then, they’ll talk about their skills, experiences, and achievements. This helps boost confidence, and equips them with good self-affirmations for the next step: speaking to themselves like a friend.

Once they’ve shared their thoughts, they’ll swap bodies with the avatar of their future self, and speak to themselves in their own voice about why they shouldn’t feel so nervous.

They’ll then bodyswap back into their avatar, and listen to the words of wisdom from their future self.

Reaffirming all their positive qualities and everything they’ve accomplished helps to reframe and uplift their mindset. In turn, they’ll feel more self-assured in the interview and better prepared to show their best self.

Abeeku and Ashley congratulate the learner for completing their journey through this course, and provide some closing thoughts on how using the anxiety-dispelling strategies explored in the module can help them to perform their best in interviews.

Now, they’re invited to take the same likert-style survey from the beginning, to encourage the learner to reflect and self-report on their confidence levels following completion of the training.

The questions relate to how confident they now feel about the key learning points:

• Identifying how they feel about interviews
• Adjusting posture to look and feel more confident
• Using mindful breathing to reduce stress and anxiety
• Using affirmations to quieten self-criticism

Before the learner leaves the module, they are asked to complete a short survey about their experience.

This survey is not compulsory, but the data helps us to assess the effectiveness of our product and identify any areas that need improvement. Clients also find it beneficial when assessing ROI.

They are asked to mark whether they agree or disagree with the following statements, on a 10 point scale:

• I would recommend this experience to others
• The experience helped me identify elements I could improve upon
• I now have a better understanding of how to manage interview anxiety.