How to Handle Stress During a Job Interview

By MSF
•
11 Dec, 2017
•

Have you ever felt incredibly stressed during a job interview? If so, you’re not alone. Most people say that interviewing for a job is an overwhelmingly stressful experience. Fortunately, you can come to terms with job interview stress by understanding that a certain amount of stress can actually help you ace the interview; that practicing for your interview can help you maintain a manageable stress level; and that there are some effective responses you can use if your level of stress starts to feel overwhelming.

First, consider the upside of stress: Researchers and counselors remind us that an appropriate amount of stress can be a positive thing, while too much stress can wear us out mentally, emotionally, and physically. It can be a balancing act to keep your stress level at an appropriate, productive level. A job interview provides the perfect example of how just enough stress can keep us on our toes while helping us to put our best foot forward.

Lyrics from the Broadway smash hit A Chorus Line demonstrate how much is at stake in an audition — the stage version of an interview. The dancers sing, “I really need this job; I’ve got to get this job” as they execute difficult moves and literally remain on their toes. While they, and we, need to remember that there are other jobs out there, the stress of really wanting this particular job can help us approach the audition or interview with as much energy as possible. We just have to remind ourselves to use that stress effectively — remember, you want that job.

The problem is that job interviews are an unusual kind of conversation: one that we have only so often, where there’s a huge imbalance of power, and that requires the type of confident recitation of our strengths that wouldn’t fly in other social interactions. Unlike a relaxed chat with a friend, this encounter requires that you rattle off all your relevant skills, experiences, strengths, and interests in an efficient and effective manner so that your listeners are quickly reassured that their time with you is worthwhile (and might even be extended). Producing all of this information in a way that comes across as confident, eloquent, and appropriate means paying attention to your interviewer’s questions, striving to remember that list of things you wanted to be sure to say, and working hard to tackle unexpected questions. A bit of stress keeps you paying attention and giving your best.

Because a job interview isn’t typically something that we encounter very often, it’s important to fully prepare for this unusual and nonstandard interaction. Consider some of the standard things your interviewer is looking for: what do you already know how to do, how confident are you that you can learn new skills, what do you consider to be your strengths, and what might be a weakness that you’ve had to address. The latter is where you can demonstrate that you have self-awareness and know that no one is perfect but practice makes us better. Practice your responses to questions like these so that you know what you want to say when some version of them comes up. When you’ve already practiced these expected interactions, your stress level will be manageable and can even provide the remaining energy needed for the unexpected requests that come out of left field and require you to think on your feet. Clients of mine have said that practice gave them the confidence they needed and helped them to tackle the unusual surprise question.

But what happens when, despite all of your practice, you feel like you’ve screwed up during your interview? Your stress level might skyrocket and send you into a spiral of despair, making you feel that you’re flubbing the rest of the interview and that you’ve already lost the job. While you really can’t ask for a total do-over, rest assured that corrections can be made. When you realize that you forgot to say something important, you can still correct the omission in order to minimize ongoing stress. If you’re still in the interview, it’s always possible to say: “I just realized that I hadn’t mentioned…” Now you’ve made sure that the information you wanted to share has been shared. If you realize an important omission after the interview has already ended, you can send a thank-you email that says, “I want to add to, or clarify, or revise what I said about x…” Again, you’ve completed the message you wanted to get across. Now you don’t have to lie awake at night worried about that omission or mistake. A client of mine said that a hiring manager appreciated his willingness to admit his mistake in the interview and gave him the job because (1) he was qualified and (2) he hadn’t given up.

Sometimes, the stress level in some interviews goes way beyond what most people experience. As you can imagine — or perhaps have experienced — a room full of multiple interviewers can be difficult for the lone candidate. For example, a client of mine named Jane, who is very skilled in her field and very good at interacting with others, is an introvert who’s most comfortable in a one-on-one situation. She learned that she would have to appear before a panel of interviewers, and wanted to discuss what she could do in that situation to maintain a calm and confident demeanor. Jane’s concern was that she would not be able to “connect” effectively with every person in the room as she worked hard to answer their questions and tried to remember who was who.

We discussed making a quick outline in her notebook of the oval table where her interviewers sat, marking, as they introduced themselves, their positions around the table with their names and titles. Jane did just that, and her interviewers were pleased that she was able to address each one of them during the course of the interview. Jane also planned to make eye contact with each member of the group as they addressed her or heard her comments. By planning these ways of managing the stress of a multiperson interview team, she felt more confident and not overly stressed. Her interviewers, in turn, felt that she managed to engage with them all and took the extra effort to get to know them right away.

Another onslaught of overwhelming stress can occur when a wacky question comes your way. You didn’t see it coming (because who would?), you’re not sure if it’s sincere or intended as a joke, and you have to decide quickly how to attempt an answer that may be what your listener is seeking. Your first step in managing your stress and developing your response is to acknowledge the unusual nature of the question: “That’s an interesting question. May I have a moment to consider that?” This procedure could help by first finding out if the interviewer really means for you to answer the question. Is it just a joke to break the ice, or is it a sincere effort to find out if you can think on your feet? If the latter, their response gives you more time to think about a topic you hadn’t rehearsed.

When Ellen, a former client of mine, was asked what kind of plant she would be if indeed she were a plant, she replied with, “Hmm…that’s very interesting. Let me think about that for a moment.” Her listener responded with an enthusiastic nod and waited patiently. When Ellen responded after a pause, she said, “I enjoyed thinking about that; I always enjoy considering new ideas, and I think I would be a cactus. That kind of plant is sturdy: It plants itself firmly and it doesn’t require a lot of water. Rain or shine, cold or heat, it keeps its reliable place and can even supply some moist prickly pear to someone lost in the desert. Similarly, I work hard and understand the need to stay on my watch and to help others be successful, too.”

Wacky questions or not, an intense and important interview could create a stress level that results in brain freeze: Your mind goes blank, you stutter, or you blush with embarrassment. What to do?

Take a breath, take a sip of water, and take a moment to compose yourself. It’s okay to reply — even to a standard question — with, “Ah, let me think about that for a moment” or “Do you mean…” or “Could you rephrase the question?” You can also ask: “Does my answer cover the issues you were asking about?”
Regain some confidence and a sense of calm by remembering that you are interviewing the organization just as much as it is interviewing you. You are not bereft of all control. You do have some control over the conversation and some good questions to pose to your interviewers. After all, you want to know whether the job and the organization can really offer what you hope to find in your next job.
The best defense against experiencing overwhelming stress in a job interview is a good offense. Practice in advance what you want to be sure to say, whether it’s initially asked for or not. Remind yourself of your value, your skills, and your ability and enthusiasm about learning additional skills. If you tend to suffer from anxiety or lack of confidence in interviews or in general, consult with a career couch or a counselor who can help you prepare emotionally for this kind of situation. Remind yourself that you might not necessarily get the job, but you’ll know that you’ve done your best to stay calm and ace the interview if it’s at all possible.
If you tend to “sweat it out” literally or figuratively, make sure you’re dressed comfortably, in clothes and shoes that allow you to breathe easily and to focus on the subject at hand.

Remind yourself that stress in an interview is not only normal — it’s necessary. Prepare yourself for stress while you train yourself to do a great job. Take the edge off through practice beforehand and by successfully managing your stress in real time. Having nailed down what you want to say about your qualifications and having prepared for those tough questions, you’ll be ready to take that deep breath and know that you can manage an unexpected challenge. Use your stress effectively and land the job you want.

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Women and Mathematics: The French Connection

By A.S • March 10, 2018

Much has been made of the gender gap that exists in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines across the world. France, like many of its European and North American counterparts, is trying to grapple with the rather inglorious performance of its students in mathematics and science in recent years. When the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) revealed that French Elementary school students (aged 8–9) had slipped to the very bottom of the 2016 rankings in mathematics and were next to last in science compared to their EU peers, the nation’s top policymakers finally stood up and took notice.

In a country that prides itself on the globally-acknowledged superiority of its engineers and tech talent pool, the TIMSS revelation came as a rude shock. Hoping to revamp the system, President Macron instructed Cedric Villani, Fields Medal winner, who also happens to be a member of the National Assembly, to draft a report that would identify actionable steps to fix what was broken and promote educational reform in the truest sense of the term. This much-awaited report was made public in mid-February this year and essentially explores 21 measures that are to be implemented urgently in order to improve performance in mathematics at primary and secondary levels. While only a very small part of this 90-page report deals with gender inequality, it nonetheless offers useful insights into the social and cultural phenomena that collude to keep women’s participation in STEM disciplines at a low level.

To be fair, France is certainly not alone in experiencing a gender gap when it comes to the number of women choosing to enter STEM disciplines, either by studying them at the post-secondary level or by selecting a career in research and technology fields later on. As an undergraduate student who majored in mathematics in the United States, I experienced the gender gap first hand. A few years later, the representation of women at the PhD level turned out to be even more disastrous as I signed up for very advanced courses in mathematics at New York University.

Inspite of the low levels of participation of women in STEM disciplines in the US, my move to Paris six years ago was an eye-opening experience in many ways. Through my daily interactions with French engineers (predominantly male) from renowned engineering schools throughout the country, I quickly became aware of the prevailing caste system in French society. Engineers graduating from the top-ranked engineering schools (the most elite institution being Ecole Polytechnique) were the reigning Brahmins in the pecking order. Being the most selective of schools, their graduates would have access to opportunities that would be largely inaccessible to others. Furthermore, the advantages conferred on the select few were more or less guaranteed to last for the rest of their lives. For example, a Polytechnique graduate, fresh out of school, would command a much higher salary than someone graduating from a less prestigious institution who had been recruited for the same position within a corporate setting. (To my knowledge, similar hiring practices do not exist in the United States. A Harvard graduate would make the same salary as someone graduating from a small State school for an entry-level job.) With time, the former would most likely be able to rise more quickly through the organization as well, given the higher level of trust placed in his/her intellectual abilities and the number of “stretch” assignments that would be conferred upon him/her. They would also benefit from the well-established network of alums that occupy positions of influence within the organization as well as outside of it. For instance, networking one’s way into an even more lucrative position elsewhere becomes much easier if one graduated from a top engineering school in France. Summing up the pay gap over the span of an entire career, the difference between the upper echelons of the engineering hierarchy and the hoi polloi is very significant. Simply put, it pays to be a math geek in France!

While I am not calling into question the excellent training received by people who graduate from top-tier engineering schools in France, I do believe that the attitudes of the general public towards STEM disciplines is conditioned by the perception that landing an admission to one of these prestigious institutions is the holy grail, a surefire way to be fast-tracked to the good life.

It is hardly surprising then that we see the emergence of clear social patterns in classrooms full of children as young as seven years old. Those who are considered “strong” in mathematics are quickly identified and those that lag behind are often allowed to fall by the wayside. At an age when the plasticity of the brain is unquestionable, young children, often girls, refer to themselves self-deprecatingly as being “nuls en maths” which roughly translates to “dumb at math.” By the time girls reach high school age, many of them opt out of science courses in spite of having good grades, choosing to specialize in the humanities instead, under the false impression that a scientific specialization would lead them to Engineering School, a place mostly reserved for men. The problem is aggravated by the time students enter their late teens and join preparatory schools to prepare for the feared entrance exams to get into the top engineering programs. As stated in Villani’s report, teachers often selectively focus on the boys in the classroom since they are thought to be more likely to succeed. The myth of the hardworking girl and the talented boy is alive and well! Women make up only a quarter of the graduating class at Polytechnique. I will refrain from making obvious statements about self-fulfilling prophecies here.

As I think back to my own early childhood in India, I realize that I was very lucky to have been born in a context where excelling in STEM disciplines was seen as a given. (For those interested in this curious phenomenon, Indian women greatly outnumber American women in STEM representation. 45% of Indian Computer Science majors are women versus a mere 21% in the United States.) My father, a physicist turned finance professional and my mother, a biochemist turned entrepreneur, did not leave me with any choice in the matter. I still remember when at the age of ten, I struggled with the Periodic Table of Elements and was getting ready to give up when my mother, with a stern look, commanded me to work harder at it. A few days later, I had not only understood it, but I had actually begun to enjoy it! Whether it was proofs in trigonometry or quantum theory in high school, the deal was clear — I would have to put in the necessary time and effort until I got it. A few years ago, I was pleasantly surprised when I read an interview of the late Maryam Mirzakhani, who won the Fields Medal in 2014. Growing up in Iran, it seems that she had not even considered the possibility of becoming a mathematician until she reached high school age. She credited her success, in part, to her high school principal, a lady who was apparently a hard taskmaster. In an interview with the Clay Institute, she said:

I do believe that many students don’t give mathematics a real chance. I did poorly in math for a couple of years in middle school; I was just not interested in thinking about it. I can see that without being excited mathematics can look pointless and cold. The beauty of mathematics only shows itself to more patient followers.

While the probability of economic success is the driving force for many decisions that students make early in life, I believe that the (un)conscious decision to give up on mathematics need not be one of them. Girls and boys need to get excited about discovering the language of mathematics and unravel its mysteries throughout their lives. Villani devotes a portion of his report to the interrelationships between mathematics and other disciplines. The link between music and mathematics is discussed as well as the mathematical structure of French grammar. The idea is to bring some fun back into classrooms across France and free mathematics of the heavy shackles of expectations that make it inaccessible to many. The pervasiveness of mathematics in our lives can not be ignored and whatever the natural inclinations of a child may be, there is always a way to make mathematics relevant in her life.

In the emerging global technocracy, France has a unique opportunity to lead the way and show the world that true educational reform can bring about lasting change in the way that women consider joining and making lasting contributions to STEM disciplines. And on a personal level, I am so over tech bros!

During Irma’s Power Outages, Some Houses Kept The Lights On With Solar And Batteries

By MSF • November 3, 2017

The ability of some residences and businesses to stay functioning as the power went out around them shows the growing potential of local generation and microgrids. Now those batteries just have to get a lot cheaper.