Why do I suck at interviews?

aishah · 05-03-2012, 11:55 AM

thanks quintease for starting this thread and diva & belle for your responses...this has been super helpful to me, too! i don't have a lot of advice so i just came here to commiserate and leave happy thoughts, hehehehe. i also struggle a lot with interviews...although for me the barrier is more finding the right attire and keeping my mouth shut about social justice-y stuff or things that could be construed as political (which has been most of my work for the last few years).

i'm a huge nervous talker, and also sometimes when i get started on a subject it's hard for me to stop. one thing that does help me with nervous talking is to do a lot of breathing exercises or watch my breath when i'm having the urge to nervous talk, and then commit to thinking about what i'm about to say before it comes out of my mouth. i don't make a big production of it or anything - i think it's easy to do it without being noticed in an interview or other one-on-one space - but it really helps me a lot. i also do it when i notice that i feel like i'm talking too much in any setting.

i love the idea of writing down everything you want to say in response to a question then crossing out the extra until you have a more concise, focused response.

05-03-2012, 11:55 AM	#5
aishah Member How Do You Identify?: queer stone femme shark baby girl Preferred Pronoun?: she, her, little one Relationship Status: dating myself. Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: dallas, tx Posts: 1,495 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 13,823 Thanked 6,439 Times in 1,288 Posts Rep Power: 21474851	thanks quintease for starting this thread and diva & belle for your responses...this has been super helpful to me, too! i don't have a lot of advice so i just came here to commiserate and leave happy thoughts, hehehehe. i also struggle a lot with interviews...although for me the barrier is more finding the right attire and keeping my mouth shut about social justice-y stuff or things that could be construed as political (which has been most of my work for the last few years). i'm a huge nervous talker, and also sometimes when i get started on a subject it's hard for me to stop. one thing that does help me with nervous talking is to do a lot of breathing exercises or watch my breath when i'm having the urge to nervous talk, and then commit to thinking about what i'm about to say before it comes out of my mouth. i don't make a big production of it or anything - i think it's easy to do it without being noticed in an interview or other one-on-one space - but it really helps me a lot. i also do it when i notice that i feel like i'm talking too much in any setting. i love the idea of writing down everything you want to say in response to a question then crossing out the extra until you have a more concise, focused response.