"The first step on stage is an unusual feeling. I"m not sure I can connect it to other people's lives outside of perhaps taking a driver's test. You really want that license. The feeling in your gut means you're sober - and that's good. It also means that something is at stake, something that matters. You're taking a risk, which is the essence of all live performance. It's not an entirely comfortable feeling, but it's a necessary one. It happens every time, and it tends to stop the minute I put my hands on any instrument. Part of that risk is, part of what I'm searching for from the moment I put my foot on stage, until I walk off, is the invisible thread of energy and inspiration or soul of whatever you want to call it that is going to take me to that place where a song can explode to life. That thread is between me and the audience every night. Always. I've got to grab it out of the air and physicalize it into something they can hear."
In this 2005 Esquire Magazine interview, Bruce Springsteen outlines the emotional context, and the specific emotions he experiences prior to taking the stage. His descriptions provides us with a perfect emotional metaphor for what every interviewee experiences prior to telling their story in theirs interview.
His driver's license analogy is spot on, as he connects each of us to a shared human experience that fills our "gut" with the importance of the moment where "...something is at stake". However, where I would respectfully disagree with Mr. Springsteen is in my belief that such anxiety and uncertainty is more widely apparent in all our lives, and exists for everyone who has ever participated in an interview that meant something to them.
Certainly, Mr. Springsteen's experience differs in that he is about to perform to literally thousands of audience members who hold high expectations of what his performance should be. And at the same time he is able to channel his emotions once "...the minute I put my hands on any instrument", easing his anxiety and managing his uncertainty.
The question all interviewees need to ask themselves is how do they ease their anxiety and manage their uncertainty ? The simple answer is that interviewees need be aware, prepared, and ready to present. In other words, you ease your anxiety and manage your uncertainty through your specific understanding and awareness of your career plan, your career preparation, and the power and promise of your interview presentation.
Mr. Springsteen's search for "...the invisible thread of energy and inspiration or soul." that connects him to his audience and is always out there each time he performs takes him to a higher level of performance and "...to that place where a song can explode to life." This inspirational thread exists and is available to all interviewers and interviewees in all interviews where "...something is at stake".
Unlike Mr. Springsteen, you are unable to display your values, interests, skills and abilities through your performance in an interview; rather, your interview presentation becomes a description of your previous and future performances. There in lies the trauma, the terror, and the frustration of all interviewees, their inability to perform during the interview. This performance frustration is also shared by interviewers, who would much rather watch perspective candidates perform, than rather listen to their performance descriptions. It's not a coincidence that a high percentage of students who participate in internships are offered full time employment, employers get to view their performance and are able to make better informed and more effective employment decisions.
A big part of our mission in Career Services is to help Fordham students tell their stories, filling the space that exists between their performances and a description of their performances. Interviews are the venues where these stories are told; whether they are employment interviews, informational interviews, or networking interviews, it's all about the story. No where is the need for interview planning and preparation more evident than in the most popular interview question.
"Could you tell me a little bit about yourself ?". It is the best question if you have done your homework and are fully prepared for the interview, and it is the worst question if you are not prepared. You know you are prepared when you have confidence in your concentration; and concentration in your confidence as you approach the interview.
When I have interview follow-up conversations with Fordham students, one consist theme that most of them share is that they do a great job researching and preparing for the organization that they are interviewing with, and only spend a minimum about of time preparing and practicing their personal presentation. All of our counselors in Career Services are not surprised by this shortfall in interview preparation , because we understand the dynamics that exist between performance and the description of performance. Consequently, we have designed and developed our interview training programs and experiences to focus on the importance of specifically detailing your 'unique story' for the interview.
As interviewees, you need to create a visual, auditory, and performance based description of your past and future experiences. As you describe these cognitive images to the interviewer they need to serve as descriptive foundations that articulate, support, and structure your interview presentations. For each interview, you need to create a unique presentation that is formed within your own set of explanatory, evocative, and illustrative parameters. In other words, the context of your interview presentation may only slightly vary from interview to interview, and at the same time, the content of your interview presentation will dynamically change from interview to interview.
Specific preparation for your interview presentation is the key to great interviews. You need to develop a clear understanding of the opportunity you are interested in and be able to articulate and indicate how you are a perfect fit for the job. You need to identify, clarify, and describe your values, interests, skills and abilities. Being able to articulate your message successfully is often the difference between good and bad interview presentations. You need to be prepared specifically and specifically prepared to succeed in the art of interviewing.
Remember, you are a performer and given a task to complete, at this stage of your life, you evaluate your performance first, someone else evaluates it [teacher, boss, or peer] and you move on to your next performance. During your interview, it is imperative that you describe your past and future performances in as specific a fashion as possible, avoiding generalizations and personal discounts.
In other words, your performances occur in real time and are specific and direct, when you describe your performance you are one step removed from the experience. Consequently, your performance descriptions can sometimes be both vague and too general, being descriptively specific in describing your performance is exactly what great 'interviewing' is all about. In order for successful interviewing to occur you need to be as specific as possible in describing your experience with an ever-present attention to detail.
Control of the interview is equally divided, with the interviewers in total control of the context, while, interviewees are in total control of the content. Interviewers set the time and location, and facilitate the flow of the context through the questions they ask. Essentially, the interviewee has 'total control' of the content, you are free to say whatever you wish, how you respond to an interviewer's questions is your choice.
Since you are unable to display you skills and abilities during the interview you need to prepare specific detailed descriptions of your experiences. If one of your skills is that you are 'organized' it is impossible to display your organizational skills during the interview. I guess that if the interviewer's office was a bit messy you could offer to organize it more effectively right there during the interview. However, I feel rapport would immediately fly out the window, if you took such an action. It is however possible for you to specifically describe how you organize, and what you have specifically organized. You need to craft a vivid picture of your experience for the interviewer. It is essential that you know what you want to tell the interviewer.
Your career awareness, career preparation, and career presentation serve as the foundation for all successful interviews. You need to develop clear sensory channels of communication that engage and empower your ideas, details, and descriptions. Breakthroughs occur in interviews when the interviewer concludes that what she or he is hearing is a blend of the candidate's excellent performance descriptions about their experiences and accomplishments, that, also, identifies and articulates the interviewee's personal qualities and capabilities that they will bring to the company.
The best applicant often fails to get the job because of a breakdown in interview communication. Either, the interviewee lacks the preparation and expertise needed to tell her or his story properly, or, the interviewer fails to either listen or ask the proper questions. Interviewees should not expect any assistance from the interviewer in telling their stories. You need to acquire the ability to master the interview, in other words, you need to become 'one' with the interview in order to effectively and persuasively tell your story.
Employers approach the interview viewing themselves as experts in personnel selection. Nothing could be further from the truth, most interviewees want to believe that the psychology that underlies and pervades the interview is all about selection. When in reality, it is all about evaluation and elimination. The interviewee who best understands this elimination mentality, and at the same time prepares a great interview presentation has the best shot of closing the deal.
If you are to turn the psychology of the interview in your favor, you must take the offensive. Instead of approaching the interview with an attitude that you are asking for something, you need to assume the posture and a vocabulary that you are there because you have something valuable to offer.
The employment selection process in the world of work, surprisingly, is one of the most poorly planned and ineffectively executed processes within the business cycle. One would think that the selection process would be carefully planned and deliberate process, and often, it is not. The interviewer has the added pressure of marketing the opportunity to the interviewee as part of his or her's interview presentation. When you begin to realize that there are equal pressures on you and the interviewer, and when adopt the mindset that the employer will have to sell you on the opportunity, the scales start to tilt in your favor. The interviewer knows that good applicants are relaxed, they possess self-command, and they are confident.
The psychology involved here, is that you are reversing one of the interviewer's tenets - putting the applicant at ease. You are reducing the pressure on the interviewer by projecting the very qualities she or he is looking for. The interview balance normalizes when you avoid pressure on yourself and at the same time mitigate the pressure on the employer.
When you take the offensive, the employer gladly presents the contextual upper hand to you. She wants you to lead the interview and to ask the appropriate questions. The interviewer wants you to succeed in your interview once you have established interview credibility. For when she finds the applicant who appears qualified and who effectively handles the interview, she is elated. The interviewer will offer you the opportunity you have been waiting for - the chance to sell yourself, and he or she is anxious to buy.
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