Fear of an interview: how to stop being afraid and start going to interviews

Imagine: you graduated from JavaRush, completed an internship, and even wrote a program for friends, but have not yet worked on a commercial project. In IT vacancies, the market is looking for juniors with at least a year or a year and a half of experience. And this requirement stops you from starting to send out your resume. JavaRush HR manager Olga Zhukova says that there is no point in being afraid of rejection. We asked Olga about how to overcome the irrational fear of an interview at first and took some tips on how to present yourself favorably for an interview.

Stop being afraid of lack of experience

This is banal, but nevertheless effective advice. The beginning of a career path is the state from which absolutely all people begin. Some managed to successfully overcome this status and realize themselves, while others, due to their fears and weaknesses, remained at the same level or achieved far from what they dreamed of. We must understand that a person entering a new professional field cannot know everything. Anyone at any age can retrain and end up at the very bottom of the career ladder. Only a few are lucky if they get a job through an acquaintance. 99% of applicants are rejected multiple times due to lack of experience. It is important to be honest with yourself and answer the question: “Did I do everything to get the job? What should a junior know to get a job?

Monitor basic market requirements

You can monitor the basic requirements for the market and in certain companies if you want to get a job there. The result of your training should be complete satisfaction with your level of knowledge. If you understand that you do not fully meet the requirements, you should try to improve them, and then go for an interview. But I recommend not to put off going to interviews for too long, because you can improve forever.

Show your motivation

A candidate may have a great resume, he may be suitable for hard and soft skills, but he does not show motivation to work in the company, or his motivation does not coincide with the company’s goal. This may not work to the advantage of the applicant. People are motivated at work in different ways: for some, salary is primarily important, for others, the realization of their inner potential, for others, the team, for others, it is simply a stage before achieving their global goal. It is advisable to analyze the company where you are going for an interview and adapt your motivation to this company in a favorable light. Before you voice your motivation, figure out what you would like to hear if you were your interlocutor. If you say, “I need a job to make my first million,” and it’s a startup or a mid-level company, the company won’t be able to offer that to you. Most likely, such motivation can work against the applicant. In this case, it is better to talk about the fact that you have an interest in developing and launching projects from scratch.

Show professional activity

During the interview, tell us that you are actively studying new technologies. For example, a story can be structured like this: you have learned Java, are mastering frameworks, and are now learning additional technologies that will help you develop more complex and interesting projects in the future. This will show that you see your future in this area and will willingly develop in it. It is important to show any experience you have, even in a non-profit project. You can talk about free projects, internships, and completed trainings.

Learn more about the company you are interviewing for.

Almost always, when selecting candidates, they prefer people who consciously state why they are interested in the vacancy and the company, all other things being equal. You can explain why the company and position are interesting to you not only in the context of the tasks you will be involved in, but also in a more global sense, for example, in the social mission of the enterprise. I recommend studying information about the company and connecting your motivation for looking for a job with what the company is striving for.

Be sincere

If you have completed the course and have never worked anywhere before, and want to appear cool and experienced, this will not work. Your experience will be revealed during the technical interview and during further work. You're doing yourself a disservice by talking about skills you don't have. On the contrary, sincere people endear you to themselves. If you understand that knowledge is not enough, it is better to focus not on this, but on how you are ready to learn and develop for the sake of a new job.

Conduct a test interview

You can ask a friend, wife, or husband to give yourself a mock interview to practice your answers and overcome your interview fears. They may ask general questions regarding the first stage of the interview with HR. It's also a good idea to find an experienced developer to test your technical knowledge. The more experience a person has with answering difficult questions, the more confident he will feel in an interview.

What if you send out your resume, but they don’t call you for an interview?

First, check the resume itself: for errors, design (how readable it is in principle). Remember that the ideal resume is one page. Laconic, informative and on topic. It’s cool to customize your resume every time before sending it to a new vacancy, if the requirements may be slightly different. A relevant resume is 90% of success. Don't forget to include the correct phone number, email, and social media links. Secondly, sometimes (if you are really interested in a vacancy and you understand that you meet the requirements) you can and even need to write in instant messengers or call the recruiter and make sure that your resume has been received. By doing this, you will show your interest, make sure that the resume falls into the right hands, and ask for feedback in case of refusal. Believe me, very often your resume ends up in spam, and with a large flow of responses, and even for several vacancies, the recruiter may miss your CV. Thirdly, pay attention to your salary expectations and those specified in the vacancy. If you include this information in your resume, it may harm you. For example, if the vacancy indicates a salary level of $500, and your wishes are $1000, then it is very likely that they will not contact you to continue the dialogue. And in general, try to evaluate yourself objectively. Fourthly, if you have 95% matches with the requested skills, then do not forget to indicate that you can master 5% of the experience required in your future job or you have already had a brief excursion into them. The main thing is to talk it out. Fifth, stay tuned and check your email and LinkedIn regularly. If they answered you and asked you to complete the technical assignment or provide clarifying information on your resume, try to respond in a timely manner. The competition among juniors is very high, and usually the fastest ones are lucky. Don't lose heart and don't panic! Rejections are normal. We get into the companies we need to get into. Nothing is accidental, and the protracted time spent searching for a job can be spent on training and practice, playing sports and emotional release. Chat with the juniors and seniors you know, find out how they are doing with their job search or what cool life hacks they have, maybe someone will recommend you to the company they work for. In general, take action.