Once you’ve made it through the application process to the interview stage, you would think that a heavy burden had been lifted from your shoulders. You did, after all, impress them with your CV or resume so the interview should be a piece of cake, right? Unfortunately, more often than not this is the most stressful point in finding employment. Now it’s up to you to be that person who best fits the profile HR developed for the position you are applying for.
Visualize Who You Want to Be
There really is nothing phony about visualizing the person you want to come across as. This is honestly how you see yourself but perhaps you have trouble expressing yourself well. Before setting foot in that interview room, take a few minutes to think about what you know about the job qualifications you have gathered. You know you are qualified, so visualize yourself as an applicant who meets their hiring criteria. Be very specific in the skills you visualize yourself as having based on the marketing criteria laid out on the job posting.
From Visualization to Playing the Role
This is much like what actors do when playing a part. They first learn to visualize the character they are portraying and then it becomes easier to play the role. If you have trouble immersing yourself in a role, check out a few role-playing sites and games online. This is a fun way to learn a bit of role playing that will set the stage for a successful interview. If you can see yourself as a character, a persona that is separate from yourself, it’s easier to come across honestly as that person. Role-playing games like you find on Jerkmate can help you safely step outside your comfort zone to make the interview much less stressful.
Not a Reflection of Who You Are
One of the main reasons why interviews are so stressful is fearing rejection. Sometimes not getting the job feels like they are rejecting you as a person rather than the fact that you just might not have the skillset they are looking for. By playing a role, assuming the persona of someone you can separate from yourself, it makes potential rejection much easier to handle. If it’s a role they are rejecting, you don’t have to take rejection so personally.
Companies That Use a Role-Play Interview
In fact, some companies actually use a role-playing technique in their interview process. They like to see if you can step into a job easily and assume the role and duties you will be asked to perform. There is a whole school of thought on the benefits of role-playing interviews and many of today’s large corporations have successfully used this hiring strategy to find the top talent for every position they need to fill.
Perhaps role-playing during interviews enables the interviewer to see how capable you are in stepping into different roles as required on the job. From both sides of the fence, role-playing interviews take the uncertainty and stress out of the hiring process.
