Visualizing the outcome you want has been scientifically proven to boost the odds of that outcome. This includes when you’re planning for a successful job interview.
In a recent study, 55% of doctors completing a new advanced procedure for the first time did so accurately. In contrast, another group of doctors spent time visualizing the procedure beforehand – and of those, 100% completed the procedure accurately the first time.
This data is so powerful – let’s use it to create your successful job interview!
Name Your Fears
The first step to visualizing your way to a successful job interview is to name your fears.
Don’t pretend your fears don’t exist; don’t ignore them. Write them down, and then set them aside.
This clears your mental load and allows you to move forward.
Your Highest Intention
The next step is to get in touch with your highest intention for the interview.
Before you say the obvious (“Land a job!”), let’s back up.
A doctor’s ultimate highest intention might be for a patient to be completely healed. The first step in that process is for the doctor to complete the patient’s surgery correctly – so her highest intention for the surgery itself might be to work well with the surgical team, to be 100% on top of her game, and to respond to any challenges with grace under pressure, so that the surgery can be completed successfully. Then, the patient must recover from the surgery, go home from the hospital, begin to slowly resume normal activities…
So while your highest intention for the entire job search is to land a job, your highest intention for the interview itself needs to be more discrete and specific to this part of the process.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself that will help you hone in on your highest intention:
- How do you want to feel in your body during the interview?
What does it feel like to remember everything you want to say and to say it easily? How do you want to experience and feel about the interviewers? How do you want to feel when you walk out of there? (Pro tip: Rather than stressed or exhausted, it’s a great feeling to walk out of an interview feeling energized, excited about the job and the company, and connected to the interviewers.)
- How do you want your interviewers to respond to what you say?
Imagine how your friends and family – people who really “get” you – respond when you’re talking or telling a story. They make eye contact, smile, nod, maybe finish your sentences.
Imagine that your interviewers do the same! They act interested and engaged. Perhaps they add follow-up questions after you give an answer. (Note: This doesn’t always happen; with government and some other types of jobs, interviewers are often asked to stick directly to the same interview protocol. They might not smile, but when you’re preparing, imagine that are!)
- What do you want to get out of the interview?
What do you want to learn about the job and about the company? What do you want to learn about yourself in this process?
Visualize for 5 Minutes Each Day
Spend at least 5-10 minutes every day leading up to the interview visualizing your highest intention: how you want to feel, how you want to speak, and how your interviewers respond to you. Be sure to visualize the whole process of the interview itself – not just how you’ll feel walking out the door. Just as the doctor doesn’t visualize simply the moment her patient is cured, but all the moments leading up to that moment, you want to do the same.
Hold onto the vision loosely: don’t cling to the vision, but experience it as if it’s true in the present tense. As you do that, your body will likely feel calmer. You’ll be better able to access what you want to say. Visualizing is a great way to start off practicing your interview answers! And if you get stressed practicing, come back to the visualization so that you can recover even in the moment.
Don’t skip this exercise because it sounds a little more esoteric than practicing your interview answers – research proves this is effective! Visualize the win, and prepare to ace your next interview.