Inside the high-stakes job interview, finding confidence under pressure can be tough. As you probably already know, it’s taking longer for out-of-work Americans to find new jobs, according to CBS News, even though overall unemployment is low. When your career is on the line, tension mounts. Especially when interviews are scarce. Your job interview conversation, if you’ve been lucky enough to get one, can shape your future. That fact can be a source of stress, nervousness, and worry. When it’s time to take your shot, how can you make sure you don’t blow it?

Confidence Under Pressure: When Business Gets Personal

My dad was a field-goal kicker at Indiana University. He would be called on to kick the winning field goal in the final seconds of a game. I asked him how he dealt with the pressure. “What was going through your mind, dad?” I asked him. “Were you visualizing a positive outcome, or remembering what your coach had told you? Were you working hard to believe in yourself, or were you thinking about how you missed a field goal in practice, or what exactly?”

I’ve never forgotten his answer. “You know exactly what I was thinking,” he told me. “Keep your eye on the ball.”

Confidence Under Pressure is a Matter of Focus

My dad is no longer with us, but his words are. In my work as a career coach, working with thousands of coaching clients, I’ve discovered the power of focus – the kind of focus that my dad shared with me. Top athletes and performers know how to step away from the distractions and discover confidence under pressure, where others would fall into the anxiety of the situation. As a keynote speaker, standing in front of hundreds of people under glaring lights and cameras, I feel the pressure to perform. But I’ve learned how to deal with pressure, like my father before me, so it doesn’t take me off my game. When the stakes are high, I borrow a reminder from my dad: where you put your attention is where you find your results. Here’s how to “keep your eye on the ball”, in a high-stakes job interview:

1. Re-Framing the Conversation: Consider that you are probably pretty good at solving real problems. At least that’s what your résumé proves, right? So, in the job interview, focus on the problem at hand. The challenge is how the company is doing, right now (not how you are coming across). Take the attention off of yourself (because you are not the ball). Consider this question: What if the job interview is all about service, and not all about you? When you concentrate on the service you can provide to the hiring manager and the company…what changes for you? How you approach the job interview is crucial to finding new confidence – and a new approach is always a possibility. How can you turn the interview into a conversation?
2. Selfless Service in the Job Interview: The job interview is more than an opportunity to talk about yourself – it’s an opportunity to solve a problem. Whose problem matters more: your need for a nice salary, or the company’s desire to fill an important role? Consider that every company, everywhere, is looking for one thing and one thing only: solutions providers. Instead of focusing on the salary (your needs) consider your solution: What is the solution you can provide? Frame the interview as something other than a high-pressure inquisition, or “Salary Quest”, and you’re on the right track. Notice that salary comes from service, from entry level to the C-Suite. How could you use your experience to show how you can provide a new level of service and commitment to the position at hand?
3. Focus on Connection: What you’ve done is offered as evidence of how you can help the organization – but don’t get lost in your own story. Connect what you’ve done to what the interviewer needs. When you are responding to situational interview questions, be sure to connect the past to the present. Simple phrases like “So that” “as a result” or “because of this experience” can help you to speak in outcomes that drive collaboration. Understanding effective storytelling techniques can be a critical source of confidence – and connection – in the job interview.
4. The Interview Can Be a Dialogue – Even Under Pressure: what happens if you make a mistake, or leave out a piece of information? You don’t have to go it alone. Engage in a dialogue with the hiring manager, with a simple question: “How does my story/background/that example I just shared fit for this position?” Wouldn’t it be great to know that there was something you left out, or an area where the interviewer would like some elaboration? Clarification questions show concern and attention to detail, not confusion or desperation. If you’re curious about how to find the right tone, some coaching might help navigate the difference.
5. Use the Language of Numbers: facts and statistics create confidence in the job interview. Data expresses size and scope, and helps you to speak in outcomes – an approach that creates clarity and confidence.

Confidence is not a matter of faith or belief. It’s a matter of focus – and action. Imagine a firefighter going into a burning building, to save a child. Is that firefighter wondering about “how they are coming across”, or how to deal with their nerves? No. The firefighter has made something more important than their own self-consciousness. They don’t fight the fear – they change their focus. When lives are at stake, selfless service is what overcomes self-consciousness. Confidence is demonstrated in action.

While your career is not on fire, and the job interview is not necessarily a matter of life and death, consider how focus creates confidence in a high-pressure situation. In my experience, “How am I doing?” is the wrong question to ask yourself in the job interview. “How’s your interviewer doing?” is a better one – because it takes your attention off of yourself. How can you help this new organization? By shifting your focus, you can find confidence under pressure – and keep your eye on the ball.