Graduate recruitment and beating interview nerves

You could be highly accomplished at any skill or activity, but be redued to the level of a beginner simply because you can't control your nerves. So if you are facing graduate recruitment processes and are an excellent candidate but incredibly nervous, what can you do?

Firslty you need to understand the root of nerves. Most forms of stress and anxiety are caused by uncertainty, if you can minimise or remove the uncertainty, you will effectively deal with the stress or nerves. Lets look at a few things that will be your nerves in the graduate recruitment process.

• Do the journey to your interview venue in advance. There's nothing more stressful than setting off to your interview and starting to think along the way you might not make it! There's no need for this source of nerves. Do the journey in advance and time it, then add 20% onto the time and leave yourself this much time to allow for traffic Jams and such like. If you have a long an unpredictable journey, go the night before and stay in a Travellodge, it may be the best investment you've ever made.

• Reseacrh your company thoroughly. In graduate recruitment it's a near certainty you will be asked what you know about the company. Here's another uncertainty that can easily be removed. Invest time on the internet to learn all you can about the company. If necessary ring up their marketing department, or speak to a sales representative. Go over board on you research and you will not be worrying about not being able to answer their questions on this subject.

• Research your interviewer in advance. Not knowing who you're going to meet and what they're like is always stressful, but agin unnecessary. If you have used a graduate recruitment agency, speak with your consultant to learn what the recruiting manager is like. If, as part of your research you can get hold of a representative, this can also be another opportunity to learn about your interviewer. do this well and you'll not only be less nervous, but also you'll be better placed to deliver an effective interview.

• Exercise before the interview. Your body is full of wonderful hormones called endorphins which are released upon exercise around your body. These hormones delver an incredibly relaxing feeling. If you've ever worked out in a Gym, then showered afterwards, that feeling of relaxation is created by endorphins. It's almost impossible to feel nervous when you're drowning in endorphins. If you're interview is in a hotel, turn up 2 hours early and use their gym, it'll cost you around £5, an excellent investment!

• Play the numbers game. For all sorts of invisible reasons the graduate recruitment game will always be a numbers game, you may not get jobs for reasons you will never know that are nothing to do with your abilities. So apply to jobs in numbers and increase your chances this way. You will always feel less nervous when you know today's opportunity is only one of many you have to go at.

Given the root cause of stress is uncertainty, it's easy to how graduate recruitment is so stressful. The whole of the rest of your life depnds on it, and that's quite a big uncertainty. Follow these tips and you'll give yourself a much better chance of landing a graduate job.