Hypnotherapist Explains How To Be Confident in a Job Interview

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, the number one fear in the world is public speaking,

Public speaking includes speaking on stage in front of large crowds, communicating in team meetings, and job interviews. Any situation where a person is the center of attention.

Hypnotherapist and author, Chris Delaney, will explain how to be confident in a job interview and the reason why most applicants have a deep rooted fear of the recruitment process.

Why are people afraid of the job interview?

The fear is linked to the human need to accepted. Humans, instinctively, band together, forming groups and teams, anything to create the feeling of belonging.

In these groups the leaders, the alphas, and confident members speak out. While others agree (with the leaders) to fit in, to belong.

Conformity Bias is when your views are swayed or influenced by the views of others.

Delaney says: “When being the center of attention, your ideas, opinions and self-worth are in the firing line.”

Humans fear rejection.

Rejection leads to being outcast from the group. For people with low self-esteem, they would prefer to stay quiet then to chance being rejected.

It is the fear of rejection that can stop people accepting a job interview offer.

The Brains Reaction to a Job Interview.

Confident people have an external focus. When offered a job interview there thought process is in the real world – ‘What actions shall I take to prepare for the job interview?’

Anxious individuals have an internal focus. The focus is on ‘How can I stay safe?’ This, in fact, is the positive side of anxiety, the brain is better prepared for dealing with threats.

The basic response to a threat is flight or fight. Your heartbeat quickens, providing the body with an increase in oxygen to better respond to the danger. Muscles tense (priming for action) which increase trembling and your body’s digestive system closes down as this is non-essential during a life or death situation.

But, a job interview isn’t ‘life or death‘. A job interview is a conversation about an applicants skills, qualities and experiences.

This circles back round to the fear of rejection. Prior to the job interview, the anxious applicant will have an increase in negative self-talk:

“No-one will want to hear what I have to say”
“I don’t think I have the skills/experience for this job”
“The interviewer wont like me”
“What if my mind goes blank”
“I’m not suitable for this role”

Imposture syndrome is the belief that you are not as competent or skilled as others perceive you to be IE you wont be able to answer the interview questions and/or do the job once hired.

“The limiting beliefs we tell ourselves become our reality”
Chris Delaney Author of: What is your interview identity

It is the negative self-talk, the stories we tell ourselves, that increase job interview anxiety.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Self-talk often evolves into a visualization. An nervous interviewee, repeatedly says they are terrible in job interviews. The words turn into a movie in the minds eye – the applicant see’s themselves failing in the job interview.

Delaney says : What you see, you feel. If you visualize yourself as a nervous wreck, mumbling answers that don’t make any sense, the image creates a negative emotion – fear or anxiety.

The mind-body process, imagining a situation that creates an emotional reaction, reinforces itself. If the thought creates anxiety, the anxiety will make the thought seem more anxious.

The association between the image and emotion can become so strong that it creates a phobia.

How to Overcome Job Interview Anxiety.

Job interview fears and phobias are easy to overcome.

One way, that works well for the fear of job interviews, is exposure therapy.

Job interview anxiety is created because humans can fear the unknown. We are comfortable with routine. Most people don’t attend weekly job interviews, or even monthly interviews for that matter.

Reputation is the key to mastering any skill. The more you do something the better you will become at that activity.

Exposure therapy allows you to face the fear but in a safe environment.

3 ways to practice speaking:

This first piece of advice is common enough but it is still highly relevant. Predicting job interview questions, preparing answers and practicing out loud creates muscle memory.

As we said the job interview, for most people, is a rare situation, so everyone will feel a little nervous. When asked a question, muscle memory kicks in and the answers pops out of the candidates mouth before they know what they are saying.

The candidate, now realizing, they have given a high-scoring interview answer (due to their preparation and practice) now feels more confident during the recruitment process. Its similar to when a school pupil is asked an unexpected question, and they give the correct answer – they feel all fuzzy and warm inside.

Hypnotherapy Techniques for Job Interview Fears.

Chris has helped thousands of people overcome job interview anxiety and to increase interview confidence.

Chris says, when using hypnotherapy to cure interview phobias, he breaks the session down into three key segments:

Create a deep sense of relaxation
Removing the negative associated emotion
Create excitement for the job interview

Job Interview Relaxation.

Chris explains how the easiest way to get into a state of relaxation is through controlling your breath.

The type of breath can change your heart rate, your heart rate effects the flight or fight response, the flight or fight response effects the job interview outcome.

A long deep breath in from the stomach, and a slow breath out reduces the heart rate.

Rapid breaths from the chest speed up the heart rate creating the feeling of anxiety.

Delany uses rhythmic breathing with anxious clients:

Breath in deeply from the stomach for 4 long seconds
Hold the breath for another 4 seconds (if this is comfortable for you)
Force the breath out (exhale powerfully) for 4 more seconds
Repeat this pattern 5-6 times

Once in a state of relaxation, an anxious client can visualize their fear without having the same negative effect. If the visualization is still emotionally strong, move the thought away and repeat the breathing exercise.

Remove the Negative Emotion.

Once, in a calm and relaxed state you can focus on a fear without it having the same negative effect. But the fear, or the object of fear is still there.

Better to remove this completely.

Once a negative thought is vanished, the associated emotion is also removed.

To remove job interview anxiety, first think about attending a job interview.

Make the thought big, bright and vivid.

Next, push the thought outside of your head, so you can imagine the thought floating in front of you.

Shrink the thought of a negative job interview down into a small ball. and flick it on and off until the colour of the picture disappears and you are left with a black and white small image.

Finally, push the thought further and further way until it is just a dot on the horizon. Then let it go.

Repeat this technique several times. Then, think about a job interview and if the negative association has gone or is weaker.

Create Excitement.

An interview opportunity is an exciting event.

Finding the right job, in the right sector, in the right company can help to create satisfaction.

Job interview excitement is created by two elements:

1) Understanding you possess the skills and experiences for the job role (knowing you are a suitable candidate)

2) Believing that you will communicate confidently in job interview

First, right a list of all your job related skills, qualities and experiences:

Work ethic
Creative problem solving
Specialist skill/knowledge
Natural leader
Highest earner
Proactive
Any number of sector related duties/skills

Next, imagine you were your manager or colleague. Write a list of all the positive skills and experiences they believe you have.

Write a third list of the added value you can bring to a new organisation.

These list are designed to help an applicant reflect on their ability to complete the new job duties.

In the recruitment process, interview questions are always based on the main job duties, and required skills, for each position. These list, therefore, can help the candidate predict the job criteria and the job interview questions, helping them to prepare high-scoring interview answers.

Craft perfection from practice, The more an interviewee practices delivering the job interview answers, the more skilled they will become at delivering answers that score high.

To believe in your own job interview ability you can create a new, positive, association to the recruitment process.

Imagine yourself in a job interview performing well. See yourself smiling, enjoying yourself, sense the strong rapport between you and the employer. Hear yourself giving detailed answers to any job interview question. Notice your positive body language, gestures and tone of voice. Become aware of everything that makes you a strong and professional interviewee.
Design this film anyway you want to. Make it big, bright and vivid.
Imagine being there in the moment, seeing the film from your own eyes.
Focus on the positive emotions, the feeling of job interview excitement. make these feeling stronger, double and triple it, until the positive feeling of you in a job interview is at its optimum.
Take a deep breath and repeat 4-5 times.

A strong emotional visualization is recorded in our memory. When you next think about a forthcoming job interview, the mind will trigger the new positive association, helping a candidate feel more excited for the job interview.

December 21, 2013December 11, 2020

NLP Vs Hypnosis

NLP VS HYPNOSIS INFOGRAPHIC

NLP VS HYPNOSIS INFOGRAPHIC [Infographic] by the team at Christoper Delaney

April 24, 2013December 12, 2020

Can Hypnotic Language Patterns Really Be used in Job Interviews?

Milton Erickson is often referred to as the father of modern hypnotherapy, and his use of ambiguous language can be used in the job interview, to direct the interviewers frame of mind.

Before Erickson, often hypnotherapist would use an authority style of hypnosis to hypnotise their patient “You will fall into a deep sleep” obviously this style of hypnotising doesn’t go down to well in the job interview.

In fact you don’t want to hypnotise the interviewer, in such a way that they fall into a deep trance, you want to direct the interviewers unconscious to think about you in such a way that they feel completed to offer you the job.

There are many hypnotic language patterns that you can use in the job interview, and you will learn a few of them here today. The great thing about Milton Erickson’s style of hypnosis is that your subject (the interviewer) won’t realise that you are leading them.

The Bind, links two ideas together

“The more we discuss this project, the more you will realise how I can get the same results for you”…

The Double Bind, creates an illusion of choice, but the end result for both choice is the same

“Hear you go, if you want you can read the whole CV or you can skip down to my previous job where I have highlighted by successes”…

Presuppositions, Presupposition of time, it’s not if, it’s when

“When you hire me, I will bring across my list of client contacts…”

Embedded Commands, the order (command) comes across unnoticed

When you hire me, you will know you have made the right decision because…

Cause – Effect patterns, A means B

Now we have met, you can imagine how well we can work together

Now, some of these patterns may sound strange or illogical because what most people aren’t aware of is that language when spoken is fluid, which means the patterns above may not be grammatically correct but when spoken in a conversation they come across naturally which means that your commands and suggestion such as “hire me” “read the whole CV” “Imagine how well we can work together” go unnoticed, the interviewer will simply visualise you doing these commands because words create images, and if your interviewers image are positive about you, you will get offered the job.

How many patterns did you spot in this one paragraph?

December 10, 2012

Stop Being So Stressed

STOP BEING SO STRESSED

Stress is caused because people look at the negative of potential situations, this creates an internal focus which makes you feel sorry for yourself. As an example you have a bad day at work, you go home and feel sorry for yourself. While at home you think about the next day and imagine the worse – this imagine created in your imagination stresses you out; you blood pumps faster, you get headaches and you cant sleep. If this continues your stress will turn into a real illness, one of my clients stress levels lead to her hair falling out.

To stop stress happening in the first place, you need change your perception on future events (because no one knows what will happen in the future) when thinking about a future event, you need to shrink any negative images you create and replace them in your minds eye with a positive film. With the working example, you can imagine going into working having a great day, getting positive praise from a manger and feeling really proud of yourself.

Your mind doesn’t know what is real or what is created, if you imagine a positive event your mind will give you positive feelings, if you imagine feeling stressed your mind will sent signals to your body to feel stressed. In addition people respond different to you if your happy or stress, if you head to work feeling good colleagues and managers will respond more positive to you increasing your positive feelings and the opposite happens if your stressed, people will respond negatively to you, re-enforcing your stress levels.

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November 22, 2012

Can NLP & Conversational Hypnosis Work In Job Interviews?

Are you like others who wrongly believe that the job interviewer will hire you on your skills and experiences? The truth is your skills and experiences got you the job interview but your attitude, personality and chrism is what will secure that all important, often life changing job offer.

NLP using language patterns that can influence the job interview, they are easy to learn but highly powerful. Today I will share with you several patterns you can use in your next job interview, enabling you to influence the job interview.

Eliciting Values

The first step is to understand what the person who is interviewing you values? We can check the job specification, we can research the company mission, but you need to know what will influence your interviewer?

Ask the interviewer “what type of person are you looking for?” then listen to the employer’s criteria, use this same criteria as part of your next interview answer.

The ideal place to do this is during the walk from the reception to the interview room, you can start by making small talk, “this is a great location for a business..” the employer will mumble something, agreeing with your statement. Then ask, “Have you been interviewing all day?” the reply may be “yes your the third person I’ve interviewed today” and then ask, “and what type of person are you looking for?” this is the key time to listen “well, I really need someone who can bring creative ideas to the team..” now armed with this expert insight, you can answer the interview question mentioning how creative you are, or by giving some real life creative ideas.

Hypnotic Rapport Building

People like people who are like them. Ask the interview talks about the company, during their sales pitch to entice you to work for them, agree with what they are saying. “We encourage team work, as we believe that in a team your creative juices will flow..” you can agree by, “it sounds really interesting, I agree with what you said regarding the team work, in my last position at the beginning of any new project I would first put a team together to come up with creative idea, the idea being that ‘that there was no wrong ideas’ people could suggest anything and it would go on the board, sometimes some silly ideas came out but the objective worked, by everyone looking at the project from a creative viewpoint we would quickly come up with an idea that would work, this process save time and really inspired the team to want to make the project a success”

Again you are listening to what the employers deems valuable and your saying “I do/believe that to”

There are many ways to deepen rapport, which are covered in the amazing book the 73 rules for influencing the interview, but the easiest way to get anyone to like you is through a smile. Now this seems old hat, maybe? But the science for this is real, when psychologist has wired people up to monitor the neutrons in the brain, something amazing happened. When you smile your mussels are pulled in such away that your neurons fire and you feel good about yourself, but what’s even more amazing is, when the person who sees you smile is also wired up the psychologist discovered that there happy neurons also fire just by seeing you smile.

You have probably seen this in action when you see an adult looks at a baby, as the baby smiles, the adult cannot help but to also smile. Don’t underestimate the smile, it is a powerful rapport builder and often underused in the job interview.

Future Pace the Job Outcome

People, who successfully diet and lose weight, do something completely different to those thousands of people who start to diet and then give up. The secret is that successful people in all areas of life, visualise the outcome, the dieter doesn’t see themselves dieting they visualise themselves being fit, healthy and thin.

For the successful interviewee, you need to influence the interview by making the employer visualise you being successful in their company. You have most likely already read the 73 rules for influencing the interview, which covers a large amount of ways to influence the interview outcome, but for now you can flow these 3 simple steps:

Step 1 – talk about the future not the past; it’s good to highlight your past successes a little, but in reality people aren’t interested in what you did, they want to know WHAT YOU WILL DO for them. They want to know how you will make a difference, how you will use your skills to make their organisation successful and how by hiring you they will increase their profit. Whenever possible future pace, “Yes I’m an excellent team leader, to increase the team’s productivity and moral, I will A, B and C…”

Step 2 – It’s not I it’s we; your goal at this stage of the interview is for the interviewer to imagine you working successfully for their company. When answering interview questions, interviewees will often say “I did X..” “I was able to..X” or by using the future pace above “I will do X..” To create a stronger bond, every so often change the “I” to a “we” this change in the referral index will most likely go unnoticed, but because the mind makes images out of the words you hear, this slight change of context will change the image in the interviewers mind. Rather then seeing you being successful working for them, the interviewer will now see both of you being successful and this is highly motivational.

“I agree, it’s really important to have a motivated team, when I’m managing the team I will carry out regular appraisals with the team, this is chance for each individual to get positive feedback on what they have achieved over the past month, and to look at new ways to further improver their performance. I have used this method in past positions and it has a constant result in improving team motivation by 25% which results in us meeting our targets.”

In this example the answer ends with “…which results in us meeting our targets” instead of “results in me meeting my targets” now this slight change in wording has altered the interviewers vision, he might see himself getting praise for hiring you and meeting the targets. As long as the image is positive he will associated that positive feeling with you, when he thinks of you later when deciding who to hire, he will remember feeling good about you and your answers and he probably won’t even remember this image that popped into his head!

Step 3 – Ask future Pace Questions; at the interview end you will be given the chance to ask some questions. This is another chance to ask a future pace question, to get the employer to visualise you being successful while working for them.

“What’s more important to you, me having creative ideas or me being able to implement the ideas?” this is a great double bind question, no matter what answer they pick they have to see you being creative or implementing creative ideas and when they answer you can agree with them “I agree having creative ideas will help drive the business..” “I agree you have to be able to implement the ideas…”

“Imagine you recruited me, what would I being doing in the first couple of weeks?” the employer now has to imagine they recruited you

“If you offered me the job, what would I need to do to prove to you that you had made the right decision to choose me?” Again the employer has to visualise you working for them.

“Imagine the we had a great couple of years working together, and as a team and business we were really successful, in what directions can see the business growing?” there answer doesn’t matter to much, as long as they think about you being successful together

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April 4, 2012

Hypnotherapy for Job Interviews

The word interview often sends shivers down our spines, as most people associate only negative emotions to job interviews. This association can spin out of control as you generally perform worst when your interview self esteem is low, which only helps to build on your negative interview association and I would add this negative experience will add more powerful negative feelings to your next interview, creating a negative loop of poor interview performance.

This fear can often turn into a phobia, just as a fear of a spider that scared a child can turn into a phobia as the child grows into an adult. But as with all phobias and fears this phobia can be destroyed, beaten and eliminated for ever.

There are several techniques that can be used to reduce your interview fear and destroy your phobia, the most powerful being Interview Hypnotherapy. These sessions are short, relaxing and empowering as with all hypnotherapy you are in control.

Employers only recruit confident, positive employees that have an abundance of self belief – basically you need to shine throughout the job interview to succeed

To learn more about hypnotherapy and to book your session, click this link: Hypnotherapy in Manchester.

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