I need to get ready for a workshop later this week. Each time I’ve attempted to sit down and prepare this morning, my brain has filled up with a litany of other things to which I need to attend. My plate is plenty full, and yet I keep adding more portions to it.
Then, I realize that so much of how I deal with everyday stress relates to my own personality type preferences. My guess is that your stress, and how you cope with it, relates to your personality type as well.
We all deal with stressful situations. Add the pressure of interviewing for a job to your daily stress and it is easy to get completely overwhelmed.
The way you deal with stress is usually different from the way others with different personality types deal with stress. What stresses me might be a piece of cake for you, and vice versa. Below, we’ll explore how stress relates to your own MBTI personality type preferences, as well as some tips to help you manage your stress.
Preparing for an interview might turn in to obsessing over every detail of the interview process. This could lead you to spend time on things that won’t matter in the end at the expense of the important things that do matter. If, when you are finally in the interview room, you start sharing a load of irrelevant details, it could come across as a bit too much to the interviewer.
How to Handle It: When you start obsessing over details that previously weren’t important to you, stop where you are and list out all the things on your mind. Then, go through your list and cut half of them out. Then cut the list in half again. This will allow you to focus on what is truly important, instead of focusing on all the other stuff that your stress is bringing in.
Preparing for an interview might turn into closing yourself off from new, untested possibilities. This could lead you to skip interviews where you don’t feel you have enough experience. Once you’re in the actual interview, the stress you’re feeling might make you look a bit too rigid or “by the book,” and therefore not open to new ideas or processes. How to Handle It: When you start thinking, “That’s not how it’s supposed to be done,” ask yourself, “What are the ways it can be done, and how can I do it?” This will help you stay open to new ideas and possibilities. During the actual interview, provide examples of how you can think outside the box.
Preparing for an interview might turn into imagining all the things that could go wrong instead of focusing on what could go right. This “catastrophizing” approach to understanding what is going on could make you come across during an interview as scattered and unfocused.
How to Handle It: When you find yourself focused on negative what-ifs, try to find a few positive what-ifs to balance the possibilities out. Then, reflect on your what-if scenarios and determine how realistic each one truly is. During the actual interview, remember not to get carried away with too many possibilities. Be sure to share how you have brought your big-picture ideas to fruition in the past.
Preparing for an interview might turn into putting patterns together that don’t even exist. This “spinning out of control” approach to understanding what might happen to you ten years from now might make it hard for you to see the reality right in front of you. During an interview, you could then come across as a bit flighty or impractical.
How to Handle It: When you find yourself overwhelmed with too many long-term possibilities, make a conscious effort to focus on what is right in front of you. This can help you make realistic and practical decisions. During the actual interview, if you find yourself going too far into the future, explain the steps of your thought process to help your interviewer understand where you have gone.
Preparing for an interview might turn into overworking the organization of every part of the process — perhaps before you even have all the information you need to make decisions. During the interview, you might come across as a bit cold and impersonal. Your answers could be so focused on tasks that you forget to mention how your decisions impact people.
How to Handle It: If you feel the urge to organize every single part of the interview process, you are likely jumping to conclusions before you have all the information you need to make any decisions. During the interview, remember to consider “people issues” as well as your preference for getting things done on time and right the first time.
Preparing for an interview might turn into suddenly closing off previously interesting job options. During the interview, you might come across as a bit too critical of ideas presented to you. You might not say anything out loud, but people can often read what your face is telling them.
How to Handle It: When you start dismissing possibilities right off the bat, you are likely jumping to conclusions too soon. During an interview, be conscious of the non-verbal negative signals you may be giving off. Be sure to communicate your awareness of how decisions can impact the people involved.
As you prepare for an interview, you might close off new possibilities and/or facts in favor of what you think will make everyone happy. During the interview, you might incorrectly assume the interviewer doesn’t think you can make a positive impact on the team and then spend too much focus on wanting to be liked.
How to Handle It: When you start (and finish the interview process), stay open to what you want and need — not just what you think would make others happy. Remember, you need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. During the interview, try not to focus so much on what others think of you, as that will come across as needy.
As you prepare for an interview, you might close off new possibilities and/or facts in favor of your predetermined notion of what you believe to be true. During the interview, you might assume the person interviewing you doesn’t understand or appreciate what is important to you. This might not be the case at all. I’ve learned this point firsthand!
How to Handle It: When you start the interview process, stay open to options before ruling them out right away. Remember, your valu are usually right, but during stress you may jump to conclusions too soon. During the interview, remember to outwardly express what is important to you. Just because you hold a value doesn’t mean everyone else holds the same value.
This article was originally written for Recruiter.com by Michael Segovia. See the article on the original website here.