Last updated: January 2nd, 2026 | 5 min read
How to overcome interview anxiety? There is no magic solution. Short-term tactics can calm nerves during interviews, but overcoming the fear is a longer process of regulating the body’s "fight or flight" response through exposure therapy and cognitive reframing.
Before I launched my tech resume service, I witnessed crippling anxiety from both angles. First as a candidate during my early career, and then as a recruiter for companies like Google. Dealing with fear can stop you from realizing your full potential, on top of being a painful experience to go through. It also can feel lonely, because no one talks about it because of the shame and fear of judgment it can cause.
I've researched the subject for years to find a solution. I didn’t find any “easy fix”, but it can get (a lot) better over time. That is, if you’re approaching it the right way.
A quick disclaimer here: I’m not a clinician. I’m just someone who’s researched the topic extensively. I’ve learned a lot from books and also from professional performers.
In this article, we'll talk about:
The first thing I want to do is define what we’re talking about. Most people are nervous during interviews, but anxiety is not just “nerves”. We’re talking about performance anxiety.
During an interview, here’s what it can feel like: Your heart is racing, it gets harder to breathe and your voice gets shaky. You feel overwhelmed and you can’t think straight. You’re trapped and you want to get away from the situation. This can ramp up in a full blown panic attack (which can feel like you’re dying).
If you’ve experienced this in the past, you’re going to feel anxious about the next interview. You get more stressed as the day and time approaches and it makes the interview worse.
You get stuck in a vicious cycle where you “fear the fear”.
You’re more worried about how you’re gonna feel, rather than the interview (or stressful event) itself. It’s debilitating, you might feel ashamed and you’ll want to avoid the situation altogether. Hopefully, I can convince you not to quit!
The first thing I learned about anxiety is that it’s not a bug, it’s a feature. You’re not broken: your body is doing what it’s supposed to. What’s happening is the famous “fight or flight” response. Your brain is interpreting the situation as a danger, and it’s telling you to get the f*** out.
Some researchers say that interviewing or public speaking can trigger an ancestral fear of judgment. (Basically, if our ancestors were excluded from the tribe, they would die). The point is: it is a normal physiological reaction.
You’ve probably tried “reason” out of it, which doesn’t work. The parts of your brain that are responsible for the “fear” (Amygdala and Hypothalamus) are different from the one doing the conscious reasoning (Prefrontal Cortex).
So you know you shouldn’t feel anxious, but telling yourself to “calm down” or that “it’s gonna be ok” won’t change anything.
Fighting it doesn’t work either. That makes it worse. Again, because it is not a conscious process it doesn’t solve the issue. You get frustrated, it focuses you on how bad and helpless it feels.
So let’s talk about solutions that work then 😉
If you’re gonna take one thing from this post is that repetition is your friend. Avoiding stressful situations is a mistake. You need to teach your brain that the situation is safe. It needs many examples of it going ok. And by going ok, I mean you went through it and didn’t die. Sure, it’s going to feel terrible at first, but the more reps you get in, the less painful it will be.
That kind of strategy has a name and is called exposure therapy(Self-explanatory). This is what’s worked for me. It’s hard but you get to see progress as you go, and it keeps you doing what you need to do in life.
This brings me to another important part: your goal shouldn’t be performance. Anxiety is the fear of what you can’t control. You can’t control the outcome of an interview, so you shouldn’t focus on it. Your only goal is to show up. Your answers were shitty? It doesn’t matter: you’ve won. You won’t get the performance you seek until you get comfortable enough.
Preparation is a Must: How you will feel during the interview is out of your immediate control. What you can do, however, is prepare heavily to reduce the cognitive load. This means having a clear and detailed list of achievements on your resume and preparing to answer most common questions. That's a non-negotiable 😉
Now what I’ve just described is the “long-term” strategy, but it takes time. You might have an interview soon, and it’s not going to help right away. So here are a few tactics that you can use now.
The first thing is to resist the urge to fight it. Instead, give in. I know that this feels counter-intuitive, but this is what I found to be the most effective in the moment. If you feel the anxiety come up, notice it, accept it, and let your chain of thoughts move on. This is easier said than done and it takes a bit of practice, but it’s super helpful.
The goal isn’t getting rid of the nerves. It’s to become more comfortable with them.
Usually, when someone gets nervous they try to be done with it and speak quickly. But if you speak slowly instead, it will calm you down.
It signals your brain that you’re in a “relaxed” situation, and you give yourself time to think. (Even if you take what feels to you as long pauses, it probably will be short to the interviewer.) It may feel like chaos in your mind, but it probably doesn’t show on the outside. And from an interviewer’s perspective, taking breaks actually makes you appear thoughtful 😎
Last tip: if you’re feeling too nervous and need a few more seconds, tell the interviewer. “Sorry, I’m a bit nervous”. You’re being assessed on skills, not on how interviews make you feel. The interviewer doesn’t want you to fail. They’re not trying to defeat you. Also, about one out of 3 candidates is nervous, so they’ve seen many ;-) I find that putting it out there helps remove the “you against them” feeling. That tends to calm nerves.
I hope that you’ll find these techniques helpful. If you want to learn a bit more about the subject of performance anxiety and anxiety in general, here are 2 books that helped me:
These are great reads that dive deeper into the nature of anxiety and the strategies I mentioned.
Anxiety isn't managed by the logical part of your brain (Prefrontal Cortex), but by the Amygdala, which handles your "fight or flight" response.
Because these are different brain regions, logical reasoning like telling yourself to "calm down" usually fails. Effective strategies focus on physiological regulation and repetition rather than just conscious thought.
It is the process of repeatedly putting yourself in the stressful situation (interviewing) to teach your brain that you are safe.
By "getting reps in," you provide your brain with evidence that you can survive the experience. Over time, this desensitizes the fear response and reduces the "fear of the fear."
Actually, it's often a great idea. Admitting you're nervous removes the pressure of "hiding" your symptoms, which can lower your heart rate.
Most interviewers are empathetic—they have been in your shoes and are assessing your technical skills, not your nerves. It builds rapport and humanizes the interaction.
When you are anxious, your body wants to rush to finish the "threat." By consciously speaking slowly, you send a reverse signal to your brain that you are in a relaxed environment.
Additionally, taking pauses makes you appear more thoughtful and confident to the interviewer, even if it feels like an eternity to you.
Yes. As a tech resume writer, I've found that anxiety is often fueled by a lack of confidence in one's own career story.
When you have a professionally written resume that clearly quantifies your impact, you walk into the room with "proven" talking points. This solid foundation acts as a psychological safety net during high-pressure questions.
You applied to hundreds of jobs: no result.
Companies won’t bother giving you
feedback,
so you’re stuck in a loop. This will keep happening until you know what’s wrong.
Let’s break this cycle today.
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