Multiple Job Interviews? Here’s How to
Avoid Fatigue
The drive to capture a new job can prove powerful. Yet, over time, your enthusiasm and perseverance can suffer — especially in the face of multiple interviews. Whether you’re having to interview several times for the same position or you find yourself interviewing within a short amount of time for different positions to find the right fit, it’s important to find ways to keep yourself from succumbing to interview fatigue, which can work against you.
Harry Urschel, talent acquisition leader, puts your role as a job seeker into perfect perspective: “Not only is the job search a full-time job, it’s a sales position! You are selling the value you bring to an organization to fulfill their needs and wants for the role you are pursuing.”
Discover how to keep your spirits up and your responses fresh as you navigate through the world of interviewing.
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Winging it Isn't an Option
After jumping through hoops at multiple job interviews, it’s understandable that you might feel like you can handle the process without preparation, but don’t fall victim to that type of thinking.
Choosing to wing it can lead to failure to get the job offer.
In an ideal situation, each interviewer you encounter would ask unique questions, which helps you keep your answers fresh. However, you should anticipate and prepare to defeat death by repetition, which occurs when an interviewee is faced with answering the same questions over and over from multiple interviewers.
Lori Bumgarner, Career Specialist, recommends this strategy when faced with repetitive interview questions: "Your answers should be consistent, especially if you are interviewing with different people who will eventually compare notes with each other after your interview process is completed."
"However, you can keep your answers fresh, even when answering consistently, by using different examples of past situations to demonstrate your main point," advises Bumgarner. "Spend time trying to think of as many different scenarios you've experienced in your past work that can support the same answers and/or skills."
Showcase Your Enthusiasm and Re-Energize
Even if you know all the right things to say, you can lose your focus. Susan Adams, Forbes contributor, offers these interview tips to stay motivated: Keep your energy high. Fight your fatigue. Sit up straight, and lean slightly forward in your chair. Laugh at your interviewer’s jokes and meet the interviewer’s gaze. Smile as much as seems appropriate. Express your passion about the possibility of getting the job, both verbally and nonverbally. After all that effort, you can start to feel exhausted. Yet, don’t let that keep you from moving forward with determination.
John Turner, CEO/Founder of QuietKit, which provides guided mediation for beginners, recommends incorporating meditation into your day to stay fresh and offset mental fatigue: "Even if it's just for a few minutes, taking the time to sit up straight, close your eyes and focus on your breath can do an incredible amount to reduce stress and keep you fresh."
Timothy Wiedman, retired Associate Professor of Human Resources and Management, offers some additional helpful tips to help you be at your best: Drink enough water throughout the day to keep hydrated and prevent a dry mouth or a scratchy voice during a long day of conversation. Having several cough drops available to suck on between sessions is a good strategy, especially during cold season or if allergies might be an issue. Continually coughing throughout a Q&A session will not make a good impression!
Additional Strategies
When interviewing at different companies, you can recycle some of your stellar answers with no repercussions. However, if you get called back for a second or third interview, the interviewers are likely going to be looking for different information each time.
Become familiar with company's core values so that you can weave them into your answers. Brainstorm different scenario questions that you might be asked that focus on tricky situations. Also, prepare some more in-depth questions for your interviewers to keep from asking the same questions you asked previously.
Experts we consulted recommend asking the following types of questions at a callback interview:
- What does a performance evaluation look like for this position?
- What does success in this position look like?
- What type of characteristics do your most successful employees possess?
- What type of characteristics do your unsuccessful employees possess?
- What are the top priorities for the person in this position?
- Would you mind sharing some background on the previous person who held this position?
No matter how many times you engage in the interview process, approach each event as an opportunity to sell yourself and showcase your enthusiasm and aptitude for the position. Never give up mentally or physically. Sometimes companies have a difficult time making a decision between two equally talented and experienced people and the last person standing wins. Keep in mind that if you are consistent and focused in your approach, you'll eventually receive the job offer you desire.