Need Advice: Overcoming Nerves

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Yo yo yo, I know it is a bit outside of the topic of PKMN, but since E4 has people with all types of lived experiences I thought I would ask. How do you manage nerves in stressful situations / how do you prevent your nerves from decreasing your performance when it really counts?

Background: After two rounds of interviews, first over the phone then over zoom, I have a “superday” with a company called Evercore. This superday will comprised of 4 30-minute interviews with mid-level to senior managers (3 VPs and an MD for any IB folks out there). They are flying in on Thursday to their NYC office, and I am beyond nervous. I have studied guides, primers, and networked with professionals for over 150 hours (over a year so it really is not that much), but am super worried. I had a superday with another bank, Citi, but was overly nervous and got rejected. Very much worried about a repeat… expected at a firm I would love to be at.

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Psychiatric medication

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I prepare a lot to help myself feel more comfortable in uncomfortable situations. If you can anticipate any interview questions, try and prepare some general responses using STAR technique. I wouldn’t get overly specific, unless you’re alright with making some slight tweaks in real time.

I also tell tell myself (when I’ll listen to me) that all I can do is my best. Doesn’t matter what their expectations are, either I’m going to be what they’re looking for, or I’m not. What helps me with this bit is that I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Is that true? Up for debate, but it’s something that’s helped me get through some tough times.

Lastly, go to the bathroom first, and wear things that help you feel comfortable. You don’t want to add any physical stressors on top of worrying about an interview, so might as well eliminate them when you can!

You’ll do a great job, you got this!

Will

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Switch from IB to HFT it’s more fun and you can wear sneakers to work. Buy side best side

In all seriousness I just had a 4 hour onsite interview as well a couple weeks ago and I lived like a ninja turtle for like a week preparing for it (reviewing all my course material and then some). This was the same essentially opportunity of a lifetime type thing that sets your career up. You can DM me about it if you want cause I really don’t want to dox myself too bad. Basically I had to keep reminding myself that the goal was not to answer every question right like a test, but rather to communicate your thought process, show how you would work on a team with these people, and demonstrate problem solving skills. Rigid familiarity with the subject matter only takes you so far.

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Lots of antiperspirant.

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With any interview, it’s not about arriving at the right answer, but arriving at your answer in the right way.

Interviews are conversations–they are trying to judge how you work through things, since most day-to-day work isn’t about who is the most brilliant quant, but that you can work within a team of brilliant quants to figure out things together.

There is of course a floor to this. You need to be able to do at least a passable job at the work required. No matter how nice my car mechanic is to work with, I’m not hiring him to lead my frontend web dev team. But beyond that, you’d be surprised how far being an organized communicator & generally pleasant person can get you in life.

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Remember that these interviewers are just people too. It’s ok to pause and think before answering a question. Don’t fall victim to imposter syndrome. You got this!

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Two words:
Benzodiazepines

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Yolo it so there is no pressure, atleast that’s how I got my latest job.

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Dont prepare your Answers. Be honest. If you really “burn” for the Job and it is exactly what you looking for there is no Chance other outperform your Desire.
If there is 1 Thing thats the most reliable: Be yourself.

The most boring Stuff are People that google the most asked Question in interviews and write/ answer generic like everyone else out there. You are a Human , not a Robot =)

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If you already made it past two rounds of interviews you know at this point they consider you to be a serious candidate. I would assume at this point they know you have the qualifications to fulfill the needs of the job, otherwise, they wouldn’t be wasting their time and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

I would think at this point they’re trying to get a feel for who you are as a person and how you would fit into the organization. Are you going to work well with other people? Are you going to be able to make the best use of your time? Are you able to learn from your mistakes? Start thinking of specific examples from previous jobs/life experiences that show what you have to offer outside of what’s on your resume.

Most importantly, it’s okay to be nervous. I think that’s expected of most candidates. But don’t let it get in the way of you being able to show off who you are, because goddammit @sandmantheenless, you deserve it. You have what it takes to get the job done, you have the determination to keep trying even after you get rejected. Don’t let the only thing holding you back be you! If you’re feeling nervous think back to the people in this thread who believe in you.

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And some of them are even into Pokémon! A friend who is a former VP at Evercore I actually met through the TCG.

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I can’t think of a single interview where I haven’t talked about Pokémon. It’s tangentially related to the field and millennials always relate. If they aren’t millennials, just say the words “baseball cards” and they relate even more.

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As a professional performer, I had to get used to being nervous. Sometimes, I barely notice, but others, like the first time I performed in front of several thousand people, I felt those nerves. Very few people don’t get nervous to some degree, BUT there are things you can do to mitigate it. Compared to that, an interview with 5 people is like coffee hour. Also, nerves can be a good thing, but usually in performing, not so much in a conversational situation like a job interview, debate, or discussion.

Of course, you want to know your stuff, but beyond that, to prepare for this kind of situation, I would say…
Arrive early, and do something completely unrelated. A friend of mine who has made a career in musical theatre, performing all over the world and auditioning multiple times throughout the year (like having job interviews every quarter) likes to read while she waits. I like to jam to music or play video games, and take a power posture while I wait. hands over my head, relaxing and kicking back. Someone also mentioned a carefree attitude. Depending on your personality, this can work, but for me, this tends to make others think I don’t care, because I already come off as carefree and unassuming, so I don’t want to seem uninterested (which I have done in the past. :sob: )

Something else you can do is scout out the environment. If the company has a very formal environment, or a more chill one, it’s good to know ahead of time, because they likely want to bring people on board that are going to fit their company culture. For example, I’m changing into the tech industry ATM, and when I go to job interviews, I plan to go a day early, and just check things out. If they ask, be straight, let them know why you’re there, and they’ll probably like you even more. :ninja: :laughing:

I hope this helps. =)

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Atmospheric black metal.

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Wait, you’re going to turn up one day prior to your interview and just hang around their office? lol

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“What I advise you to do is, not to be unhappy before the crisis comes; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality. Some things torment us more than they ought; some torment us before they ought; and some torment us when they ought not to torment us at all. We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating, sorrow. It is likely that some troubles will befall us; but it is not a present fact. How often has the unexpected happened! How often has the expected never come to pass! And even though it is ordained to be, what does it avail to run out to meet your suffering?”

  • Seneca, Letters from a Stoic

Other than that, you seem to be preparing very well, it will just be like having a conversation about something you know and like during the interview. Wishing you all the success.

Cheers!

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we’re friends now.

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I’m a corporate nine-to-fiver and have done my fair share of interviewing. I know exactly how you feel. I am a somewhat introverted person myself so I get extremely nervous before interviews. Everyone manages nerves & stress differently. One answer would be to put yourself in the same or similar situations so often that you just get used to the feeling. There are interview prep workshops that train people for exactly this by doing mock interviews and such. I took one of them in university and it was definitely helpful. There’s no sure-fire thing that’s going to immediately take away the nerves (aside from medication). It’s sort of like how bravery isn’t feeling no fear, it’s doing the thing despite the fear.

For me, I feel most nervous in the minutes right before the interview starts and for the first several minutes after it starts. Being prepared and practiced for things I plan to talk about helps me quite a bit. I find that once I start talking and get the ball rolling on a particular topic that I am knowledgeable about then things just start flowing more naturally and the nerves subside a bit. I have notes prepared with stuff like key points and ideas to riff off of so I don’t get stuck trying to articulate my thoughts. Once I start rambling on a particular topic it tends to get smoother from there.

As others have mentioned, it’s very beneficial to be able to demonstrate to the interviewer your ability to problem-solve and articulate your thought process of trying to work through a particular problem. Even if you don’t know the answer you can try to verbalize how you would approach finding the solution to something. Being able to cite past experiences and show how you worked through them is a great tool in an interview. Think of a particular instance in your past when you have solved a problem (ideally a problem relevant to the job) and speak to it: Describe what the initial challenge was, how you approached it, how you went about solving it, why you chose one solution over an alternative, things you learned along the way etc. This is one of the best ways to show the interviewers your problem-solving method and will reflect well on you. This also helps build confidence which is also very important!

Believe in yourself! You’re the bee’s tits! They’d be lucky to have you!

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You either know it (and really know it when it is shatteringly good) or you don’t.

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