If you just received a call from a potential employer informing you of an interview next Monday, how would you be feeling?

Excited. Anxious.

Before long, as the day gets nearer, you will start to feel nervous, if you are like most people.

While you are busy feeling nervous and, hopefully, doing good research about the employer, the job, and the industry, how do you think the interviewer is feeling?

Let me be upfront: The interviewer or the hiring manager is sweating.

Yes, you are not the only one who is afraid and nervous.

The interviewer is nervous too.

The reasons for this are interesting:

1. The chances of finding a good employer through an interview is only 3% better than picking a name out of a hat;

2. If the interview was conducted by someone who would be working directly with the candidate, the success rate is 2% worse than that of picking a name out of hat;

3. If the interview was conducted by a human resources expert, the success rate plunged to 10% below that of picking a name out of a hat.

The fact remains that most interviewers have never been trained to properly select candidates through interviews. And they simply pretend that they do and make it as if what they are doing is scientific.

They also have work up to their eyeballs and spending time sorting through job candidates is something they are not hired to do. And so, they may well know that they are not very good at it.

Another fact of life: As humans, we make decisions emotionally, then justify them by logic.

Very seldom do we actually decide using logic to make decisions (Yes, management and business schools will teach you the logical evaluation tools to use for decision-making… but that’s not real world.)

This is the reason why the first impression you give the interviewer within the first 3 – 5 seconds matters the most!

Now, why is it that they don’t seem nervous?

Well, because you are too focused on yourself (and your fears) to notice their nervousness. And of course, they have learned to hide their fears from years of practice.

Now, what is the interviewer afraid of?

Here a list:

1. You won’t do the job well because you lack the needed skills or experience.

2. You won’t put in a full day’s work regularly.

3. You will be sick often.

4. You will quit within a few weeks or months.

5. You will take too long to master a job.

6. You won’t get along with others in the team.

7. You have to be held by the hand to get the job done for too long.

8. You will simply do the minimum required.

9. You have a work-disrupting character flaw.

So, in actuality, we have 2 very nervous people sitting across the table in an interview.

Think about it: How difficult is it to convince a nervous person who really is not sure how to do a good job at selecting a candidate?

The game is simple: The more sure, definite and certain you are, the more convincing you will be.