Clear, calm, laser-focused in a job interview

As career coach I am often confronted with the question of how you can be and stay your authentic and clear self in a job inter­view, be impactful in the middle of a poten­ti­ally stressful situa­tion, facing both chance and risk of denial.

You hold two keys to success in your hands!

Follow a clear-cut process to step up fully with your perso­na­lity and exper­tise and activate your mental strength to be be resilient under stress.

Key 1The process part is a path of explo­ra­tion, analysis and focus ahead of the inter­view. It’s about you, your passion and your USP for the market and the specific job in front of you. There are 3 leading questions:
What is your „I want …“, your values and goals?
What is your „I can …“ – your exper­tise and your success stories?
What is your „hitpoint and sweet spot …“ – your why this job and why this company?

This clarity gives you confi­dence and impact in how you step up and it makes you belie­vable having matching stories and successes to tell.

Key 2Your mental strength is to step up with clarity and calmness in the challen­ging context of a job inter­view and recover quickly when you are hijacked by stress

Does any of the follo­wing scenario and self-sabota­ging mindchatter sound familiar?
Before the inter­view: “I want this job so much. I am afraid I am blocked tomorrow and will forget what I want to say.” “If I lose, I will be in trouble. I need this job so much.“ „Am I good enough?” “What if they ask why I have left my old job. I am afraid my emotions come up again.”
During the inter­view: “This HR-execu­tive looks so puzzled. I seem to have given the wrong answer.” “I am so nervous, my voice trembles.” “Shit, I forgot an important info.” “I hear myself speaking and I don’t seem to come to the point.” “I am tense and not my usual self.”

If you are in that mindset of negative emotions you are in the stress part of your brain and have no access to your full poten­tial, your creati­vity, clarity and to calm laser-focused action.

What now!

I recom­mend highly effec­tive exercises to both activate your mental fitness muscle before the event and to recover quickly in case of stress hijacking during the event. These tools are from Positive Intel­li­gence by Shirzad Chamine.

  • Preempt your saboteurs:
    Antici­pate the inter­view and your possible self-sabota­ging reaction; Pause and breathe. Then imagine yourself reacting calm and clear and stepping up your best self.
    What is fasci­na­ting: our brain does not diffe­ren­tiate between real and imagined. When you imagine the positive process, the same neuro-circuitry pathway is activated as during a real success experience.
  • Activate your mental fitness muscle:
    This can be used before the situa­tion to gain energy and focus and in the stress situa­tion to quickly calm down and recover.
    What is fasci­na­ting: the little exercises, called PQ reps, only take 10 seconds each and they don’t need a quiet solitary place to practice. Do it in the middle of the hustle-bustle of life and if needed during a stress hijacking:
    The secret is to actively focus on your sensa­tions. By that you stop your mind jumping around and instead focus on one physical sense. You can feel the effect immedia­tely. If in that moment you were under a MRI you would also get the scien­tific proof that your stress center is quieted down and your sage creative part of the brain is activated.

Here are two of many varia­tions you can do

  • PQ rep using your sense of touch
    finger-printTouch one device (pen, paper, coffee cup, glass of water) in front of you and really feel the tempe­ra­ture, texture and sensa­tions on your finger tips. Maybe move your finger tips slowly so you can feel more sensations.
    Great Job!
  • PQ rep using breath
    breathingTake a couple of deep breaths. Now let your breath settle into its normal mode. Feel the rising and falling of your chest and stomach with each breath. Notice the tempe­ra­ture of air as it enters your nostrils and the tempe­ra­ture of air as it exits your nostrils.
    Great job!

If you do PQ reps regularly during the day, you can conti­nously build up your mental muscle.

 

Explore further possi­bi­li­ties with Mental Fitness – how to sustain­ably train and build up your mental strength, to be resilient facing any challenges and setbacks and recover quicker – for more click here

You have questions around impactful job inter­views and you want to learn more about a successful job shift:

New Career 50plus

(New) Career with 50plus
Your goal – your path – your success

Fresh impetus for a successful job change
- the right job, not just any job!

You are in the middle of your profes­sional life and in the process of a job change. Perhaps one of the follo­wing scena­rios applies to you: You are wonde­ring what the oppor­tu­ni­ties for 50plus are in the job market. You are exempt or laid off and are still hanging on to your previous company with very mixed feelings. You are wonde­ring where your poten­tial lies for your next career move. You want to take the chance now for a new phase in your profes­sional bio and are unsure how exempt and liberated you may think and plan in the context of your personal commit­ments. You are successful and yet unful­filled in your job and stuck in your current career. You are in a transi­tion process full of question marks about what is the right path strate­gi­cally and perso­nally right now. Maybe your experi­ence is a mix of all this and more!

The path to a successful job change starts with you – with your goals, with your exper­tise and experi­ence, with your successes and with your perso­na­lity! Your passion and your very indivi­dual usp, the added value you create are decisive. Where this meets the market is the key to success. In order to be effec­tive with all you have and to be at your best, one key compe­tency is funda­mental – your mental strength.  Much like an athlete in compe­ti­tion, it is crucial that you (can) act with clarity, calm and presence in the challen­ging context of a job transi­tion with all its uncer­tainty and also indivi­dual setbacks, or that you can quickly regain calmness and focus in any stressful situa­tion. This also means not being driven and deter­mined by frustra­tion, disap­point­ment or anger looking back into the past or by insecu­rity, self-doubt or nervous­ness looking ahead into the future.  Your mental strength and a positive basic attitude deter­mine your well-being and your perfor­mance and, quite decisi­vely, your impact on others!

Career Coaching für Ihren Erfolg!

  • Clarity and security for your profes­sional goal, develo­p­ment of your USP and profes­sio­na­lism in your appearance
  • Mental strength for dealing produc­tively with challenges and setbacks
  • Purpo­seful and target-oriented appli­ca­tion processes, sustainable networ­king and impactful interviews
  • Decision for the new job and successful onboarding

Indivi­dual – consis­tent – resonant

  • Career Coach and PQ Mental Fitness Coach
  • Long-term corpo­rate career as a manager
  • Broad industry experi­ence as trainer and coach, with a focus on automo­tive, mecha­nical and plant enginee­ring, medical techno­logy and IT
  • Own transi­tion experi­ence with 50plus into a new career, after 20 years in manage­ment starting self-employ­ment and building up my own business

More about Mental Fitness on

More about my Career Coaching

coming soon

““Uta Nachbaur has always motivated me and given me the right advice. Although my search took longer than I had hoped, Uta Nachbaur never doubted me. This helped me to stick to my “dream position”. And it worked! Excel­lent support!”

(Execu­tive Research & Develo­p­ment, Automotive)

“Very profes­sional consul­ting! Uta Nachbaur supported my profes­sional reori­en­ta­tion in a targeted manner and with a lot of know-how and syste­ma­tics. Develo­ping and creating my short profile was very valuable – perso­nally as a motiva­tional boost and profes­sio­nally as a presen­ta­tion of my USP. A big praise to her; she moved me to my new future and made it possible to redis­cover my poten­tial and my perspectives..”

(Execu­tive Produc­tion, Mecha­nical Enginee­ring and Plant Construction)

“Training my mental fitness as part of the Career Coaching was great and absolutely amazing in its effect. Stimuli and reflec­tions in the minute range lead to constant and impres­sive effects! And the neuro­sci­en­tific basis is convin­cing. It has helped me massi­vely in my profes­sional reori­en­ta­tion and it is for me an asset for life – no matter what challenges come. It’s great how I can put a comple­tely diffe­rent focus on my day with these little PQ Rep tidbits: clear headed, laser-focused action.”

(Execu­tive Projects, Automotive)

“Very compe­tent consul­tant who was able to empathize with my situa­tion. She helped me deal with my experi­ence of separa­tion from my previous company and refocused me on the future. This was paramount to the success of my career reori­en­ta­tion. I always had a smile on my face after the coaching sessions. Consul­ta­tions were always infor­ma­tional and motiva­tional boosts at the same time! The commu­ni­ca­tion seminar and inter­view training were also very effec­tive and practical. The success in my job inter­views showed it!

(Execu­tive KAM, Telecommunication)

“The mix of goal coaching, support in creating profes­sional appli­ca­tion documents, inter­view training, and support in starting the new job was just perfect. Thank you!””

(Execu­tive Sales, IT)