Ask HN: How do you overcome social anxiety/choking during interviews? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you overcome social anxiety/choking during interviews?

3 pointscmonnow3 comments

Ask HN: How do you overcome social anxiety/choking during interviews? 3 points by cmonnow 12 hours ago | hide | past | web | favorite | 1 comment

  "Adding manpower to a late project makes it later" - Fred Brooks.

  "5 minutes when alone is worth 15 when being watched" - Me, at 3am

  "Even the Eiffel tower looked ugly during construction" - Also Me, at 4am

A technical interview seems like an artificially constrained setting which is rarely seen IRL.

1. Interviewer already knows the answer. 2. Interviewer has no time constraints. 3. Interviewer is not judged when he 'thinks out loud'. 4. Interviewer has no repercussions.

In contrast:

1. Candidate does not know the answer. 2. Candidate has 30 minutes. 3. Candidate is judged on his 'approach'. 4. Candidate's job status is at stake.

I find it hard to think freely under these constraints.

If I am judged on my approach, I have to be slow/cautious in what I speak, and ignore the time constraint.

If I am judged on my result, I have to be fast/random in my thoughts, and ignore the approach constraint.

If I am judged on both, I have to change into pyjamas, put my feet up on the table, gesture wildly with my arms, and ignore the 'human being in front of me' constraint.

I would love to know whether that particular interviewer solved that particular problem when they encountered it for the first time ever, within 30 minutes, while being watched and judged on both their approach and the result.

If not, I would love to ask if they (or I) could leave the room and come back after 15 minutes. Is this feasible ?

(Not an expert at all)

Maybe everyone else is just as stressed as you?

It's like any other skill I guess, everyone is bad the first time, and you get better with practise.

>I would love to know whether that particular interviewer solved that particular problem when they encountered it for the first time ever

Why not ask, when they ask if you have any questions?! If that's the one thing you really want to know, why not.

Also, I've found in a lot of situations, people freeze or freak out imagining the worst thing that could happen, but that very state, living like that in fear, is already worse than anything that could come from external things going badly as possible.

Be kind to yourself! Treat yourself like you would treat someone you really love. It sounds like you're really torturing yourself.

Can you flip from mentally being in a position of begging them to give you something, to offering them what you have? If you really think you have nothing to offer, apply to work somewhere you can feel you have something to offer, or educate/train/tool up/learn more until you do.

I think you're overthinking this. Candidates shouldn't be judged on their approach nearly as much as they are judged on how they arrive there, and arriving at the correct answer should count for more than enough to disregard any oddities getting there.

Nobody's going to let you have 15 minutes undisturbed without also going to extreme lengths to ensure you aren't cheating.

Extreme lengths ?

It's an interview room. Don't provide laptops. I can leave my phone & bag outside the room.

I can't think freely when someone is watching me.

> Nobody's going to let you have 15 minutes undisturbed

Is that how the real world works as well ?

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