One of my last job interviews as a candidate was a disaster. I did not just have a blackout – I had a total shutdown. It was humiliating; I would gladly have sunk into the ground. The reason: lack of preparation. However, many blackouts are not caused by a lack of preparation, but by the wrong kind.
Can you be too well prepared for a job interview? Yes – if you memorise answers by heart. The countless tips on the Internet about job interviews give the impression that there are the «right» questions and the perfect answers to go with them. Many applicants therefore prepare by rote-learning responses to the questions they expect.
And then the following happens in the job interview: the interviewer asks about the most important stages in the CV and the red thread running through the candidate’s career. But the candidate has prepared for the question: «Please tell me a little about yourself.» Or instead of being asked about a weakness, the question is about development potential – and suddenly the rehearsed answer is useless.
Learning by rote often means: not understanding
Perhaps you remember your school days: you usually had to memorise something when you had not really understood the material – apart from poems, where memorisation was meant to train the memory. Those who had internalised the subject matter could go into the exam relaxed, knowing they could recall their knowledge in any form.
By contrast, those who were unprepared probably crammed their brains with last-minute rote learning even on the day of the exam. In the exam, however, their clogged brain prevented clear thinking. This is exactly how blackouts occur.
Know thyself
If you want to avoid blackouts when applying for a job, prepare properly for interviews: get to know yourself so that you understand yourself. That takes time, but it is worth it. A personal and professional assessment helps you to identify your needs, preferences, abilities and strengths.
Afterwards, you know who you are and how you tick. And you have suitable stories at hand to demonstrate your qualities and skills convincingly. With this groundwork in place, you can then prepare for the specific requirements of a particular job at short notice.
Do not memorise – practise instead. Keep asking yourself questions and answer them – ideally out loud. This way you gain routine while preserving the flexibility to respond to different, even unexpected, questions.