Do you know why you may suck at IT interviews?

There was a time in my life and I would prefer to sit for the whole MCSE exam set in one day than go for an IT interview. Yes that bad. I hated them with a passion.

I hated them because they made me feel like an idiot.

Do you fear IT interviews?

It didn't take much to make me feel like a total loser in those first IT interviews I attended. They would ask me all sort of technical questions and although I knew the answer (sometimes anyway) I couldn't wrap my mind around the answer to speak it. Why? Because I didn't think I should be in IT.

Stupid at it may seem now, sometimes there is no logic to the way we feel. I started in the IT industry at a later age and years before that I was a secretary. Not even a dismal successful one, mind you. I loved working with computers and that's the reason I decided on a career change. I got a few certifications and started attending my first interviews for my first IT job. I didn't feel like I belonged in the industry so my beliefs would totally destroy any chances of getting the job.

When you tell yourself you are a total loser, you are instructing your mind to make your wish its command

So your mind, not knowing right from wrong, but what you tell it, will start digging into all examples in your life where you totally screwed up. Because you tell it you are a loser, it will try to make it so. It's there to follow your wishes after all.

And you don't see exactly how good you are

I didn't see it back then, I saw it years later. I didn't feel like I belonged in IT because I was comparing myself to others that had years of experience and knew much more than me. I hadn't realized just how good I was with computers. I could fix anyone's computer for starters. I would join forums just so I could help people with their troubleshooting problems. Many times we don't give ourselves credit.

It was only after remembering something a job recruiter said that I began to change.

I was still doing secretarial work back then when I went to a recruiter looking for a job. I remember her saying to me that she could get any job she put her mind to. At the time I though BS because I couldn't wrap my mind around how someone could actually do that. I didn't have that sort of confidence. I believed whether I got the job or not, it was totally the interviewers decision.

It's not what you know, its how you present it

I only started getting better at IT interviews when I started becoming skilled at interviews. Although this may seem like a bother, look at it this way. You only have to do it once. You only have to learn how to get those valuable interview skills once and after that, every interview you attend you will enjoy. So invest in these types of skills. They will start paying off right away.