Interview tips: mental preparation

mental preparation

Performing well under pressure is all about your mental state. Some people seem to thrive under pressure, while others seem to crumble. We all have the ability to learn psychological strategies to help us perform at our peak in high pressure situations.

This is an unknown but critical aspect to the fight attendant interview. Recruiters know that you are stressed, nervous, excited, and worried…  and possibly all at the same time! But, how you handle this pressure is indicative of how you may handle yourself during the pressure of an onboard emergency, or perhaps with a difficult passenger. Your emotions need to be managed to prevent inappropriate or unprofessional reactions.  

Being an athlete, formerly, I love using sports analogies, particularly for an interview situation. As you probably know, flight attendant interviews are some of the most involved and competitive in the world, so why not approach it as you would any other competition? You wouldn’t go into a piano recital without knowing your music solidly. You wouldn’t run a race without prior practice and preparation. And, you shouldn’t go into an interview without the same attention to your mental state.

Martin Turner, a well-known sport psychologist explains [that we won’t perform optimally unless we get into “the challenge state.” A challenge state enhances our performance, while a threat state interferes with our abilities. In high pressure situations, many demands are placed on us. When we are in a challenge state we are able to meet those demands. To get into a challenge state, we need to increase our levels of self-confidence, perceptions of control, and focus on success].

Turner also explains that the only way to meet the demands of a high pressure situation is to have resources to hand, which include a variety of skills to help enhance performance. Some of these include:

• Imagery — we’ve all heard about the power of visualization, but where most people go wrong is lingering on the self-doubts and worry that pop into our heads and cause us to imagine ourselves failing miserably. We entertain worst-case scenarios and visualize embarrassing outcomes. Instead of imagining negative outcomes, use visualization in a positive manner to recreate past performances and/or rehearse future performances in your head. The imagery should be made as realistic as possible by including sights, sounds, smells, feelings, etc. Visualizing a successful performance instills confidence in your ability to perform at your best.

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• Self-Talk — Conversations you have with yourself leading up to you performance will influence how you behave. If you spend your time thinking, “she’s a better candidate than I am,” or “I hope i don’t forget something,” or “I’m going to fail,” or “they’ll see how nervous I am,” you will inadvertently cause not just psychological changes, but also physiological changes that can interfere with your performance.  Things like, a racing heart, sweaty palms, shortness of breath, are not going to help your speaking voice and you’ll have less attention to be able to focus on your presentation. Instead, structure your self-talk in a way that will help you feel more positive. Choose phrases you can repeat to yourself to help you stay focused on success, such as: “I have what it takes,” “I am the best fit for this job,” “They are going to love me,” “I am calm under pressure.”

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• Pre-performance routines — How you spend your time leading up to your interview will influence your chances of success. If you allow yourself to pace around the room nervously, you may increase your anxiety level to the point that it threatens your ability to perform optimally. Instead, create a routine that will keep your head in the game and help you to feel better prepared. Pre-performance routines condition the mind to react well to pressure. Some people listen to music, some drink coffee, some get themselves psyched up just prior to the interview. Whatever your routine, find what works for you - to help you become calm, confident, and present in the moment, and stay consistent with it to create a level of comfort when you are out of your comfort zone and help you stay in control of your mental state.

Like physical strength, mental strength requires healthy habits, exercise and hard work. Learning how to embrace a happier outlook enables you to deal with difficulties, setbacks, and pressures. It is about empowering yourself to overcome life’s challenges, and in our specific case, it is about empowering yourself with tools to succeed in your flight attendant interview.

In addition to these 3 performance enhancement skills are daily life skills we can adopt to help these things become a habit for us. When they become habitual, they are more easily relied upon when needed. 9 daily mental skills are suggested below, necessary for top performance situations:



9 mental skills necessary for top performance situations

1. Attitude:
   1. is a choice!
   2. needs to be positive
   3. views challenges as opportunities to compete against self and grow from successes or failures
   4. pursues excellence, not perfection
   5. shows respect for self and others
   6. balances perspectives between self and pursuits
2. Motivation:
   1. be aware of rewards and benefits expected to experience
   2. ability to persist through difficult tasks and circumstances, particularly when rewards/benefits are not immediately forthcoming
   3. realize benefits come from participation, not the outcome
3. Goals & Commitment:
   1. Set goals that are realistic, measurable, and time-oriented
   2. aware of current performance levels and are able to develop specific plans for attaining goals
   3. highly committed to goals and carrying out daily demands required
4. People Skills:
   1. Realize you are part of a larger social system or group
   2. Communicates thoughts, feelings, and needs appropriately to people and listens to others
   3. Have learned effective skills for dealing with conflict, difficult situations, and other people when they are negative or oppositional
5. Self-Talk:
   1. Maintains self-confidence during difficult times with realistic, positive self-talk
   2. Talks to self as they would a best friend
   3. Uses self-talk to regulate thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during competitive challenges
6. Mental Imagery:
   1. Prepare for competition by imagining self performing well
   2. Creates mental images that are detailed, specific, and realistic
   3. Uses imagery during competition situations to prepare for action, recover from errors and/or poor performance
7. Dealing Effectively with Anxiety:
   1. Accept anxiety as part of the journey
   2. Realize some degree of anxiety can help boost performance
   3. Knows how to reduce anxiety when it becomes too strong, without losing focus
8. Dealing Effectively with Emotions:
   1. Accept strong emotions, such as excitement, anger, and disappointment, as part of the interview experience
   2. Able to use these emotions to improve, rather than interfere, with high level of performance
9. Concentration:
   1. Know you must pay attention during each situation
   2. Learn how to maintain focus and resist distractions - whether from outside environment or from within self
   3. Able to regain focus when concentration is lost
   4. Are “present” in your life, playing in the here and now, rather than regarding past events or anticipating future ones 

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