"An Interesting Fact For You"

Alan Carniol

David Dinges, a University of Pennsylvania professor (who also conducted sleep studies for NASA), says the average adult needs to get 7.5 hours of high-quality shut-eye if they want to give their best the next day.

You may You may have heard that before.

But have you ever considered how sleep relates to job interviews?

The way you feel during a job interview affects your ability to perform. If you’re tired, it shows. Plus it’s hard to think clearly under pressure when your brain is foggy.

But when you’ve slept well, and you walk into the interview feeling energized, alert, and focused, then you'll have a huge advantage over many candidates.

Why?

Because, chances are, most folks didn’t sleep well the night before. 

After a stressful, restless night’s “sleep,” they probably awoke to an angry alarm, had bitter instant coffee and a donut or two, rushed out the door, grew increasingly frustrated in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and then walked into the interview nervous, worried, and exhausted.

Not good.

Can you imagine how the meeting will go? Bloodshot eyes, a haggard look, and sluggish answers probably won’t help anyone win the job. 

Of course, in a perfect world, it would be easy to get a good night’s sleep before a big interview. However, if you’re anything like me, it’s often tough to sleep the night before a critical day, thanks to nerves.

So what can you do?

Here’s a solid tip you can use right away:  Start going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning. If possible, get at least four or five nights of uninterrupted sleep leading up to the night before the interview. It works because it conditions your natural sleep rhythms and supplies your mind and body with energy reserves for the big day. 

You’ll feel a lot more relaxed and clear-headed. 

Even better — if you can normalize your sleep as described for at least a couple of weeks prior, there’s a good chance you’ll actually sleep like a champ the night before the interview. 

Hope that helps you.

Stay tuned for more tips for performing at your best.

Until next time,

Alan Carniol