Work, everyone must do it to truly make something of their life. You can choose to follow your own path as an entrepreneur and you can choose to do so in paid employment (possibly part-time to combine entrepreneurship with more stability). To find a job you need to apply and with that comes the job interview. These are incredibly exciting moments that can sometimes go completely wrong precisely because of that tension. Hypnosis helps you to increase your chances of getting a job by reducing this tension.
In this blog, I explain how this works.
Benefits of hypnosis in job application
If you want to apply for a job successfully, it is important that you have (some) control over your nerves. This is easier if you have confidence in your qualities needed for the job and if you know how to control your body to stay calm. Even if you are insecure, that control over your body can make you radiate security so that at least that insecurity does not stand out.
Back in the 1980s, research was done on the effect of self-hypnosis on how relaxed you are during a job interview. That research shows that self-hypnosis has a significant effect on being calm during this interview[1].
Whether you are just starting to apply for a job or need to start over after losing a job, or are working again after yet another rejection after a job interview, it is a useful skill.
In research from the 1980s, mainly self-hypnosis techniques were used to calm down. These include having even breathing through your abdomen. Consciously relaxing your muscles and visualizing a pleasant environment.
Hypnosis and improving your confidence for a job application
Hypnosis is also known for helping you improve your self-confidence and does so for people who need to apply for jobs after being laid off. Research on people who needed to get a permanent job again after being laid off showed that people whose self-confidence was improved, sense of ability and control and thought processes were affected, among other things, by hypnosis were more likely to get back into full-time employment than people who did not participate in this program[2].
After all, losing your job or being rejected again and again after a job application is not good for your self-confidence and sense of control. You can feel worthless when you really do have amazing things to offer the world.
Hypnosis can help improve your self-confidence in several ways. One of the best ways is to first find out what beliefs are bringing down your self-confidence for finding a job. This can be done in several ways such as with regression or a Socratic conversation. Then those beliefs can be made weaker with hypnotic suggestions that you can repeat during self-hypnosis or listen to as the hypnosis expert records them for you on an mp3. Those suggestions then take precedence in the beliefs you use to live your life.
This can include suggestions such as:
"You have the opportunity to showcase your talent."
"You prepare well for a job interview."
"You can stay calm and focused during the conversation."
"You get to take the time to answer a question," he said.
During self-hypnosis, you sit or lie down in a quiet place in your home, first use a relaxation exercise and then listen to the suggestions.
Weakening non-helpful thoughts
The goal of changing your beliefs is to change your thoughts. Sometimes this doesn't happen so quickly and you may notice that you are still very strict with yourself. For example, you then think frustratedly "I'm being really stupid!". This is a very negative non-helpful thought.
To make such a thought have less influence on you, you can speak the thought aloud with a totally different emotion. For example, you can say in your most sultry and seductive voice "I...am acting really stupid 😉 (strike a sexy pose)." Doing this several times, and you may exaggerate nicely, will make the thought laughable, preventing him from bringing down your self-confidence.
Improve sense of control
Changing non-helpful thoughts already helps a little to improve your sense of control, but of course you can do much more.
Initially, you can shift your focus from what you can't influence to what you can. For example, look around you right now. Maybe you see what you can't change, such as the weather, your pet, traffic and who knows what else.
Now look in your immediate environment, your field of vision, what you can change. You can change your clothes, you can adapt to the weather with that, you can change the music you listen to (or turn it on if it is quiet), you can change how your environment looks, if there is clutter you can clean it up and if it is cluttered you can make it cluttered.
Shifting your focus to what you can change also increases your sense of control. For example, you can change the clothes you choose to wear to the job interview. You can familiarize yourself with the company before you go to the interview, you can determine the way you go to that location. By focusing on what you can do to change a situation to your advantage, you gain a greater sense of control over what you do and what may happen next.
Guided visualization to practice a job application
Relieving tension is all well and good, but of course you know the feeling that it will reappear at the most important moment. Dealing with this can also be improved with hypnosis. This can be done, for example, by practicing the job interview with a guided visualization. In such a guided visualization you will see how it goes with the help of the hypnosis expert in front of you.
During the visualization, you may also become tense, but learn immediately to apply calming and self-hypnosis techniques to make the interview a success. For example, a guided visualization for a job interview can go as follows:
"You're preparing for your job interview. You make sure you look good and put on the clothes you bought especially for the occasion so you know you look professional. You then read through your notes about the company and what additions you offer the company. You take a quiet breath and relax your muscles and get on your way. You go in your chosen mode of transportation that you feel most comfortable with and with which you have the greatest chance of arriving on time. You are even well on time and go to the restroom. That already relaxes you quite a bit. You come back and wait for the appointment. While waiting, you focus on your breathing and relaxing your muscles. You greet the person who picks you up and any other people present during the call. You accept a glass of water, which gives you time to think and to make your mouth less dry. You take the time to answer the questions and no matter how separate you think the questions are, you give your honest opinion or information. You smile, sit up straight and feel good. You notice that your preparation is paying off and you leave the interview feeling good because of this."
Through such visualization, you increase the likelihood of actually performing the behavior in the visualization. This is just one example of a guided visualization. Depending on your beliefs and concerns about applying for a job, you can get a different guided visualization from a hypnosis expert. You can also be given the guided visualization to listen to at home during self-hypnosis.
The power pose for a job application
Another technique you can use before a job interview is to adopt a power pose. This is an open posture. You stand up straight, have your chest forward, shoulders back and relax as far as you can in that pose.
Research shows that people who adopt a power pose for a job interview are more likely to be successful than those who adopt a weak pose, such as with shoulders forward and somewhat hunched over[3].
Hypnosis thus helps you apply successfully by being able to control your nerves, improve your confidence and increase your resolve to do what is right for you. There are a variety of techniques to use for this that improve your chances of success.
Want to learn more about these mental techniques and hypnosis? Then come to the hypnosis playshop or follow one of the training courses of the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands.
[1] https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/76501/LD5655.V856_1987.A534.pdf?sequence=1
