Why we should worry about interview anxiety

By Simonne Mastrella

Job interviews are often met with feelings of nervousness or apprehension (McCarthy & Goffin, 2004). Considering that interviews are high-stakes situations, this experience of interview anxiety is far from surprising. It is, however, problematic for candidates. In addition to being unpleasant, considerable research has found that self-reported interview anxiety is associated with lower interview scores from interviewers (Powell et al., 2018). This negative correlation is of a moderate size (𝜌 = −.19) but because there are often more candidates than available positions for a job, interview anxiety can meaningfully impact whether a candidate receives a job offer. The big question for organizations, candidates and career counsellors alike is: should it?

The relation between interview anxiety and job performance

It’s not an accident that employment interviews are one of the most frequently used methods to assess job applicants; they tend to be good predictors of future job performance (Macan, 2009; Cortina et al., 2000). A qualified job candidate could use their knowledge, skills and abilities to obtain a high interview score and consequently, the job. Once hired, those demonstrated qualifications would enable them to be a high-performing employee.

The predictive power of the interview is contingent on the idea that the factors that impact interview performance also impact job performance (Huffcutt, Van Iddekinge, & Roth, 2011). What does this mean for interview anxiety? If anxious interviewees would be poor on-the-job performers – perhaps because anxious interviewees tend to be unqualified – then interview anxiety is a relevant factor to consider when making employment decisions. It is also possible, however, that interview anxiety is unrelated to a candidate’s suitability for the job and therefore should not factor into employment decisions. Which is it?

What the research suggests

Ironically, it is difficult to assess how interview anxiety relates to job performance because anxious interviewees are often not hired, because of their poor interview performance. This said, a few studies were able to explore this relation by using interviews for residence dons and co-op positions at Southern Ontario universities – positions in which a large number of applicants are hired, including anxious interviewees with relatively low scores. The researchers correlated interview scores with supervisor-rated performance scores and found that interview anxiety appeared to be unrelated to job performance (Schneider et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2021). So, anxious interviewees are not necessarily worse performers than non-anxious interviewees. It is important to note that these studies were correlational, so it cannot be concluded that interview anxiety caused interviewees to perform poorly; it is also possible that interviewees who performed poorly reported feeling more anxious after the interview. However, the unrelatedness between interview and job performance suggests that anxiety may interfere with a qualified candidate’s ability to demonstrate their qualifications.

The potential impact of interview anxiety on interview performance

Although research has yet to fully explain the mechanisms behind the relation between interview anxiety and interview performance, there are some theories. Anxiety may:

• Take up the cognitive resources needed to interpret the interview question and come up with a response (Eysenck et al., 2007)
• Decrease the use of effective interview performance strategies, such as self-disclosure (Alden & Bieling, 1977)
• Lead to incoherent delivery of responses, through stuttering, pausing and using filler words (e.g. um, ah, like) (Miller et al., 2018; Feiler & Powell, 2016); or
• Contribute to awkward social behaviour (e.g. lack of eye contact) (DeGroot & Motowidlo, 1999).

The good news, however, is that social skills training that focuses on improving fluent responses and other skills such as composure and eye contact can help improve interview performance (Hollandsworth et al., 1978). In the meantime, hiring managers should exercise caution about factoring interview anxiety in the selection decision. Otherwise, qualified but anxious candidates may be passed over. And that is reason to worry.

References

Alden, L. E. & Bieling, P. (1997). Interpersonal consequences of the pursuit of safety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36(1), 53-64.

Cortina, J. M., Goldstein, N. B., Payne, S. C., Davison, H. K., & Gilliland, S. W. (2000). The incremental validity of interview scores over and above cognitive ability and conscientiousness. Personnel Psychology, 53(2), 325-351.

DeGroot, T. & Motowidlo, S. J. (1999). Why visual and vocal interview cues can affect interviewers’ judgments and predict job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(6), 986-993.

Eysenck, M. W., Derakshan, N., Santos, R., & Calvo, M. G. (2007). Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory. Emotion, 7(2), 336-353.

Hollandsworth Jr., J. G., Kazelskis, R., Stevens, J., & Dressel, M. E. (1978). Relative contributions of verbal, articulative, and nonverbal communication to employment decisions in the job interview setting. Personnel Psychology, 32(2), 359-367.

Feiler, A. R. & Powell, D. M. (2016). Behavioural expression of job interview anxiety. Journal of Business Psychology, 31(1), 155-171.

Huffcutt, A., Van Iddekinge, C., & Roth, P. (2011). Understanding applicant behaviour in employment interviews: A theoretical model of interviewee performance. Human Resource Management Review, 21(4), 353-367.

Macan. T. (2009). The employment interview: A review of current studies and directions for future research. Human Resource Management Review, 19(3), 203-218.

McCarthy, J. & Goffin, R. (2004). Measuring job interview anxiety: Beyond weak knees and sweaty palms. Personnel Psychology, 57(3), 607-637.

Miller, R. O., Gayfer, B. L., & Powell, D. M. (2018). Influence of vocal and verbal cues on ratings of interview anxiety and interview performance. Personnel Assessment and Decisions, 4(2), 26-41.

Powell, D. M., Stanley, D. J., & Brown, K. N. (2018). Meta-analysis of the relation between interview anxiety and interview performance. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 50(4), 195-207.

Schneider, L., Powell, D. M., & Bonaccio, S. (2019). Does interview anxiety predict job performance and does it influence the predictive validity of interviews? International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 27, 328-336.

Zhang, I. Y., Powell, D. M., & Bonaccio, S. (2021, April). The role of fear of negative evaluation in interview and workplace anxiety [Part of symposium]. Investigating Discriminatory Behaviors in Employment Interviews. Virtual.

Simonne Mastrella is a first-year master’s student in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at the University of Guelph and a Junior Consultant for Organization & Management Solutions. Her research interests include employment interviews, particularly how interview anxiety impacts interview performance.