Job Interview - Anxiety about new places

[As sweet as-pie]

Hi all,
I have my first ever job interview tomorrow. At first I was very socially anxious about it, but then I worked out which angle to go for and have been practising questions so I'm not as worried about that anymore. I'm confident that I'll be able to answer most things.

Usually with situations I'm anxious about, as soon as I'm in them, I'm not anxious anymore.

However, one anxiety I have is because I'm autistic, not because I have social anxiety, and it's that I can't handle new places or new situations, even more so than I can't handle new people.

The job interview is at a very large office building, and I keep being paranoid that I'm going to go in the wrong doors, or to the wrong reception, because I've never been there. I usually can't do things if I can't visualise them, and I can't go to new places without seeing them first.

I've never been to this place, not inside anyway. I'm really worried about this.

Does anyone have any tips on how to handle new places? I usually avoid situations like these but I don't want to miss out on this opportunity.

 

[Babyc]

Just familiar every angle of the place and be kind to everyone who you work with. Someday you'll get used to it and you are more confident in your new place. Good Luck!

 

[tree]

@As sweet as-pie

Since your interview isn't until tomorrow,
is there a chance you could go to the building
today and check the area out?

Look around.
Get "the lay of the land" so to speak?
Practice entering and getting to the place,
so it's not a complete unknown to you?

 

[Keigan]

Get there early and walk around a bit of you can.

 

[Full Steam]

I do sales in people's offices which can be similar, and I find if I prepare properly well before hand and then meditate on the drive in for 20 minutes I'm super chilled when I get there, and all the answers are ready when asked.

I'd definitely do what tree suggested too though.

 

[As sweet as-pie]

@As sweet as-pie

Since your interview isn't until tomorrow,
is there a chance you could go to the building
today and check the area out?

Look around.
Get "the lay of the land" so to speak?
Practice entering and getting to the place,
so it's not a complete unknown to you?

I was thinking that, most people have suggested I go in and look around, although I'm not sure if I can do that.

I think it's a good idea to go to the area, I'll try to go later on, I've been to the area multiple times so I'm familiar with the outside, but I don't think the public are allowed in the actual building so it wouldn't be possible for me to walk in and look around, unfortunately.

I'll try and work out where the doors are and hope that I can see the reception from outside though! The entrance is my main worry, always the entrance. :')

 

[Gracey]

Arrive a little earlier and observe what other visitors to the building are doing? Pushing or pulling the door open? Using an intercom announce arrival?

 

[Suzanne]

That is so me!

Can you do a kind of "walk in" online?

When I have been in this situation, because of being petrified, I would look to see how others open the door and suddenly lose my fear. Funny, though, because as soon as I am there, the anxiety disappears and I have a sense of jubilation that I am actually doing this and even if I get lost, I have managed to find my way, but true enough, the nightmare is beforehand and the mind boggles, which has stopped me from taking many risks.

 

[As sweet as-pie]

That is so me!

Can you do a kind of "walk in" online?

When I have been in this situation, because of being petrified, I would look to see how others open the door and suddenly lose my fear. Funny, though, because as soon as I am there, the anxiety disappears and I have a sense of jubilation that I am actually doing this and even if I get lost, I have managed to find my way, but true enough, the nightmare is beforehand and the mind boggles, which has stopped me from taking many risks.

I'm exactly the same. Once I'm actually in a situation, I'll be in the mindset of doing it and kinda just grit and bear until it's over, sometimes I'll even feel confident, but it's just the initial anxiety before I do things, where I overthink about what might go wrong. But unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to do things if I didn't overthink thoroughly enough! It truly is a burden to bear. :')

 

[Gracey]

I wish you the very best of luck and hope you can dig deep and find your coping mechanisms tomorrow so that things may run smoothly. Just do the best you can, nobody could ask for anything more from you

 

[SameStars]

Go early and give yourself some time to observe the surroundings. But don't go too early, which I end up doing usually and giving myself more time to grow more nervous on location. I also google the persons interviewing me, which also helps when I meet them.

Good luck tomorrow!

 

[Grandmother B]

Hi all,
I have my first ever job interview tomorrow. At first I was very socially anxious about it, but then I worked out which angle to go for and have been practising questions so I'm not as worried about that anymore. I'm confident that I'll be able to answer most things.

Usually with situations I'm anxious about, as soon as I'm in them, I'm not anxious anymore.

However, one anxiety I have is because I'm autistic, not because I have social anxiety, and it's that I can't handle new places or new situations, even more so than I can't handle new people.

The job interview is at a very large office building, and I keep being paranoid that I'm going to go in the wrong doors, or to the wrong reception, because I've never been there. I usually can't do things if I can't visualise them, and I can't go to new places without seeing them first.

I've never been to this place, not inside anyway. I'm really worried about this.

Does anyone have any tips on how to handle new places? I usually avoid situations like these but I don't want to miss out on this opportunity.

I was always afraid of new places, as my sense of direction is not very good, and I am NT! So just ask where to go if you need to. No one would expect you to know. Or call the secretary of the office you are interviewing in and ask for directions, if you can. This will solve itself, I promise. I still get butterflies when I have to find my way to or inside a strange place. Good luck with your interview!

 

[Tyrantus1212]

I've had a series of job interviews back in 2011 and big buildings never scared me; a few of those interviews took place in the downtown area, in fact. I was only nervous about the interview itself. I would enter the building and take the elevator to whichever floor I was told to go to, and then I would look for the reception area. If I didn't get told where to go, I would Google the company and its local setting before going into the building. If I were to get lost around the necessary floor though in order to find the reception area, I'd make attempts to ask the people around me, those who happen to be passing by in the hall. I actually haven't found a need to get to that stage, so it's just advice in case you get lost. For this reason, I would also make the goal of arriving early - well, that's obvious for any interview, so I should rather say "earlier than early", to give myself a bigger supply of time just in case. I wish you the best of luck on everything!

 

[Ambi]

I would go much earlier than needed so that in case you do get lost or anything, at least by the time you sort it out, you won't be late. Just take a book with you so that you have something to do while waiting. Good luck!

 

[As sweet as-pie]

Unfortunately, I went early, saw the place, but despite all my planning, my anxiety got the better of me as it often does and I wasn't able to go in. I emailed them to explain and asked if it was possible to reschedule out of politeness but I'm secretly hoping it's not an option. I never thought I would be able to have a job, and planned my life around that. This one wasn't planned, it just came out of nowhere.
It's really very ironic that I'm called "high functioning" when I can't do much more than sit at home every day posting on here!

 

[Judge]

It's really very ironic that I'm called "high functioning" when I can't do much more than sit at home every day posting on here!

It's true. At times our anxieties can and will get the best of us. When all you can really do is wipe away the tears, dust yourself off and get back up to try another day. Hang in there.

 

[Aeolienne]

One caution against arriving too early ... I once arrived for an interview about half an hour before the scheduled time, assuming that I'd be able to make good use of the time by sitting in the reception area and going through my notes ... only for the manager to inform me that one of the other interviewees had cancelled and therefore they were free to see me now! So the moral is - if you want to keep some last-quarter-hour preparation time, find a conveniently located coffee shop or park bench. But do ensure you have found the interview location first.

Another reason for minimising time spent in reception is that the kind of sofas they have are designed to make you slouch. If you have a choice, sit on an upright chair or perch on the arm of the sofa.