> Practice. Basically exposure therapy for interviews.
That's the thing though. I have and I do already do that. I like doing coding challenges, some time constrained others not, in my spare time. The difference is that I do not need to succeed in those. There is no person watching over me and everything I do, there is no environmental pressure other than the time. And if I fail, I learn from it and have the ability to try again.
I do currently see a therapist to deal with things, not sure if it's CBT or not. But what I'm told to do is to try and bring myself back into the present, which I can't really do during the middle of an interview.
Doing coding challenges doesn't count. It doesn't include the part your afraid of. They have to be real interviews. Maybe line up a bunch of interviews for companies you don't actually want to work for, and try that in your spare time?
On the CBT side you need to be aware of the various cognitive distortions that feed anxiety [0], and be critical of negative thought patterns. Critical in the sense of what they do to you, and which ones are cognitive distortions. Maybe sit down with a journal after the next interview and try to record lots of details about how you were feeling, and how your feelings made you think certain thoughts, and how it makes your body feel and how it's all related.
Let me do an example. You start the interview and you're asked a question, and you're brain freezes up. You start thinking, "oh no, it's happening again! It's already over, I know how this plays out. What are they thinking about me right now, just standing here doing nothing. I'm not going to get this job!" You can attack a lot of those thoughts. These are all distorted thoughts.
First say it's just an interview. You can try again another time. It's not the end of the world.
This happens to other people. I'm not the only one who has this problem in interviews!
They are probably thinking "oh she's taking their time trying to think the problem though. I know how they feel, I've been in their shoes before too. This is a lot of pressure." Most people are understanding and empathic, pretend that you are the interview, what would you be thinking?
You can even be honest with them! Tell them that you get a little psyched out doing technically problems and make a little joke about it, that it might take you a second to get ramped up. I've done this on plenty of interviews. It really helps defuse the anxiety for everyone! Let me tell you right now that as an interviewer whose interviewed dozens of people I spend a ton of time worried about what I'm going to say or ask next. They won't even be super focused on you the whole time.
Some of the physical sensations could be heart racing, sweating, thirst, etc etc. Acknowledge them and do some breathing to slow down a bit, and come back to the present.
Think of your interview more as a stepping stone. A learning experience. It's not black or white. I get the job or I don't. It's a process. Care a little bit less of how they see you.
In regards to a therapist, it took me 6-7 tries to get one that knew CBT and could help me. I'm not saying stop seeing your therapist or anything, just telling you my experience. And finding a therapist that can actually help and is trained in CBT and exposure therapy was very difficult for me.
The good news is you can do it yourself if you learn how to, but it's very hard to observe yourself and put in the work to basically be your own therapist.
Reading your comment again, I see some distortions:
> "I do not need to succeed in those."
You don't NEED to succeed. Most people go on many interview to find a job!
> "There is no person watching over me and everything I do"
Like I've said the interview isn't going to be watching everything you do. I can tell you from experience that a lot of your interviewers are bored and thinking of other things. You're not under a microscope.
> "And if I fail, I learn from it and have the ability to try again."
> Practice. Basically exposure therapy for interviews.
That's the thing though. I have and I do already do that. I like doing coding challenges, some time constrained others not, in my spare time. The difference is that I do not need to succeed in those. There is no person watching over me and everything I do, there is no environmental pressure other than the time. And if I fail, I learn from it and have the ability to try again.
I do currently see a therapist to deal with things, not sure if it's CBT or not. But what I'm told to do is to try and bring myself back into the present, which I can't really do during the middle of an interview.