Most people find stress becomes a challenge in the course of an interview, and for good reason: We all have a lot riding on the interview and, for the interviewee, it can feel like a very unequal process. After all, the interviewer knows a lot more about what they’re really looking for in a candidate in terms of skills, experience, attitude, and fit with organizational culture. And the company makes the decision about who to hire based on these mysterious requirements. But perspective increases the sense of helplessness and stress of an interview. And it’s not the whole picture. 
 

There’s another perspective you can keep in the back of your mind when you go for an interview that helps equalize the experience: Just as they are assessing you for fit with their needs and culture, you should also be discretely assessing the company for its fit with your needs, values and personality. After all, if hired, you will spend a majority of your waking hours involved with the company’s goals, tasks and people. If their way of doing things, or the things they do, are out of synch with who you are, you won’t be happy and there’s a good chance you won’t flourish in your work with them. In that sense, the interview process serves your need to find a company that is a good fit for you as much as it serves the company’s need to find a fitting employee.
 

Knowing, as you go into the interview, that your job is not just to convince them of your ability to contribute to their efforts, but to assess the company’s fit with your needs and goals, can help equalize the situation—which makes the experience feel less stressful and enables you to present more of your true (unstressed) self.