BOOM November 2015 | Page 48

CAREER TIPS simple way to improve your job interview chances Y ou felt it tilt into dangerous territory when you got her name wrong right at the start and now you've spent an excruciating hour fumbling, mumbling and completely failing to dredge up the most basic of reasons why you'd be good at the job you're interviewing for. You sit in a cold sweat, waiting for the nightmare to be over so you can ceremoniously burn your CV, wondering what happened. Where was that calm, composed you of yesterday? The one in control and capable and ready to achieve? Well, we can't help you with the interviews that have already gone up in flames (sorry), but you should be encouraged to know that results of a new study suggest there's a shortcut to the best version of yourself: receiving compliments before an interview could actually make you perform better. The recently published paper from Harvard Business School researchers described the process as 'bestself activation' (that is, someone prompts you to remember yourself at your best) and looked into how it influences emotions, physiology and employment relationships. The research says: “We developed theory about how best-self activation can lead to both immediate and long-term outcomes [...] In two lab experiments and a field experiment in a global con