Simple, but true.

Stress can deeply affect how your candidates think and respond at job interviews. The anxiety and pressure to perform at our best elevates the production of stress hormone, cortisol, in our brain. How to downplay the cortisol effect?

To maximise your tech recruitment efficiency, you should always make the interview environment as friendly and stress-free as possible. 

But you want to get the most out of tech talents, don’t you? In that sense, the interview shouldn’t be just a walk in the park, but unlock the candidate’s full potential. That's why they're called stress interviews.

A great example is Elon Musk. He's known for unconventional questions to test candidates’ creativity, problem-solving skills, and pressure tolerance. 

How would you answer this, “If you had a machine that could change the size of a penguin, what would you do with it, and how would it help the penguin?” Not a typical software engineering challenge, is it?!

Here are some practical steps to beat the cortisol effect and let your candidates shine.

Just imagine: your candidate sits down for an interview, lightly blushing, palms sweating, heart racing. They’re not just nervous, they’re in survival mode.

That’s because our brain releases cortisol to prepare for a potential threat. Cortisol lowers our ability to remember and decide. Even the simplest questions might be seem impossible to answer. Our fight-or-flight response can ruin a life-changing interview. 

If you’re aware of this, you can calm the candidate down and make them feel safe to help perform at their best.

The candidate freezes mid-answer... Has this ever happened to you? Blame cortisol. 

If our brain is flooded with stress hormones, it moves energy from high-level thinking to survival. That's why struggle to think clearly, come up with examples or creative answers.

If you’re prepared for this, you can help candidates handle immediate stress.

When cortisol levels spike, our emotional regulation drops. The candidate might come across as less confident or more defensive. Not because they’re a bad fit for the job, but they're paralysed by cortisol.

Notice when it happens and follow up with a light-hearted icebreaker.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

The key is making the conversation as comfortable as possible. Lucky for you, there’s a scientifically proven method to do this. Drumroll.... Ready?

It's really simple. It`s deep breathing. 

Deep, rhythmic breathing calms us down. It lowers our heart rate and cortisol levels we just talked about.

Here's an exercise you can share with candidates to prepare them for a great chat. It's called box breathing. It's an effective exercise for balancing our energy. It works every time. Even Navy SEALs use it, which is proof in and of itself.

Feel free to grab my template and get a full breakdown on what to do. Let me know how you get on!

If you found this content useful, check out this post about how to improve sourcing efficiency and unlock 80% of your talent pool.

If you want to reach the best talents, some simple tech recruitment hacks can help you get there. Let me know if you’re up for a head start, because many tech companies are missing out on this!

Are you ready to shift gears? I’d be happy to help you out with tech recruitment and sourcing.