Interviews are uncomfortable. That said, I think rehearsing and sort of reverse engineering the logic of an interview will help you prepare for one.

Game out why the company is acting like they do. Hiring an employee is a big deal to a company because if someone doesn’t work out, they’ll have put their operations at risk by bringing in a new unknown individual, and they’ll lose x amount of time before they can reset. It puts the hiring individual at risk because they may be seen as making a poor hire choice.

Why does that matter? I think it helps as the lens for why the process is how it is, why they ask the questions they do, and what sort of answers I should give.

I have verbally rehearsed answers to questions I think I might get. It’s different to say it out loud. In your head you might think you know a good answer, but you don’t want the first time you say those words to be during the real thing. (This is also why it helps to take interviews even if you’re not sure you’d want or be good for the job, it’s practice)

For “eye contact” I look at someone’s face but just below their eyes. Not sure if it’s convincing but have seemed to have a good track record in interviews.