Interview nerves and confidence in English

Because you do three jobs at once: answer the question, translate it into English and check how you sound. Language researchers call the extra layer foreign language anxiety. It gets lighter when your openers and rescue phrases are automatic, so practise them out loud, not only on paper.

Rarely. Interviewers at international tech companies hear accents every day. Long silences, rambling answers and misheard numbers cost more. Slow down, say key numbers and terms clearly and put your main point in the first sentence.

Use a holding phrase instead of silence: “Let me think about that for a second.” If you lost the question, ask: “Could you repeat the question?” Then restart with “The short answer is…” and one example.

Speak English out loud for ten minutes first, say your opening two sentences twice, breathe out slower than you breathe in, and call the feeling excitement rather than trying to be calm.

It helps with the anxiety that comes from not being ready. A live coach interrupts and asks follow-ups like a real interviewer, so recovering becomes automatic. Mockly English coaches are data engineers who run the mock, then give line-by-line English feedback; the first 30-minute session is a free trial. If anxiety affects your daily life, talk to a doctor or therapist too.