Dry Mouth During Interview

[brewmeist]

My son had his first nomination interview, and brought in bottled water with him. I thought nothing of it. I bring water all the time to meetings and interviews, and I see public speakers constantly have water with them. My son asked at the end of his interview if there were any recommendations for his future interviews, and one panelist told him to skip bringing in a water bottle. First impressions mean everything. He also said that if this is only bit of advice he can give, my son did an overall good job.

Maybe the interviewer was implying that this shows a weakness? Maybe he was kidding? Either way my son is going to follow his advice. But now the problem is how to handle dry mouth. Gum would obviously be worse than bringing in water. I guess maybe he just needs to deal with it, knowing that he will be less nervous with the remaining interviews.

 

[kinnem]

Biotene toothpaste helps with dry mouth. Also there are gums (and I can't remember the name) that help with dry mouth. He could chew the gum right up to going into the interview and then ditch it... wrapped in paper in his pocket if necessary.

 

[ders_dad]

I think I may understand the suggestion not to bring bottled water, based on something I saw in DS during the beginning of his BGO interview (before DW and I were excused). DS was understandably nervous at the beginning. He kept reaching for his water bottle, opening it up, and swigging a drink before answering. It was a nervous habit - a crutch - and as he grew comfortable, he stopped doing it. But it was distracting. He has two MOC interviews this weekend. The gum suggestion is one I will pass on (and to take it out before going in).

 

[AROTC-dad]

Does anyone remember when a certain Senator got dry mouth during a nationally televised broadcast and ducked off camera to swig a drink of water? He got pretty beat up over that incident.

As ders_dad states, it simply is a distraction, not necessarily a sign of weakness. It is always best to interview with nothing in your hands except a notepad and pen .

 

[MidCakePa]

+1 to @AROTC-dad. Often when you fixate on an issue, you, well...fixate on the issue. Thinking about it during the interview will likely exacerbate things and take your mind off the matters at hand. Suggest you stay very hydrated in general, and leave the water bottle behind, or just carry a small one and swig only once or twice.

 

[ThePatternisFull]

My son had his first nomination interview, and brought in bottled water with him. I thought nothing of it. I bring water all the time to meetings and interviews, and I see public speakers constantly have water with them. My son asked at the end of his interview if there were any recommendations for his future interviews, and one panelist told him to skip bringing in a water bottle. First impressions mean everything. He also said that if this is only bit of advice he can give, my son did an overall good job.

Maybe the interviewer was implying that this shows a weakness? Maybe he was kidding? Either way my son is going to follow his advice. But now the problem is how to handle dry mouth. Gum would obviously be worse than bringing in water. I guess maybe he just needs to deal with it, knowing that he will be less nervous with the remaining interviews.

I agree skip the water bottle.

 

[time2]

It was a nervous habit....

I agree and would be a huge distraction during the interview, no one needs to be constantly drinking water. Fiddling with it, taking a sip....etc. would be annoying to the interview panel.

Take a drink of water BEFORE you enter the interview room if you are truly thirsty, but don't take the bottle into the interview room. This is not an office environment where people might take bottled water to a meeting.

 

[AROTC-dad]

And for goodness sake, don't drink so much beforehand that you end up squirming in your seat like a five year old, during the interview.