This article is written in English to support your learning.
Part 2 – the candidate’s perspective
If you’ve ever walked out of an interview in English thinking,
“I know I could have said that better,”
you’re not alone.
Many experienced professionals feel confident in their work, their expertise, and their decisions. But put them in a job interview conducted in English, and something shifts.
It’s not that the knowledge disappears.
It’s that expressing it suddenly feels harder.
When interviews amplify everything
Interviews are intense by nature. You’re expected to think clearly, structure your answers, and make your experience visible, all under time pressure.
When English is not your first language, there’s an extra layer:
- you’re monitoring your language
- choosing words carefully
- checking how something sounds
- adjusting your tone
This can make you feel slower, less articulate, or less confident than you actually are.
That doesn’t mean your English isn’t good enough.
It means you’re doing more work in your head.
Confidence doesn’t mean speaking faster
A common misconception is that confidence in interviews equals speed.
Quick answers. Immediate responses. No pauses.
In reality, many confident professionals need time to think, especially when working in a second language. Pausing is often a sign of careful formulation, not uncertainty.
The challenge is that pauses are sometimes interpreted as a lower level of confidence, especially in English interviews where expectations may differ culturally.
Knowing this helps you manage it.
Structure creates confidence
One reason answers feel weaker in English is that people lose their structure halfway through.
They know what they want to say, but the language effort takes over and the story becomes less clear.
This is where simple frameworks can help. Many interviewers are familiar with the STAR principle, even if candidates don’t actively think in those terms.
You don’t need to memorise a model. But having a clear order in mind helps enormously:
- what was the situation
- what you were responsible for
- what you actually did
- and what came out of it
When your answer has a beginning, middle and end, interviewers can follow your thinking more easily. And when they can follow your thinking, your level of confidence comes across much more clearly, even if your English feels simple.
Make your thinking visible
In English interviews, interviewers cannot always “read between the lines” in the same way they might in their own language.
That means you sometimes need to say things that would feel obvious in Dutch.
For example:
- “The reason I chose this approach was…”
- “What was important for me in this situation was…”
- “The outcome of this decision was…”
These phrases help interviewers follow your reasoning, not just your result.
Handling pauses without apologising
Many professionals apologise for pausing or searching for words:
- “Sorry, my English…”
- “I’m not sure how to say this…”
That apology often undermines the level of confidence interviewers perceive.
Instead, you can simply signal thinking:
- “Let me think about that for a moment.”
- “That’s a good question.”
This reframes the pause as reflection, not doubt.
You don’t need to change who you are
One of the biggest fears candidates have is that they need to become someone else in English.
More assertive. More extroverted. More “international”.
In reality, confidence in English interviews doesn’t come from changing your personality. It comes from making your experience and thinking visible across languages and cultures.
Your English doesn’t need to be perfect.
It needs to support your message.
Linking back to the bigger picture
In Part 1 of this series, I looked at interviews from the interviewer’s perspective, and how language and culture influence how confidence is interpreted.
Seen together, both sides tell the same story:
- interviews in English are intercultural events
- confidence is not only expressed, it is interpreted
- awareness on both sides leads to better outcomes
Final thoughts
It’s easy to forget that in many English interviews, you and the interviewer are both working in a second or even third language. You are both trying to understand, explain, clarify and make good decisions.
In that sense, interviews are never one sided. Even if it feels like all the pressure is on you, you are not alone in the room.
Thanks for reading.
Confidence in English interviews isn’t about sounding flawless. It’s about being understood.
Until next time,
Stuart
English 
Dutch 
French