You’re in a job interview. The interviewer says, “Tell me about yourself.” You might tell them about your educational background, your work experience, some of your accomplishments. If the interviewer then asks you about your qualities, you might say that you are hardworking, are a quick learner, get along easily with coworkers. Pretty standard stuff.

In the Bible we read that God created us in His image and likeness, and since God is Spirit, it stands to reason that our true nature is spiritual—like God, Spirit. Could that be of help to us in a job interview? It can be of great value, indeed. 

Now, you probably wouldn’t say, “I’m spiritual!” in most interviews. But knowing that your true identity and nature are spiritual is crucial. You reflect God, Spirit, which means you reflect wonderful spiritual qualities such as intelligence, poise, fearlessness, love, and many more. This does impact all the details surrounding the job search and the interview process. 

Spiritual qualities are qualities that employers are looking for, and your ability to express those qualities outweighs any deficiency that may exist in your background. How truly we view ourselves can have a dramatic effect on our performance and experience, especially in a job interview situation—as well as in the job. Accepting the spiritual model of our being opens up unlimited possibilities, while accepting the mortal model of being tends to make us feel confined to a limited sense of good. Over the course of my business career, these ideas have never failed to eliminate the stress often associated with the interview process. They are dependable, and available to all of us in every circumstance.

As we sincerely seek God’s guidance, our desires are purified.

One of the most pertinent promises in the Bible regarding the perfect match of supply (your labor) and demand (the employer’s need) is found in Second Corinthians: “For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: as it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack” (8:13–15).

This is a solid promise that God places us in the position that not only blesses us, but blesses the employer. Even beyond that, we’re placed in the perfect spot to bless our coworkers and the firm’s customers and suppliers. Our destiny is to be right where we can do the most good, where our individual expression of God shines most brightly. We cannot help but express spiritual qualities, and they must naturally find expression in our lives.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, had a wonderful grasp of just how God cares for us. In her book Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, she says: “When a hungry heart petitions the divine Father-Mother God for bread, it is not given a stone,—but more grace, obedience, and love. If this heart, humble and trustful, faithfully asks divine Love to feed it with the bread of heaven, health, holiness, it will be conformed to a fitness to receive the answer to its desire; then will flow into it the ‘river of His pleasure,’ the tributary of divine Love, and great growth in Christian Science will follow,—even that joy which finds one’s own in another’s good” (p. 127). This is an inspiring promise that as we sincerely seek God’s guidance, our desires are purified, and we are prepared to receive wonderful blessings.

So how do we approach the actual interview? One of the key concepts of Christian Science is that God can be understood as Mind, and because God is one and infinite, it stands to reason that there is one infinite source of intelligence. Each of us expresses that divine intelligence; it is natural to us. Ideas come to our thought from God, Mind, without delay or interruption, although they require alert and humble listening on our part. Because of this, we can trust God to provide us with precisely what we need to say, as well as what we need to hear, in the interview. Equally important, we can be assured that the interviewer is also being influenced by that one Mind.

What would make us fearful in an interview situation? If it’s a job we would really like to have, we might be afraid that we’ll say the wrong thing and lose out on a great opportunity. Even if the interview goes well, we may worry that we won’t get the job because of something missing in our background, such as experience, specific training, or the right education. But if we are sincere in our desire to be where God places us, none of these things need to make us afraid of the outcome. We can never be outside of God’s care, and that includes provision for productive employment and right activity.

We can let confidence flow through our responses without a sense of personal aggrandizement.

Most employers are looking for confidence in one’s abilities, tempered with humility. For a model of humility, we have the greatest example in human history. Christ Jesus performed the most profound acts ever recorded, feats that included walking on water, immediately healing illnesses, and resurrecting the dead. Yet, in referring to the source of his unparalleled power, he meekly said, “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:30). The supreme confidence he exhibited had the authority of the Christ behind it—it was founded on his understanding that he was God’s creation, His offspring, the spiritual expression of divine Mind. We can learn from Jesus’ model of humility and make it our own model.

The balance that’s required in a job interview is having the confidence that comes from really knowing, deep down, where our abilities emanate from, and letting that confidence flow through our responses without a sense of personal aggrandizement or arrogance. That blend of confidence in our ability to express the qualities a job requires and the humility that acknowledges God as the source of those abilities, allows us to engage during the interview fearlessly and successfully. 

God, divine Mind, governs all aspects of the job interview, including the preparation before, the communication during, and the direction afterward. Our humble trust in God removes the anxiety surrounding the experience as we know that our exact right place is revealed to all involved according to His perfect plan for all.