I know some perform poorly in physical or academic tests due to pressure, but this seems unnatural to me (what is the evolutionary advantage?).
Last year I had my first important interview, and I was surprised when I performed poorly. It seems that pressure and nervousness decrease my interview performance. I cannot understand why my body does not react properly in this situation.
I have found that talking to pretty women is equivalent to a job interview in that nervousness only decreases my performance.
Let me assure you, you are a perfectly normal egghead. As a professional rocket scientist I'm welcoming you to the club.
You suffer from the side-effects of typical social brainwashing. As do I. Let me explain how and why it works :
Like all brilliant people (I assume you are brilliant because of the way you describe your behavior during exams. Also, you're here) you always attack a personal challenge knowing exactly your strengths and weaknesses. You walk into an exam room knowing you have what it takes to "win", and therefore you have little to no anxiety. Your bowels keep quiet, even if the stakes are high.
But in all your education, there has never been such a thing as an interview. Moreover, interviews are conducted by people who will not only judge you, but, and you know this for a fact, are paid to do so. Which you (wrongly) assumes makes them superior to you. And suddenly you realize you're facing a challenge for which you are unprepared.
Your reaction at that point (such as intense bowel movements and sweaty palms) is totally uncontrollable. Your conscious mind doesn't enter into it. IT IS NOT A DISORDER OF ANY KIND : social disorder is an invention of sleazy pharmaceuticals to sell people cures for breathing and being thirsty. It's all a big scam.
What you experience in an interview is NOTHING MORE THAN YOUR SURVIVAL INSTINCT AT WORK.
You are in what's known as a fight-or-flee situation, where victory is uncertain and you do not have to option to flee. You only need to realize that your life is not at stake.
But you can't. No one can. People who walk into their first interview totally relaxed are simply too stupid to realize where they are. And being brilliant, you fully realize where you are, and the implications.
I've been there myself, and back then I actually knew what I'm telling you now. Didn't help me. But I still got hired on my first interview. With experience (as an engineering consultant I have gone through dozens of high-stakes interviews and meetings and reports) you will become comfortable, YOU CAN BE ASSURED OF THAT. There's no magic pill, there's no money to spend on anything. Only practice will help.
I used the words "social brainwashing". I was referring to the media. You have been shown thousands of time how interviewers, or bosses, or policemen, or journalists have the bigger guns in an interview, thus when you find yourself interviewed, you "know" you're in a position of weakness. That sort of brainwashing can only be erased by "brain cleaning" : go through interviews as often as possible, so your subconscious will grow accustomed to the fact that you don't need to feel threatened. That's how it all works.
Same goes with the ladies.
By the way,
I find the idea of a "practice girl" absolutely insulting towards women. Would you really like a boss to interview you "for practice" when all he really thinks about is to hire someone (he perceives as) better than you ? Feck that !
Plus, it is counter-productive : if you're afraid of beautiful women, you'll still be afraid of them after going out with women you're not afraid of. You can't get used to swimming with sharks by swimming with goldfish.
You must go the opposite way : ask the most beautiful woman around you, right now, if she'd like to go take a walk with you, maybe have coffee, talk a little. It'll twist your intestines... the first few times. Eventually your subconscious will realize you are NOT dealing with Darth Vader, but with a human who can probably enjoy your company (especially if you're actually brilliant and have bathed at least once in the last ten days).
It's the same as with interviews : you've got to get rid of media-induced brainwashing such as "cheerleaders only date quarterbacks". Use IMDB and Google to look-up famous movie stars (the ones you find sexy). You'll realize most are married to average gals or blokes. Even Julia Roberts is married to a perfectly average-looking cameraman with whom she's had 3 kids... and we're talking about a woman paid 25 million dollars a movie just for her looks !
I'm assuming you're smart and you don't look like Frankenstein. You have your chances with any available lady who doesn't hate your particular complexion or guts or size or age differential towards her. You shouldn't have any problem. JUST PRACTICE, get shot down a few times, learn the do's and don'ts... it doesn't take a genius. People have been doing it for millennia.
If all else fails, there's this "Pick-Up Artist" reality show going on (on VH1) that you might want to watch. It's a bit over the top but it all boils down to similar advice. You can even apply that stuff to making friends and finding work.
And by the way, any girl who doesn't know you that you'll start talking to will immediately know what you're after. So if she doesn't blow you away right away (i.e. with a "I need to go back to work" or "you're cute, but I'm taken"), it means she's at least a bit interested in doing the dirty with you. She'll let you get away with being less than perfect... because she's just as self-aware as you are and hopes YOU will let her get away with being less than perfect. She too is brainwashed by the media and believes she's not sexy if she can't attract a man and keep him around as long as she wants.
I'm sure you would eventually understand that on your own. Almost everyone does (otherwise there wouldn't be 6 billion of us). But I like saving people time.
Nefastor
