The disco ball turns and twinkles under low lights, adding to the dizziness you already feel. Sweaty-palmed boys gaze across the gym at nervous girls flipping and fluffing their hair. You alternate between staring studiously at your hands and peeking at the seventh-grade sauvé standing in the corner.

The gender gap is clearly drawn at mid-court when your crush does the unthinkable: braves the clearly defined line and asks you to dance. You are elated, jubilant and … terrified when Vanilla Ice reminds you that you don’t know how to dance.

Panic sets in. It’s too late too escape. You are going to throw up on someone’s shoes. You are committing social suicide.

Worrisome weak knees and dry-mouthed distress are the symptoms of first dances – and first interviews. Still desperate to not appear desperate, we hope the object of our professional attraction is equally attracted to us. The job search can cause even a confident collegiate to feel like a trembling tween-ager trying to conquer the work world with – a sweaty handshake?

But unlike junior high, in this dance, the odds aren’t limited to one week of horribly ever after. It’s either financial freedom or fiscal failure – with student loan buzzards circling overhead.

The good news is that you already survived middle school and the lessons you learned there can be applied to preparing for a successful job interview.

No. 1: Fit In.

How mortifying would it have been to show up at the sixth-grade Snowflake Ball dressed as an actual snowflake? Though you’ve spent four years learning to think for yourself, your first job interview is not the time to showcase an individualistic thrift-store 1980s sense of style.

More important than displaying your profound self-knowledge is to demonstrate a willingness to learn. Know the corporate culture and conform, or else you’ll remember why being labeled “different” equals lunch-table loneliness.

No. 2: Do your homework.

Unless you failed out of the eighth grade, you probably had to study something. Check out the company you want to work for by reading their annual report, looking at the company Web site and requesting a public relations pack. Grab a copy of “Interviewing for Dummies” and bribe a friend to ask you practice questions. A word of caution about the books though: only follow them within reason.  Ninety percent of the information will help you improve your sweet-moola making skills to, but the other 10 percent will make you look like a frickin’ idiot! So keep your “gist card” (a mini-sized resume “Next Day Job Interview” recommends handing out to everyone you meet) and your Napolean Dynamite dance moves at home.

No. 3: Look in the mirror.

Not the same mirror you used to examine your first zit or curling-iron burnt forehead, but rather the reflection of your interviewer’s behavior. People like people who behave similarly to themselves, so to create instant rapport, use the “mirroring technique.”

Jeff Mowatt, corporate trainer explains “If the other person talks softly, then you talk more softy. If they lean forward, then you lean forward. If they talk quickly then you do the same. In other words, you ‘mirror’ the other person’s tone of voice and body language.”  While echoing your interviewer like an eight-year-old on the playground will result in a recycled resume, subtly copying his behavior catalyzes connection. Instead of being filed under “T” for “Trash” your application gets placed on the top of the stack.

Flashback to the social suicide scenario: Even while figuring out how to fake mono for the rest of the school year, you are inspired –just do whatever your dance date does! He bops, you bop. He moves, you groove. You make it through the song, averting total ostracism in favor of complete coolness. You live happily ever, for at least three days.

One final lesson from junior high to the job interview: No matter how bad it is, it will eventually be over.

Rebecca Miller is a senior in psychology. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].