Apprenticeships interview with social anxiety

Haven’t done any interviews or ACs for Law but what I can tell you the best thing to do is be well prepared. A lot of these interviews are done virtually so you have the added benefit of being able to have notes on a second screen.
Typically you’ll be told what type of interview you’ll have for example a competency based interview, I’d suggest making a list of potential questions and write down solid answers with good examples. Structure your talking points so as to cover as much of the question as possible, if you’ve got 10 minutes of “speaking” material for each question, you won’t notice any silences. Also try keep in mind that the interviewer isn’t trying to catch you out, they want to learn as much about you as possible, if there’s gaps or quietness they’ll understand and in some cases even prompt you to expand or clarify. They know you’re looking to get into an apprentice role so they’re not expecting you to be perfect, what they want to see is mainly your potential and if your values align with the companies.
The silence can be intimidating but just remember that your interviewer is taking notes so pauses are most likely them writing stuff down, usually it’s not a conversation like a normal job interview, they’re looking to score you on your answers so try and find out the criteria and tailor your notes to them. For me a lot of the anxiety came from feeling a bit inadequate but what helped me is recognising that you were good enough to get to this stage so you’ll be good enough to pass it. They’re looking for potential, so it’s key to focus on your aptitude for learning and any examples of you being a focused learner and applying your knowledge.
If it is a video interview, one thing that helped me was to either make the conference window quite small or move it over to a second screen entirely. I had my notes up on my main screen so I can read off them whilst maintaining eye contact with my webcam. I found it that looking at myself speak or looking at the interviewer made me trip over myself, so minimising those distractions was quite helpful. Speak with confidence, by following your notes you can see what you’ve already spoken about so if you do find silences don’t try and fill them by repeating yourself. If you have to fill silences try to add more context or even recite a quick summary of your answer especially if you’re using the STAR method.
I don’t have much advice for in person but for both styles of interviews practice is key. If you can find someone to do a couple of mock interviews it’ll help you find your cadence and overall tidy up your answers nicely. Even though I suggest referring to notes you don’t want to sound like you’re reading off bullet points so practicing your answers is a great way of making them sound less robotic. Being prepared and having a good amount of practice is a sure way of getting your confidence up. Affirmations are great too, you did well to get to the stage you’re at and you deserve the opportunity as much as anyone else and if you prepare and practice you’ve already got a leg up on most other candidates.
Good luck with your interview, make sure you leave knowing you did your best!