You don't have to know everything

There are a number of posts and videos that claim you shouldn’t ever say “I’ve never done that” in an interview. And I get the sentiment – you want to project confidence and demonstrate a positive attitude.

But the problem with these posts is that they declare these as absolute truths with zero nuance. They post a pithy 30 second video and frame it as “Don’t say this, say this instead” and then tell you a one liner of corporate double talk you can use to claim you have similar experience. But what if you actually don’t?

There’s an extremely fine line between projecting confidence and using corporate jargon to make yourself sound more experienced than you are, and any decent interviewer will see right through it. They’ll take it as a cue to drill down further, and then when you fumble the more in-depth questions, you’re cooked.

So yes, be confident, be enthusiastic, showcase your skills, sell your fresh perspective, and show that you’re willing to learn. Of course do all those things.

But it’s also OK to be vulnerable and honest and say you haven’t done something before. The key is to not just leave it at that. Proactively take it to the next step so they don’t have to draw it out of you – tell them exactly how you would handle that situation and show you’ve put thought and effort into the role.

Show them that it’s not always about having done everything before, but that you have the potential to do it now, and do it well. ♥️