Sweating Through It: Accentuate the positive

It’s an easy trap to fall into. You are in a room with this person who seems incredibly nice and open. You hit it off and start answering questions about yourself. And all of the sudden it happens, you have the impulse to tell the whole truth. In an interview honesty is simply not the best policy.

Now that every recruiter is going to email me hate mail about this blog, let me tell you what I mean. Lying is bad. Always. Never lie in an interview. The truth, however, must be framed in a way that makes it positive and appropriate. Let’s always remember those two words: positive and appropriate.

Let’s say you hate your current boss. He is a micro-managing, lazy, jerk who takes credit for your work on a consistent basis. Your interviewer leans in and says, tell me about the most difficult boss you have ever had. Wouldn’t if feel great to dish about how you work for Lucifer and all his minions? Don’t you just want to gab about the injustice of it all. What great bonding with the interviewer as you laugh about having to call your boss on the phone even when his office is only one door over and you can hear everything through the walls?

Fun it may be, but good business? No. You see your boss may be the spawn of the devil, but you certainly don’t want to give a potential employer that you are negative and difficult. This is the time to come up with a diplomatic answer. “I think the most challenging thing about my most recent supervisor was also his biggest strength. He believed in structure and while it could be challenging to learn all of the necessary rules, it made it a more organized operation.” Remember: positive and appropriate.

The same is true in any answer that could be made into a negative. Pharmacist Christi Heimer recalls her time interviewing applicants:
I was asked to assist with pharmacy school applicant interviews. During one of the interviews, a professor asked the applicant why he decided to go to pharmacy school. The applicant stated that is was because he couldn't get into Medical school. The professor was so completely insulted that the applicant did not want to go to pharmacy school in and of itself that he immediately without batting an eyelash asked the applicant to leave the interview. Oops! Buh-Bye!

Your role as applicant is to sell yourself. Negatives don’t sell.