My old boss told me to "just be more confident" in interviews and I bombed the next 3 before figuring out what he actually meant

2 comments

2 Comments

rileyellis15d agoMost Upvoted

Nah, I gotta disagree with "confidence without substance just makes you look like you're faking it." Confidence IS the substance sometimes. I've seen people with average answers nail interviews just because they owned the room. They didn't have better stories. They just told their stories louder and sharper. If you sit there second-guessing every word, the interviewer picks up on that hesitation and assumes you'll second-guess yourself on the job too. Sometimes the raw belief carries more weight than the perfect anecdote.

torres.sage15d ago

Oh man, I gotta push back a little here (respectfully, of course). "Just be more confident" is such lazy advice because it doesn't tell you what to actually do different. Confidence without substance just makes you look like you're faking it, and interviewers can smell that a mile away. What your boss probably meant was "prepare better stories about your wins" instead of trying to act like a different person. Getting roasted in three interviews is rough, but that's how you learn the real trick.