Be yourself & still get the job

A few years ago, I was interviewing at a tech company, and I wasn’t at all sure whether I wanted the job.

I’d been through four rounds of interviews. I knew I could do everything they needed me to do. The people I’d talked to were smart, driven, and dedicated to their work. It seemed like a high-energy workplace, something that held a lot of appeal after being at a kinda sleepy nonprofit.

And I was ready for a challenge. I felt I’d learned all I could in my current role, so finding a way out ASAP was a high priority.

But I’d made a career for myself—and constructed an identity for myself—that meant I saw myself as a do-gooder, a bleeding heart liberal, a DEI champion. You know, things that would make a right-winger hate my guts (bring it on).

Was this even going to be the right place for me?

So when I got to the final round of interviews, I was excited and confident, but I still wasn’t sold on the job. (Oh, those heady days of 2020, when companies had cash to burn, jobs fell into our laps, and we could all choose to be picky. What a world, minus, well, the pandemic and the 7 million deaths it caused, which, in turn, gave us our current authoritarian nightmare.)

I decided that even though my final interview would be with the senior vice president overseeing the department, I just said fuck it, I’m not going to try to be Corporate Teagan™. I’m not going to present a fictional version of myself based on what I think he’ll want to see.

Instead, I’m going to ask the questions I really want answered and give responses to his questions that are truly honest about who I am, how I work, and what I’ve done. That way, I’ll know if I really want to work there, and he’ll know if he really wants to hire me.

Going into the interview, I wasn’t even nervous. Not because I’m some kind of reckless dummy, but because I knew that I was going to be authentic so I could make an informed career decision.

Honestly, I barely remember the interview itself. What I remember was how liberated I felt by letting go of the idea that I needed to be anyone other than my actual self during an interview.

The idea of being authentic during the interview process can be daunting. No one wants to lay it all out there to be judged by strangers. These people don’t even know you, yet you’re giving them an opportunity to say, “Nah, she seems like kind of a dud. No thanks.” No wonder being yourself feels like a huge risk.

But that’s exactly why you should show them who you actually are. That way, they’re judging your fit for the role based on reality and not some weird warped version of yourself you constructed in hopes that they’ll hire you. Plus, then you’ll know if you think the job is right for you.

Oh, and I got the job, worked there for 3.5 years, and got laid off. No regrets.

While this is not a photo of me, it does accurately express my feelings about being authentic during that interview.

Showing up authentically in job interviews

Do I think you should show up to an interview 20 minutes late, Juul in hand, wearing a ratty old Tweety Bird crop top and telling people where they can shove it? Not even a little bit.

Being authentic doesn’t mean being unprofessional. Rather, it means that you shouldn’t be afraid to show your actual personality and demonstrate what you care about as you go through the interview process.

Here are some straightforward (but maybe not easy) ways to be true to yourself in a job interview:

Tell real stories

Don’t just think about what the interviewer might want to hear. Instead, dig into your professional past and share what you learned from actual situations that happened to you. Instead of shying away from stories where you weren’t the hero 100% of the time, tell people about times you messed up and how you fixed it. Or talk about how you got through tough situations. Just make sure that you’re highlighting your actual abilities and approaches and not twisting the stories to have the “right” answers.

And in those stories, highlight your values and what matters to you.

If you’re super driven and competitive, make sure the interviewer can see that through the stories you tell. If collaboration and teamwork give you pep in your step, talk about why working together keeps you motivated. If you’re really interested in building something new from the ground up, explain what it means to you to create something from scratch. Make sure that you’re laying out a clear and accurate picture of your work self.

Don’t overpromise or oversell.

This is super tempting for me, and I think others, too. It’s easy to say “Oh, yeah, I can definitely do that!” to anything you’re asked about. But you don’t know enough about this new workplace’s culture to know what’s possible. Guaranteeing certain results or embellishing your skills may get you the job, but when you actually start working, you’ll piss off a lot of people if you can’t deliver on your oversold abilities.

Notice how they respond to your authenticity.

Gather up all your social skills and tune in to your intuition, because now’s the time to pick up on subtle interpersonal clues. When you tell a story about how you solved a problem in an unconventional way, do you see a glint in their eye that tells you they appreciate what they heard? Or do they kind of blow past your response and move on to the next question? This kind of observation doesn’t necessarily tell you whether you’ll get the job, you can learn if your vibe matches theirs, and that’s very important info for you to have.

Ask the questions you really need to know the answers to.

Okay, we all know everyone presents the cheeriest version of an organization while interviewing. Even so, you should ask the questions that really matter to you. Things like: Which lines of business bring in the most revenue, and will I be working on those? How many days of PTO do people take on average? How often have raises been given? What is your policy on family and disability leave? Maybe they’ll lie. Or maybe, just maybe, they’ll be honest.

Know that if you’re authentic and they don’t hire you, you would have hated the job.

This is the toughest one to accept, because if you’re true to yourself and you don’t land the role, it can feel really personal. But here’s the thing: If you speak honestly about yourself and the things they’ve done during interviews and they still don’t think you’re right for it, you won’t be happy there. They are looking for a different kind of employee, and if you don’t match their specifications, you’ll be miserable, quit quickly, or get fired. So why put yourself through that if you don’t have to.

Taking this risk worked for me. It showed that I had chutzpah, that I wasn’t afraid of authority, and that I had my own point of view. And I got to hear answers to the questions that were really on my mind, which helped me decide to take the leap and change sectors.

I think it’ll work for you, too. Maybe not the first time or the second time, but eventually, being authentic in job interviews will help you find a workplace that values what you have to offer.

But will it work for you?

I certainly think so! Here’s what one of my clients has to say after working with me to figure out how to authentically interview for new roles after a layoff:

“I have a stronger understanding of how to successfully approach interviews. Teagan is incredibly easy to talk to and great at helping clear away confusion. She’s resourceful, encouraging, and genuinely invested in helping you get to where you want to be in your career.”

After just a few interview prep sessions, she just landed her dream job at a multinational household name corporation!