Just realized I was doing job interviews all wrong for 6 years

Had an interview last week where the guy straight up told me my answers sounded rehearsed. I was so focused on memorizing perfect responses that I forgot to actually listen to the questions. Anyone else get caught in that trap?

2 comments

2 Comments

sam_wood601mo ago

Started asking myself "what's the real question they're trying to ask" and it helped a ton lol

the_fiona1mo ago

Jumped into that same trap for years... @sam_wood60 that's a good way to put it, I started asking myself what they were really trying to find out too. It's like once I stopped caring so much about saying the "right" thing and just talked honestly, the conversations got way more natural. I remember one interview I had where I completely froze because my rehearsed answer didn't fit the question they asked, and I realized I hadn't actually been listening to them at all. Now I just take a breath before answering, let my eyes rest on something in the room, and say what comes to mind first. It feels a lot more like a real chat than a performance.