When a candidate talks to me for the first time, I want to hear all of it. What’s not working, what’s frustrating them, why they’re even having this conversation. That’s my job.
But I’m the safe room. The interview is not.
I’ve had candidates tell me everything – the bad manager, the lack of training, the limited experience – and then turn around and say the same things to the hiring manager. Word for word. And I get why. They’ve been carrying it; it’s real, and they forget that the person across the table isn’t hearing context.
They’re hearing risk.
When a candidate sits down and says, I haven’t gotten great training, what the interviewer hears is that the last three years on this resume don’t count for much.
When I coach candidates on this, I tell them the same thing. Talk about what the role gave you, because you did something and something kept you there. Something made you better at what you do even if the environment wasn’t ideal. Start there.
Tell me everything. That’s what I’m here for. But when you walk into that interview, bring the version of your story that makes someone want to hire you, not the one that makes them wonder what went wrong.
You can want more without making where you’ve been sound like it was nothing.
Amy McCormack
Founder and Co-President