"Our life’s mission has been to please those who can grant or withhold approval: parents, teachers, coaches, admissions officers and job interviewers. As a result, many of us don’t know what we believe or what matters to us." - Julie Hartman via the Wall Street Journey

When I used to interview for a living, and I'm sort of doing that again, I would ask people questions so that I could better understand who they are - what they believe, how they want to show up, and what matters. Consistently, candidates responded in a way that caters their answers to the job we're here to talk about.

That's not helpful.

It's not helpful because the recruitment is the art of aligning problem and solution. "You are looking for problems to solve like this..., this job is looking for a person who has solved problems like that... this might be a match. Let's talk about if this makes sense for you to look at this job. Where are you headed? What do you need? Does this job help you get there? And do you help us get to where we're going?"

That's all it is.
(Or all it could/should be.)

And, that process of alignment only works if we're honestly asserting what we believe and what matters to us.

Sadly, LinkedIn gurus, career hucksters and career development centers all advise career changers and starters to cater their responses to an interview. "They're listening for certain words... use these words."

If you're hiring a team, interviewing a celebrity, answering a question from a curious child, being interviewed because you're a celebrity, doing anything creative, or literally existing - say what you believe and say what matters.

You, myself, and the rest of us are not robots.